Japan National Tourist Organization One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1250, New York, NY 10020 &

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Japan National Tourist Organization One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1250, New York, NY 10020 & Japan National Tourist Organization One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1250, New York, NY 10020 http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ & www.japantravelinfo.com Press Contact: Marian Goldberg [email protected], 212-757-5641 x16 Kyoto’s Kamigamo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Now Offers Daily English Language Tours of the Shrine and Treasures Exhibition by a Shinto Priest! Kyoto, Japan … August 4, 2006 … Kamigamo-jinja, the oldest Shinto shrine in Kyoto and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has begun offering daily English language tours conducted by a Shinto priest! This is the only tour of its kind in Kyoto, and according to the shrine administers, “The ‘Special National Treasure Tour for Worship and Exhibition,’ aims to enhance foreign visitors’ understanding of Japanese traditions, as handed down over the generations.” Admission to the shrine is free and the tour, which is offered once daily, 9:30-10:00 am., costs just 500 yen (less than $5). The priest explains the history, religious significance and architectural structure of the famous Heian-era (794-1192) shrine. His presentation is followed by a Shinto purification ceremony, called O-Harai, where a greeting is made to the kami or deity in the shrine’s inner court. After the program, visitors are welcomed into a special exhibition of precious artifacts that are on display for a limited time in an area of the shrine called the Takakura-den, itself a recognized “Important Cultural Property.” This exhibition is an exclusive opportunity, because normally, these treasures are installed inside the shrine as an offering and are rarely seen. Kamigamo-jinja’s (Jinja means Shinto shrine.) main shrine or Honden and its Associate Shrine or Gonden are both National Treasures. The shrine is the main staging area for Kyoto’s Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival) held every May, one of the three biggest festivals in Kyoto, and the original Kyoto Shinto festival! High resolution images are available. Some samples can be seen at http://www.kamigamojinja.jp. Additional English information can be found at: http://www.kamigamojinja.jp/english/index-e.html Kamigamo-jinja is 30 minutes from Kyoto Station on the #9 bus (220 yen each way). Nearby attractions include Ota Shrine, famous for its Heian-era Iris Garden abloom in May (http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/kp/topics/eng/2006may/05-10.html) and Shaké Houses, the residence of Shinto priests dedicated to Kamigamo Shrine, with their distinctive Japanese Garden. For more information on Kamigamo-jinja, the Aoi Matsuri or Kyoto in general, contact the Japan National Tourist Organization at 212-757-5641 x16 via the web at: www.japantravelinfo.com The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) is a public-private partnership under the auspices of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, with the mission to promote international travel to Japan and support Japanese travel suppliers. .
Recommended publications
  • Kyoto Sightseeing Route
    Imamiya-jinja Nearest bus stop ❾● Nearest bus stop ❾● Eizan Elec. Rwy. Specialty Shrine For Shimogamo-jinja Shrine For Ginkaku-ji Templeダミー銀閣寺の説明。□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Free Wi-Fi on board Operate every 5~10 min. Operate every 5~10 min. ( to Kibune/Kurama) Specialty SSID:skyhopbus_Free PW:skyhopbus ABURI MOCHIダミー金閣寺の説明。□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ 1 2 GOLD LEAF aitokuji 【Kyoto City Bus】 【Kyoto City Bus】 yoto ta. arasuma ojo roasted□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□D □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Sky Hop K S K G SOFT CREAM rice cakes Bus route No.203 & No.102 BusKita-Oji route St. No.203 & No.102 □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□Temple Bus □□□ Koto-in Karasuma Imadegawa Demachiyanagi Sta. Karasuma Imadegawa Ginkakuji-michi Ichijoji Sta. SKYHOP BUS Kyoto With Kyoto as the gateway to Hotel New Kyoto Tower ↑ Nearby Byodo-ji Temple was Temple 8 ※Walking about 3 min. from❾ ※Walking about 12 min. ※Walking about 3 min. from❾ ※Walking about 10 min. ダミー下鴨神社の説明。□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ history, the station features a Hankyu Kyoto Hotel established when a statue of 2 Ryogen-in Temple to Shimogamo-jinja Shrine to Ginkaku-ji Temple (1 trip 99 min./every 30 min.) Kinkakuji 7 廬山寺 □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Japanese Go board tile design. Yakushi Nyorai was drawn from ※A separate fare fromShimei the SkySt. Hop Bus Kyoto ticket is ※A separate fare from the Sky Hop Bus Kyoto ticket is Gojo Shimogamo Hon-dori St. Hon-dori Shimogamo □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ required. This fareKarasuma St. is 230 yen (one way). required. This fare is 230 yen (one way). Visitors from abroad will the sea and enshrined in 997. Temple □□□□ 500m 法然院 Subway Karasuma Line ダミー銀閣寺の説明。□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Tomb of Murasaki Shikibu 1 appreciate the large tourist Information 京都The principle image of Yakushi □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Central Gojo St.
    [Show full text]
  • Rites of Blind Biwa Players
    ASIA 2017; 71(2): 567–583 Saida Khalmirzaeva* Rites of Blind Biwa Players DOI 10.1515/asia-2017-0034 Abstract: Not much is known about the past activities of blind biwa players from Kyushu. During the twentieth century a number of researchers and folklorists, such as Tanabe Hisao, Kimura Yūshō,KimuraRirō,Nomura(Ga) Machiko, Narita Mamoru, Hyōdō Hiromi and Hugh de Ferranti, collected data on blind biwa players in various regions of Kyushu, made recordings of their performances and conducted detailed research on the history and nature of their tradition. However, despite these efforts to document and publicize the tradition of blind biwa players and its representatives and their repertory, it ended around the end of the twentieth century. The most extensively docu- mented individual was Yamashika Yoshiyuki 山鹿良之 (1901–1996), one of the last representatives of the tradition of blind biwa players, who was known among researchers and folklorists for his skill in performing and an abundant repertory that included rites and a great many tales. Yamashika was born in 1901 in a farmer family in Ōhara of Tamana District, the present-day Kobaru of Nankan, Kumamoto Prefecture. Yamashika lost the sight in his left eye at the age of four. At the age of twenty-two Yamashika apprenticed with a biwa player named Ezaki Shotarō 江崎初太郎 from Amakusa. From his teacher Yamashika learned such tales as Miyako Gassen Chikushi Kudari 都合戦筑紫 下り, Kikuchi Kuzure 菊池くづれ, Kugami Gassen くがみ合戦, Owari Sōdō 尾張 騒動, Sumidagawa 隅田川 and Mochi Gassen 餅合戦. After three years Yamashika returned home. He was not capable of doing much farm work because his eyesight had deteriorated further by then.
    [Show full text]
  • Yinger 1983-06.Pdf
    , ~" " •. """~" > ACKN OWLEDGE1VIENTS This thesis has been an interna.tional effort, produced with trle cooperation of a grea.t many people in Japan~ Korea, England, and the United States. With no .i.l1tentionof diminishing the cor:tributi.qn of anyone not. mentioned below, I would like to single out a. few people for special thanks. I wish to thank the IJcmgwood Program at the University of Delavv"are for th8 award of the fell.owE}hip which helped to support this project. I am particularly indebted to my thesis committee--Dr. Richard W. Lighty, Mr. William H. Frederick, ,Jr., and Dr. Donald Huttleston-- for their very patient assistance. In Japan I wish to thank Dr. Sumihiko Hatsushima, Dr. FU"TIioMaekawa., Mr. Tadanori 'I'animura, Mr. Eiji Yamaha.ta, and Mr. NIatoshi Yoshida for patiently respondi.ng to my endless questions and for providing much of the research material cited herein. In addition, Mr. Yoshimichi Hirose, Mr. Mikinori Ogisu, Dr. Yotaro rrsuka.moto, and iii Dr. Ma,sato Yokol have earned my gratitude for directing me to useful research material. Among the many people who helped me in Japan, I must single out the efforts of Dr. Toshio Ando who so often arranged my itinerary in Japan and helped me with the translation of Japanese source material. For the privilege of examining herbarium specimens I wish to thank Dr. TchaT1;gBok 1,ee and h.is staff at Seoul. National University, Korea, and Mr. Ian Beier and his staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. My thanks too to Mr. Yong-,Jun Chang (Korea), Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Kaempfer's Album of Famous Sights of Seventeenth Century Japan
    KAEMPFER'S ALBUM OF FAMOUS SIGHTS OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY JAPAN YU-YING BROWN WITHIN the covers of a large and weighty album bound in western style and preserved in The (Western) Manuscript Collections of the British Library (Add. MS. 5252; bearing Sloane's old classification 'Bibliothecae Sloanianae Min. 47') are to be found three groups of curiously varied material. The first consists of a series of fifty Japanese paintings executed in brilhant colours and in gold, each on paper measuring 215 x 322 mm. (ff. 1-50). They depict famous sights of Japan enlivened by vignettes of people engaged in a variety of activities, though mostly pleasure outings or pilgrimages to shrines, temples and scenic spots. The second comprises seven Japanese figure drawings mounted on ff. 53-59, together with three padded applique pictures (ff. 68-70), now identified as oshie (pressed pictures). The third group seems to be entirely Chinese in origin. It consists of twenty-six floral and figure pictures in silk brocade or embroidery (ff. 51, 52, 60-67, i00"i5)- These otherwise unrelated groups of items have one thing in common. They were all smuggled out of Japan in 1692 by the German physician and traveller, Dr Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), and have all, until recently, lain dormant, in pristine condition, among the British Museum's foundation collections.^ This paper seeks to introduce the first and major part of the album only, namely the remarkable set of fifty miniature paintings. These are of unique importance for all historians of Japanese art and culture as well as for specialists in 'Kaempfer studies'.
    [Show full text]
  • A POPULAR DICTIONARY of Shinto
    A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF Shinto A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF Shinto BRIAN BOCKING Curzon First published by Curzon Press 15 The Quadrant, Richmond Surrey, TW9 1BP This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” Copyright © 1995 by Brian Bocking Revised edition 1997 Cover photograph by Sharon Hoogstraten Cover design by Kim Bartko All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-203-98627-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-7007-1051-5 (Print Edition) To Shelagh INTRODUCTION How to use this dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Shintō lists in alphabetical order more than a thousand terms relating to Shintō. Almost all are Japanese terms. The dictionary can be used in the ordinary way if the Shintō term you want to look up is already in Japanese (e.g. kami rather than ‘deity’) and has a main entry in the dictionary. If, as is very likely, the concept or word you want is in English such as ‘pollution’, ‘children’, ‘shrine’, etc., or perhaps a place-name like ‘Kyōto’ or ‘Akita’ which does not have a main entry, then consult the comprehensive Thematic Index of English and Japanese terms at the end of the Dictionary first.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Events in Japan Page 1 / 6
    ANNUAL EVENTS IN JAPAN PAGE 1 / 6 Practical Travel Guide - 805 ANNUAL EVENTS IN JAPAN Japan is a land of many festivals. In cities, large and small, as well trip to Japan, you have an opportunity of enjoying a goodly num- as in rural districts, colorful rites and merrymaking—some of ber of these celebrations. And, joining the joyful throng, you will religious significance and others to honor historical personages actually feel the pages of Japanese history being turned back and or occasions—are held throughout the four seasons. will experience the pleasant thrill of peeking into the nation’s No matter what month of the year you may choose for your ancient culture and traditions. Date Event & Site Remarks JANUARY 1st New Year’s Day New Year’s Day, the “festival of the festivals” in Japan, is celebrated with solemnity (national holiday) and yet in a joyful mood. The streets are gay with New Year decorations of pine and plum branches, bamboo stalks and ropes with paper festoons. People pay hom- age to shrines and visit friends and relatives to exchange greetings. 3rd Tamaseseri or Ball-Catching The main attraction of this festival is a struggle between two groups of youths to Festival, Hakozakigu Shrine, catch a sacred wooden ball, which is believed to bring good luck to the winning Fukuoka City team for the year. 6th Dezome-shiki or New Year The parade takes place in Tokyo Big Sight. Agile firemen in traditional attire per- Parade of Firemen, Tokyo form acrobatic stunts on top of tall bamboo ladders.
    [Show full text]
  • Human and Physical Geography of Japan Study Tour 2012 Reports
    Five College Center for East Asian Studies National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) 2012 Japan Study Tour The Human and Physical Geography of Japan Reports from the Field United States Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad with additional funding from the Freeman Foundation Five College Center for East Asian Studies 69 Paradise Road, Florence Gilman Pavilion Northampton, MA 01063 The Human and Physical Geography of Japan Reports from the Field In the summer of 2012, twelve educators from across the United States embarked on a four-week journey to Japan with the goal of enriching their classroom curriculum content by learning first-hand about the country. Prior to applying for the study tour, each participant completed a 30-hour National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) seminar. Once selected, they all completed an additional 20 hours of pre-departure orientation, including FCCEAS webinars (funded by the US-Japan Foundation; archived webinars are available at www.smith.edu/fcceas), readings, and language podcasts. Under the overarching theme of “Human and Physical Geography of Japan,” the participants’ experience began in Tokyo, then continued in Sapporo, Yokohama, Kamakura, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and finally ended in Naha. Along the way they heard from experts on Ainu culture and burakumin, visited the Tokyo National Museum of History, heard the moving testimony of an A-bomb survivor, toured the restored seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and dined on regional delicacies. Each study tour participant was asked to prepare a report on an assigned geography-related topic to be delivered to the group in country and then revised upon their return to the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • MOUNTAINS of JAPAN May 12 to 26, 2022 FACULTY LEADER
    MOUNTAINS OF JAPAN May 12 to 26, 2022 Consider both past and present—from Kanazawa’s feudal past at its 16th-century castle to its ultra- modern 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art—and gain insights from international policy scholar Daniel Sneider. Tradition blooming. Attend Kyoto’s annual Aoi Matsuri festival, where hundreds of participants proceed in Heian period clothing and ornate ox-drawn carts are decorated with aoi (hollyhock) leaves and blossoms. A cultural cornucopia. Watch an authentic geisha and maiko dance that’s performed only in May, visit a wasabi farm, enjoy a tour of a sake brewery and stroll through a Zen rock garden. Best of Tokyo. Spend three days in this ultramodern city, touring the Edo-Tokyo Museum and the Meiji Shrine, among other highlights. FACULTY LEADER Daniel Sneider Daniel Sneider, a lecturer in international policy and East Asian studies at Stanford, has focused his research on Japanese, Korean and U.S. foreign policy in Northeast Asia. The son of a diplomat, he spent much of his childhood in Asia and witnessed his father’s negotiations for the return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty during his college years. Since then, he has traveled to Japan regularly as a journalist and in the last decade as an academic, most recently working on a diplomatic history of the creation and management of the U.S. security alliance with Japan. A former foreign correspondent who has covered Japan, India and the former Soviet Union, Dan is a frequent contributor to several major U.S. periodicals, as well as the widely read online edition of the leading Japanese magazine Weekly Toyo Keizai.
    [Show full text]
  • Thesis Title: Shimenawa: Weaving Traditions with Modernity – Interdisciplinary Research on the Cultural History of Japanese Sacred Rope
    Thesis Title: Shimenawa: Weaving Traditions with Modernity – Interdisciplinary Research on the Cultural History of Japanese Sacred Rope Shan Zeng, Class of 2019 I have not received or given unauthorized assistance. 1 Acknowledgements I would like to express my greatest appreciation to my advisors Professor Morrison and Professor Laursen, as well as Professor Sassin and Professor Garrison, without whose support this project would not have come to fruition. I also want to thank my Japanese instructors Hayasaka sensei, Takahashi sensei, and Cavanaugh sensei, whose exceptional language classes gave me the courage and competence to conduct fieldwork in Japanese. My thanks go to Professor Milutin for patiently sifting through emaki and ancient Japanese poems with me and to Professor Ortegren for sharing her experiences on ethnographic fieldwork. I would also like to thank my first-year advisor Professor Sheridan, and all the other faculty and staff from the Middlebury Department of Religion and Department of History of Art and Architecture for their valuable feedback and support. I extend my special thanks to the following people, who not only graciously accepted my interviews but showed me the incredible hospitality, kindness and patience of the Japanese people: Orihashi san and her fellow colleagues at Nawawaseya, Shiga san and his family, Nagata san of Izumo Oyashiro, Nasu san and his colleagues at Oshimenawa Sousakukan, Matsumoto San, Yamagawa san and his father at Kyoto, Koimizu san, Takashi san, Kubishiro and his workshop, and Oda san. My appreciation goes to all the other people who have helped me one way or another during my stay in Japan, from providing me food and shelter to helping me find my lost camera.
    [Show full text]
  • Foodforum34-4.Pdf
    Vol. 34 No. 4 April 2021 Kikkoman’s quarterly intercultural forum for the exchange of ideas on food 4 THE JAPANESE TABLE CLOSE-UP JAPAN: Miso Soup — Japanese Feasts for 5 JAPANESE STYLE: Japanese Strawberries Special Occasions TASTY TRAVEL: Chiba Futomaki-zushi Food Fit for the Divine — by Ayako Ehara 6 MORE ABOUT JAPANESE COOKING: As Food Forum concludes its series on the special foods of Whitefi sh and Pea Shoots in Egg-Drop Dashi Japan, this fi nal installment explores the signifi cant foods Miso-Marinated Grilled Pork presented at jinja (Shinto shrines) and Buddhist temples, — which underpin religious beliefs. 8 KIKKOMAN TODAY: Online Renewal of the Kikkoman Soy Sauce Museum Japanese Feasts for Special Occasions Food Fit for the Divine From left: Twice daily, Jingu priests offer shinsen to the kami at Ise Jingu; Kanname-sai at Ise Jingu. Japanese religious beliefs are the Meiji era (1868-1912), it has refers to a species of wild ginger), characterized by a duality of become more common to offer an early summer tradition that Shinto and Buddhist traditions. raw and dried foods. takes place at both Kamigamo and Until the recent past, the typical At Japan’s sacred Ise Jingu, Shimogamo Jinja. At Kamigamo, home in Japan had two altars—a twice-daily offerings in the form shinsen offered within the honden Shinto kamidana and a Buddhist of meals have been made to the main sanctuary include steamed butsudan—and today, many still kami in the morning and evening rice, mochi rice cakes, carp, fowl do. Daily prayers are accompanied for some 1,500 years.
    [Show full text]
  • To Be Enjoyed in February 2012
    1. Published by Tourist Information Center of Japan National Tourism Organization and all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. ©2012 Japan National Tourism Organization. 2. Dates and functions are subject to change without notice. Be sure to check the latest information in advance. 3. Events marked with ◎ are the major events. 4. Date of events marked with ◇ are the same every year. 5. Japanese explanations appearing at the bottom of each entry give the names of the event and the nearest railway station in Japanese. Point to this Japanese when you need help from a Japanese passerby. 6. Please refer to URL (basically in Japanese) for each event. 7. The subway Line and Station Number are indicated in parentheses( ). Note: The Internet Website of Japan National Tourism Organization is available at <http://www.jnto.go.jp>. Calendar Events to be enjoyed in February 2012 A. Tokyo 東京 Date Jan.29 ~ Mar.18 Tsubaki Matsuri or Camellia Festival on Oshima Island. Various species of camellia are usually in bloom during the festival period on this island. A demonstration of folk dance and Taiko drumming is held at Motomachi Port from 7:30 pm to 9 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays between Feb. 12th and Mar. 18th. <http://www.izu-oshima.or.jp/info/event/eventinfo.html> Access (1) 8 hrs. by Tokai Kisen ferryboat or 1 hr. 45 min. by hydrofoil boat from Takeshiba Pier to Oshima Island (The Yurikamome Line from Shimbashi Sta. to Takeshiba Sta., or the JR Yamanote Line to Hamamatsucho Sta., and then walk 7 min.) (2) 30 min.
    [Show full text]
  • Year KGU Summer School, 2019 Course Title JSC Japanese Culture Program Duration June 11-July 10, 2019 Credits 2 Instructor's Name Dr
    Year KGU Summer School, 2019 Course Title JSC Japanese Culture Program Duration June 11-July 10, 2019 Credits 2 Instructor's name Dr. Galia Petkova, Lecturer, Kwansei Gakuin University Is the Japanese festival (matsuri) only fun and entertainment or is there more meaning to it? This course offers an introduction to Japanese culture through major festivals held annually all over Japan, focusing on Kyoto. The goal is to understand these festivals from diverse viewpoints – as Course Objectives religious, cultural, social and economic phenomena. We will explore their origins and significance, their role in preserving traditional Japanese values while also incorporating contemporary features and attracting tourists. Students will gain a comprehensive overview and understanding of Japanese festivals and festival culture (matsuri bunka) and its place in contemporary society, as well as of the issues of gender Attainment Objectives and identity. The students will also deepen their knowledge of the Japanese history and how it formed various festivals. Session 1) Introduction to the course Session 2) New Year Festival - Oshôgatsu Session 3) Driving out the Evil: Setsubun “Change of Seasons” Course Contents of Session 4) Buddhist Festivals Each Session Session 5) Matsuri and Gender: Overview Session 6) Matsuri and Gender: The Girl's Day Festival and The Boy’s Day Festival Session 7) Summer Festivals Session 8) Obon Session 9) Festivals and Traditional Performing Arts Session 10) The Three Big Festivals in Kyoto – Jidai Matsuri “Festival of the Ages”
    [Show full text]