Have you ever seen a photo on Instagram or anywhere really of someone visiting a temple? Well when you travel to Japan you should add it to your list to visit in Japan. We will be talking about one of most famous and most visited temple in Japan, not just visited by the Japanese people but also by the entire world. Kiyomizu-dera temple is located in Kyoto, Japan. Like I said it is the most visited temple in Japan but it’s also one of the largest and oldest in Japan.It was built for the God of mercy, Kannon, in 778 A.D.. Also Kiyomizu- dera got its name from the waterfall that is within the temple.
In this beautiful temple you can participate in many of the rituals that can make you very lucky. One of the main rituals they have for you is the foundation that comes flowing from the Otowa waterfall. This fountain has 3 streams from which you drink from which you either drink from one. The first stream is longevity, for those who wish to live longer. The second stream is success at school and the third is luck in love. You should only drink from one stream, it is said that if you drink more than one stream that it makes you very greedy and become unlucky.
Another great place to visit in the temple is the Jishu Shrine. The Jishu Shrine is for those who need help in love or matchmaking. At the front of the Shrine there are two stones that are 59 feet apart. It is said that if you can walk from one stone to the other that you will be successful in finding love. At the shrine or at the temple you can find many “Ema”‘s. Ema in English means wooden wishing plaques. You can buy these for luck or any wish you decide to write down or it could be written. These plaques can always cost from anywhere as 500 to 1000 yen, $4.66-$9.32. You purchase them at the booth at the shrine and you can also seal your lucky charms. There’s usually someone at the booth but in some cases there won’t so there would be a box available for you to place your money and than grab a plaque. After you have purchase one there are 2 things you could do, depending on what belief you have. One being that on the picture side, you write your wish on the picture and than right your name and address in the back. The other belief is that you do not touch the picture side but you write your wish in the back. Than you hang it in another area of the temple, you can always buy another to take home. Once its hang they leave it there for the year and when it’s January 15 they burn them all at a ceremony to help your wish come true.
When you pray at the shrine there are a few steps you have to do before you pray. First you bow your head once. Than you ring the bell in front of you by pulling on the rope with force only once. You throw whatever coins you have than you bow deeply twice. Than you clap twice with palms touching each other each time. After the second clap put your hands together and pray, once you finish you drop your hands and do a deep bow once more and your done. There’s another shrine somewhat similar that gives you a fortune. You would first ring a bell. Than you would pull a fortune slip. If you were to draw a bad fortune, also known as “Kyo”, you would tie it to a rack at the shrine so the gods can help turn your bad luck to good luck. So would you consider checking it out? Let me know below! For more information click here.
Exploring the Japanese Culture 