🔥DARUMA DOOM👀
Daruma await their fate at the small temple of Hōrin-ji (法輪寺).
Having fulfilled their destinies, and hopefully bestowed wishes upon their owners, they're gathered at Setsubun (節分) and burnt on a ritual bonfire🫡👋🔥✨😔 #Setsubun#Kyoto#京都#節分#達磨
Daruma (達磨) is the Japanese name for Bodhidharma, a 5th or 6thC monk credited with establishing zen.
Daruma dolls, typically red & made from papier-mâché, are modeled on the story of Bodhidharma wall-gazing in a cave (close to the Shaolin Monastery) for 9 years. #だるま#Japan
In the 7th year it is said Bodhidharma fell asleep. Furious with himself, he cut off his eyelids and tossed them away to prevent it happening again.
Legend has it that the first tea plants sprang from those eye-lids, later helping zen students stay away during long meditations👀
But why are Daruma dolls round?
During those 9 years Bodhidharma's arms and legs atrophied, and his limbs became useless. Without eyelids he had a constant, shocked appearance.
In Japan the dolls represent perseverance...a prayer to complete a difficult task or longed-for goal.
Using a Daruma doll is very simple.
👁️After purchasing a doll make your wish and fill in one of the blank eyes.
🙏Display the Daruma (to keep the wish in mind).
👁️When the wish or goal comes to pass then fill in the second eye.
🔥Take the doll to a temple to be ritually burnt👋
🐢SYMBOLISM🤔
There are many different kinds of Daruma, but the most common are round and red...
❤️red is considered a protective and celebratory colour.
🍀the word 'fuku' (副 'fortune'/'luck') is typically written on the belly (you sometimes see 'victory'/勝 & 'treasure'/宝).
🤨The doll's eyebrows represent a crane and the beard a turtle's tail.
"The crane lives 1,000 years, the tortoise 10,000 years"🐢
In Japan it is said that cranes live 1000 years & turtles live 10000 years, and they have been used as a symbol of celebration since ancient times.
👂In lieu of ears, some larger dolls have wishes written on them, such as prayers for good business, a safe year etc...
⭕️Round shape - "nana korobi, ya oki" (七転び八起き "fall down seven times, stand up eight"), meaning "never give up, keep on going". #daruma#達磨#Japan
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Kyōto was once home to the greatest statue of Buddha in all Japan.
4m taller than Tōdai-ji's Daibutsu, the statue stood in an immense hall in precincts now taken up by Toyokuni-jinja and Hōkō-ji (remnant of the original Buddha's home).
The great hall and last (vastly smaller) incarnation of Kyōto's Daibutsu are sadly lost, but within the neighbourhood (where once the temple precincts sprawled) are a series of wonders.
They include a great bell that brought down a ruling clan, an exploding cow, & a tomb of ears.
1) THE CHIMES OF DOOM🔔
Having seized control of the country after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu calmly waited for an excuse to destroy the rival Toyotomi clan.
His chance came with the forging of a new bell and an inscription that could be read as a threat.
🙊THE MONKEY'S SLIDE🛝
At first glance the teahouse garden appears to be made up of mostly moss, pine & camellia...but if you look more closely the borders are packed thick with dozens of varieties of plants.
One of the most beautiful at this time of year is the "Monkey's Slide".
More commonly known as crape myrtle (百日紅), older generations in Japan fondly call the tree 'saru suberi' (サルスベリ the "monkey's slide").
The bark of the tree is so smooth that even monkeys struggle to get a foothold!
#Kyoto #京都 #Japan #百日紅 #サルスベリ #IwataMonkeyPark
Crape (also crepe) myrtle gets its name from the appearance of its flowers, which look very much like crepe paper.
Blooming from mid-summer through to autumn, the flowers (commonly bright pink) are also known in Japan as 'hyakujitsukō' (百日紅 'red for 100 days').
One of the Shōren-in's (青蓮院) most striking features greets you as you enter the drawing room...a series of bold coloured lotuses, blooming across 60 panels.
Begun in 2005, the work was created by the artist 'Ki-yan' (キーヤン/Kimura Hideki 木村英輝). #Japan
When visiting Shōren-in, Kimura was suddenly inspired to fill the drawing room's plain fusuma with colour.
It took him two years to complete the 3 sets of lotus paintings (蓮三部作)...
🪷"Blue Illusion" (青の幻想)
🪷"Amitabha's Pure Land" (極楽浄土)
🪷"Hymn of Life" (生命賛歌)
Why all the blue lotuses?🤔
Shōren-in was originally constructed atop Mt Hiei as a lodging facility for monks serving at Enryaku-ji.
Shōren-bō was named after a nearby pond in which blue lotus flowers bloomed ('shōrenge'). Many famous monks, such as Saichō & Ennin, lived here. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
It's been a while since I've done a #folklorethursday, so here's some local, rather less well-known tales.
Demizu was once home to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's lavish palace 'Jurakudai' (聚樂第), and the area has many strange wonders. #Kyoto#京都
Kannon-ji's 'Gate of 100 Lashings' (観音寺 百叩きの門) belonged originally to the prison at Fushimi Castle (伏見城). When the castle was dismantled the doorway was gifted to the temple🏯🚪🩸😰👋
The gate is just 1 of the '7 Wonders of Demizu' (出水の七不思議). #Kyoto#京都#出水
Before prisoners were set free they underwent a final punishment at the prison gate...a warning to stay on the straight & narrow.
They were lashed 100 times with a piece of split bamboo across the back. It was agonizing, & sometimes deadly!
'May Sickness' (五月病 'gogatsu-byō') is a term for a seasonal disorder that strikes just as Golden Week comes to an end.
After the flurry of changes that take place each April, it may seem like May should be smooth sailing, but returning to work/school after the break is tough.
It may seem like a small thing, but sweets absolutely help lift a gloomy mood...
🌫️🌩️☁️😶🌫️🌥️🌤️🌞
Kameya Yoshinaga (亀屋良長) has done the impossible and perfectly captured the blue skies & cotton puff clouds of May in sweet form☺️
The wonderful 'hikōki-gumo' (ひこうき雲)✨
While 'May Blues' doesn't sound particularly serious, in some cases it can lead to depression, anxiety & insomnia.
In April the new school/work year begins, and there's a feeling that Golden Week only helps exacerbate feelings of disorientation, mental exhaustion, & apprehension. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Astonishingly the temperature will soar close to 30 degrees today...the hottest day of the year so far😓
As this heat is a little unexpected we swooped on Ishidatami (石畳) for their famous matcha soft serve (抹茶ソフトクリーム). Fresh matcha is kneaded into the ice-cream🍵🍨🙌
Fresh matcha as an ingredient in cooking and baking tends to lose its flavour quickly, and so Ishidatami doesn't serve ice-cream older than 3 hours, preferring instead to make new batches throughout the day😮