Temples

manganimefan227 · (#1 (**permalink**))

My sensei always says that her past students saw on temple and spent alot of time with deer because they felt that since they saw one temple, theysaw them all. Do you believe this is true? That all temples are alike and only one needs to be seen to have a full understanding of temples?

sarasi · (#2 (**permalink**))

No, one is definitely not enough, and they are not all alike. I have seen hundreds of temples in Japan and still enjoy visiting different ones. Temples vary hugely- have a look on the internet for photos of Kinkakuji in Kyoto (it's a gold-leaf covered temple in the middle of a pond) compared with Kiyomizudera (a large building on the top of a hill with a pagoda and a balcony that gives a great view over Kyoto)- they don't look alike at all. Then there are Shinto shrines, which are different from temples again, although they can look similar if you don't know the distinctions.

Temples are also often famous for what is in their grounds as well as the temple building itself- the Zen rock garden at Ryoanji, the giant Buddha statue in Kamakura, or the cherry blossoms/autumn leaves that can be seen in the grounds of a lot of places.

While "seen one temple, seen em all" is probably a bit of an exaggeration, for people with less of an interest in old buildings, a day or two seeing temples is probably enough for one trip- it's called getting "templed out". It really depends on the individual. I personally think that deer all look the same, and didn't spend a lot of time in Nara Park (which is where I'm assuming the people you know went). The deer are quite annoying actually- you can't sit quietly and eat anything because they will try to steal it, even going as far as to pull plastic bags away from people in the hope that there is food in them- I almost lost my camera that way!

manganimefan227 · (#3 (**permalink**))

I see, that makes much sense, yes that's where they went. Thank you so much for your input!

I'm sorry but your Nara expieriences made me laugh XD

Troo · (#4 (**permalink**))

One of the things I love the most about Japan is visiting the different temples and shrines, but even I've been templed-out before. That was after a week of going at it pretty hard, mind you, but still...

It definitely depends on the person. I've spoken to tourists who were templed out after the first couple. It took me until my third visit to Japan and a rough flight on the way there (as in I couldn't sleep, so arrived in Tokyo with a very short temper) for me to hit the templed-out stage, and it lasted a whole day