Kinkaku-ji: The Golden Temple

On one of two long-ish trips to Kyoto with two very different women --Trish and Ashley-- I spent some time sleeping with them but not getting sex. As well, I also managed to do some sight-seeing.

Kyoto, as I'm sure many of you are aware, is part of the The Kyoto Protocol, a protocol (d'uh) to the United Nations whose aim is to fight global warming.

Kyoto, in case you are unaware, is actually Kyoto-shi (京都), a city located west of Tokyo on the main island of Honshu, Japan. There are about 1.5-million people living in this city, which is the capital of Kyoto-ken (the Prefecture of Kyoto... kind of like New York, New York).

It's a beautiful place - plenty of places to visit and plenty of things to do. If you go to Japan, visiting Kyoto must be on your list of places to visit. You can thank me later. 

Fun Facts: 

• At one time Kyoto was the capital of Japan;
• Kyoto and Tokyo are written in the opposite manner. Kyo-to and To-kyo;
• Kyoto is known as the gate to the East, and Tokyo is known as the gate from the West; 
• It's the headquarters of Nintendo;
• Known as the city of 1,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, but actually has closer to 1,600 - many of which are 1,200 to 1,300 years old.

My favourite temple--and most of Japan's--is Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺,, which in English is the: Temple of the Golden Pavilion). That's it in the photo above. I took it on my second trip there when I visited with Trish. I just love the reflection of this actually gold-leaf coated temple on the water. Actually, the top two stories are covered in a thick gold leaf. On the top of the roof is a gold leaf phoenix statue. The photo I took is a pure Japanese iconic image. Kin = gold. Kin is pronounced like the English word 'kin' for relatives.Ji = temple. Ji is pronounced like the letter "G".

But I'm not going to bore you with too many facts or history about the temple: Feel free to visit the Wikipedia site HERE for more information. 

Rather, I wanted to show you a video I found of a person who made a very complex rendition of Kinkaku-ji out of Lego. Please take a few moments to watch it - and be duly impressed.  Regular readers know I enjoy buying Lego for my five-year-old son, though it is secretly for my own pleasure.
   
Watch the VIDEO.  

Somewhere hoping you enjoyed the visit,
Andrew 'Brick' Joseph
PS: There is also a Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion). Gin = silver. Gin is pronounced gi-in with each syllable pronounced quickly. Or... Gin rhymes with kin... the English word defined above.  
PS: Trish will make her way into this blog eventually. We have time.