Comments on: Ahhhh, Kamakura http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/ Searching for one brief hour of Madness & Joy Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:50:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Kerry in Florida http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/#comment-441 Kerry in Florida Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:21:28 +0000 http://www.winkie.org/?p=166#comment-441 Sid: Why are the little statues wearing clothes? Are they cold? Dressed as deceased loved ones? Maybe I missed something. Poo! Hugs, Kerry Sid:
Why are the little statues wearing clothes? Are they cold? Dressed as deceased loved ones?
Maybe I missed something. Poo!
Hugs, Kerry

]]> By: Bill Coughlan http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/#comment-440 Bill Coughlan Sat, 05 Jun 2004 08:14:26 +0000 http://www.winkie.org/?p=166#comment-440 Heh. "Them bats is smart... they use ray-dar." Man, that brings back late-eighties college memories... Sorry, not exactly the same degree of import as the rest of the comments. Please, continue. Heh.

“Them bats is smart… they use ray-dar.”

Man, that brings back late-eighties college memories…

Sorry, not exactly the same degree of import as the rest of the comments. Please, continue.

]]> By: John http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/#comment-439 John Sat, 05 Jun 2004 04:53:42 +0000 http://www.winkie.org/?p=166#comment-439 Sid, you're right, I was not precise enough to say that the official practice is separate, but elements from each side have crept into the other side's practice. Also, many Japanese will go to both, personal religion is not an either-or proposition. BTW, it's great fun to go to the shrines and temples in March around final exam time to see the prayer requests left by desparate students. In Taiwan, things are quite different, and any given temple might house multiple religions. In my own observations, I think that the Japanese have a culture of separating things, of having the right mental mode for the task at hand. You don't see many restaurants offering mutiple styles of Japanese cuisine in Japan. The best sushi restaurants suerve only sushi, tempura restaurants only tempura, etc. It drove me nuts when Americans would visit me and want to order tempura at a sushi place. The Chinese have a different attitude, both in food and religion: the more mixed, the better. It preserves social harmony. Japan evolved a different method of preserving social harmony. Sid, you’re right, I was not precise enough to say that the official practice is separate, but elements from each side have crept into the other side’s practice. Also, many Japanese will go to both, personal religion is not an either-or proposition.

BTW, it’s great fun to go to the shrines and temples in March around final exam time to see the prayer requests left by desparate students.

In Taiwan, things are quite different, and any given temple might house multiple religions. In my own observations, I think that the Japanese have a culture of separating things, of having the right mental mode for the task at hand. You don’t see many restaurants offering mutiple styles of Japanese cuisine in Japan. The best sushi restaurants suerve only sushi, tempura restaurants only tempura, etc. It drove me nuts when Americans would visit me and want to order tempura at a sushi place. The Chinese have a different attitude, both in food and religion: the more mixed, the better. It preserves social harmony. Japan evolved a different method of preserving social harmony.

]]> By: sid http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/#comment-438 sid Fri, 04 Jun 2004 07:10:11 +0000 http://www.winkie.org/?p=166#comment-438 Mala: See John's info, though I disagree on one thing. There are many places where it seems the Japanese have kinda merged Buddhism and Shintoism, taking parts from each. Zen Buddhism really took off in Japan, and it way differs from, say, Tibetan Buddhism (Zen priests will even kill bugs and some eat meat). The temples are great tourist attractions, but those and the Shinto shrines always have plenty of Japanese throwing their money in the box and saying prayers. Shane: You scare me. Can you walk without a cut through a stained-glass wall? Mala: See John’s info, though I disagree on one thing. There are many places where it seems the Japanese have kinda merged Buddhism and Shintoism, taking parts from each.
Zen Buddhism really took off in Japan, and it way differs from, say, Tibetan Buddhism (Zen priests will even kill bugs and some eat meat). The temples are great tourist attractions, but those and the Shinto shrines always have plenty of Japanese throwing their money in the box and saying prayers.

Shane: You scare me. Can you walk without a cut through a stained-glass wall?

]]> By: John http://www.winkie.org/2004/06/03/ahhhh-kamakura/#comment-437 John Fri, 04 Jun 2004 04:59:25 +0000 http://www.winkie.org/?p=166#comment-437 Great post on Kamakura, I spent many happy days off there when I worked in Tokyo. Try Nikko after the rainy season is over. You have to go up to Asakusa, and then grab the train from there. Make sure you are on the half of the train that goes to Nikko, because the train decouples, and only one half goes to Nikko. Mala: Daoism is not much practiced outside China. Japanese are basically secular, but many still go to Buddhist and Shinto shrines. Buddhism is more a personal religion. Shinto is practiced at public ceremonies. When my company opened a new building, we had a Shinto blessing ceremony. The Japanese keep these two very separate, it is not like Taiwan where you can see Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian deities in the same temple. Great post on Kamakura, I spent many happy days off there when I worked in Tokyo. Try Nikko after the rainy season is over. You have to go up to Asakusa, and then grab the train from there. Make sure you are on the half of the train that goes to Nikko, because the train decouples, and only one half goes to Nikko.

Mala: Daoism is not much practiced outside China. Japanese are basically secular, but many still go to Buddhist and Shinto shrines. Buddhism is more a personal religion. Shinto is practiced at public ceremonies. When my company opened a new building, we had a Shinto blessing ceremony. The Japanese keep these two very separate, it is not like Taiwan where you can see Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian deities in the same temple.

]]>