Jindaiji

Last weekend we visited with Yamamoto-san and his family, who took us to Jindaiji temple . Jindaiji is the second oldest temple in Tokyo and is dedicated to the water god, Jinja Daio. The grounds are filled with beautiful gardens and trees, as well as traditional pebbled spaces.

This temple is a Buddhist temple, which you can tell because there are no large red wooden gates, or torii. Buddhist and Shinto temples are, of course, different, however they are not so different as to be obvious to outsiders, and the religions are not really mutually exclusive anyway.

However, the same sorts of things are done at all temples, the standard procedure being to approach the front, make a donation, bow two times, clap two times to get Buddha's attention and then you can bow again or pray.

Before you approach the main hall, it's quite common to perform some ablutions to purify yourself. This ritual also has a special method, you pick up the ladle with your right hand, then pour water onto your left hand, pass the ladle to your left hand, wash your right, pass it to your right hand again, cup your left hand to hold some water and take a sip to rinse your mouth, and finally rinse the left hand again.

Another hall on the grounds. There are always multiple halls and shrines at temples.

Here are some prayer papers which are neatly folded and tied.

We had a nice lunch with the family at a bakery restaurant. With your set meal you could have unlimited small fancy rolls which had been freshly baked. Alice and Noa got friendly and showed each other their toys before snatching them back quickly. We also went to a discount baby store to buy some more warm baby clothes, including beanies, gloves, scarves and boots. Alice was so tired by then, having not slept the entire day that she promptly fell asleep in the trolley.

Then we were invited to Yamamoto-san's mother-in-law's house for a delicious impromptu dinner. The kids slept while we drank beer and talked.