One amazing thing about being in Japan is looking at all the architecture. The rooftops are incredible, for one. The home can be exactly what you might expect to see in America, and yet the roof is an ornate affair fit for a James Clavell novel. I almost expect to see ninjas running across the tops. Every house is also huge, and costs way less than anything comparable in America. The beauty of the homes and gardens here almost makes me want to buy a house and stay forever! Almost.
Near our house is a Buddhist temple. Actually it is right around the corner at the end of a small block. It's pretty incredible. We walked through the grounds one day accidentally and discove
red it. There are strangely aspects to the grounds that are Buddhist and Shinto, not five yards from each other. In American terms, this is like Christian and Pagan elements existing side-by-side. Likely the elements from the Shinto religion are not acknowledged by name at this point even though everybody knows where they came from, just like the Christian/Pagan relationship in the States.
This is a place where people ritually wash their hands before entering a temple. It is mostly seen in the Shinto religion.
This is the temple bell. Under Shinto, it can summon the Gods. Under Buddhism, it can be used in the New Year's tradition of ringing a bell 108 times, one for each bonno (sort of like original sins, but really just the character flaws we are all born with).
How neat is it that this is near our house? Although I did have the thought that it is just like a Japanese tourist coming to America and finding any sort of Church on the corner... it all depends on our cultural perspective.
This reminds me of when I lived in my family's first home and on one side, you would find remnants of 1950s America — farmland, a drive-in, train tracks — and on the other, you would run into modern suburban Arizona.
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