Going across the street to Jiganji

I had seen everything interesting in Kamo Jinji, so I walked out of the grounds. My goal was Jiganji, a small Buddhist temple that, according to my map, was just behind some trees on the other side of the street.

 Nearing the street, I noticed these chunks of tree trunk that had rotted out from the middle. Cleaned up a bit, they would make good bodies from Japanese style drums, but I expect that they will just remain here until they completely fall apart.

 I walked up a driveway and found the temple building. There was only one. The first thing that I noticed was that the windows were a very unusual shape, like a temple bell.

 Turning around and looking into the graveyard, I discovered this frog watching me.

 I walked around the temple building and found that be back side contained what looked like living quarters but as far as I could tell there was no one home. There was no way to get into the building or to see the altar except through the sliding doors into the living area so I gave up and went into the graveyard.

I began to wonder if there was a priest in residence. The graveyard looked like it had not been mowed in years. Rather than a graveyard with a temple, it reminded me of the little family graveyards hidden up in t he hills behind farming villages in the mountains.

Kamo Jinja

 Here is another picture showing the two main buildings.

 Trees are important at many shrines, particularly very old ones. This is decorated to show its specialness and there is a sign explaining its history.

 Nearby is another old tree. There is a trunk that rise above this part but this obviously old part was the most interesting. Again note the decorations.

 This is the water fountain at the entrance. I had now walked a full circle around the restricted grounds.

 Off on the right side of the grounds was a place, made from poles and rope, to hang your fortune so that the gods would take notice.

The administration building had a small shop selling amulets, giving good luck for certain specific things like driving, exams, love, etc.

Kamo Jinja

After posting the first pictures of Kamo Jinja yesterday, I did a little checking. I knew that kamo means a kind of wild duck in Japanese, but the kanji are different in the shrine name. The standard meaning of duck is given by a single kanji but the shrine name is composed of two kanji. These two kanji are used as place names in many areas but the main one seems to be in Tokyo. Since old Japanese often used kanji phonetically, it is likely that the area in Tokyo was once full of ducks. Also it appears that the place name is also used for a Shinto god, called Kamo Meijin, who represents happiness for all the world. I assume that this is the god who is enshrined here.

 The shrine area inside the final torii was not large, just a few buildings. On my left was an old shrine that was covered by a wall-less building to protect it from the weather.

 It was a typical old shrine that probably had originally been painted red but, if that was so, there was no longer any evidence of it. As usual the door was closed so you could not see the altar inside.

 Straight ahead there were two identical shrines. These were newer and painted the traditional bright red. I do not know much about it but some shrines have two identical buildings or they alternate between two identical buildings that are periodically rebuilt. The Grand Shrine at Ise immediately comes to mind in this regard. At Ise there are two sacred areas, side by side, but only one of them is in use at any given time. The other was torn down and will be rebuild so that it can be used again after twenty years.

 Here is the other building. Notice that the only way to tell them apart is that the flags and bell ropes are reversed. Otherwise, they are identical.

 On my right was another small, older shrine. As you can see, this one was decorated with some trash barrels.

This is what the side of the double buildings looked like. As is usual there was a walkway that allowed access to the side of the building. These areas are sometimes used during festivals or ceremonies.

Kamo Jinja

 I finally reach the main goal of my walk, Kamo Jinja. I have passed here in a car many times, but this will be my first visit to the grounds. The red torii is almost at the road and is very impressive.

 Walking through the torii and down a straight path, I came to this flight of stairs.

 At the top of the stairs there is a pair of guardian lions, both of which are quite worn.

 At the top of the stairs, I found another path leading to another torii. I could see buildings behind the torii.

 Up close I could see the main shrine straight ahead and an administrative building to the right.

On my left was a place to wash your hands, purifying yourself before entering the grounds proper and a place for leaving little pieces of wood with your wishes written on the.