An ''Inner'' Experience!

Sorry for the long wait you guys.
I am back!
If you're reading this post, please make sure you've read the previous one about the Naiku.

   Biggest piece of news for today's blog entry is: I have videos! 
   You can see what I see, but you cannot hear it. So, as part of this experience that I want to share with you guys, I have to let you hear it aswell.

   As you must already have figured out I went to the Naiku today, at 11:30 a.m. By bus, it took us 10 minutes to arrive to our destination. Ironically enough, the sun Kami was not with us the entire afternoon. When we arrived, it looked something like this:

   Is this what you expected? Of course not! This is just a street right? Well, actually, the Naiku stands after the so called Uji-town. This town is small and it's most famous for her unique street, full of shops and restaurants! In other words, a BIG market-street. Exactly like this:             

          A video of our way through Uji and into the big market-street (at the end of the video)

                              

   As you can see, the market-street of Uji Town is a street full of movement! You can find alot of traditional stores, restaurants and even museums in this street. At the end of it, lies the Naiku. 

   

   Before we reached the Naiku, we had to stop for lunch in one of the many restaurants. We were taken to the 2nd floor where the view was full of roof tops, as you can imagine. What was interesting though, was the inside. A very cousie and not-so-traditional set of rooms, with normal chairs, tables and even modern lamps. Still, a very pleasant place to be, because it pushes you towards the people you are with. 

   This was my lunch. I do apologize for, the 2nd time in the same day, forgetting about the name of this dish. I can tell you, though, that the main dish is fried fish, with rice on the buttom. Also, you can see a salad, some tea, and some yellow-crispy-vegetables. (I will post the name of this dish, I swear!)

   Knowing my low appreciation for fish, I must admit that I enjoyed this one. I truly have! The taste is sweet, with a crispy texture that runs away from any fish dish that i know from Portugal. This fish....THIS fish right here, ''is good for my health'', as my mom would say. 

   After an explendid lunch, we went back into the market-street, walked all the way to the end, and we finally reached the Naiku. In the begginng of the video you can see the path leading back to the market-street, and how it ends, expanding into a huge area, prepared for holding a great number of people, every day. I must remind you, this was NOT a weekend.

                           

   The huge Torii (Gate) announces the entrance to the Naiku.

   Before we got in, we were beeing expected by a TV reporter from the Mie News channel, which interviewed 3 of our group members. They followed us through the entire visit into the Shrine, which later culminated into our own TV appearence in national television. (For copyright reasons, I cannot show you guys the video that was broadcast on televison, Im sorry). 

   So we finally entered the Naiku!

   In the picture above we already passed through that first huge Torii, into the so called Uji-bridge that crosses over the Isuzu river. This river runs all the way from the sea and reaches the Naiku where a lot of people perform the purification ritual. 

                             

   Indeed you do not see many people using the river for this ritual, but that's because most of them prefer the most common way which resembles the Yamato-Hime Shrine ritual with the wood spoon, if you are remember it. That same purification ritual exists in every medium and big Shrine in Japan, and it's a very big sign of respect for the Kami. It is the water that purifies the body and the soul in Shinto religion.

   After our long way though the sando (path in the Shrine that leads to the main worship building), it was possible to observe the beautifull nature in which the Naiku is so deeply immersed in.

   The trees grow straight up and they sorround the worship building (Honden) entirely, in the background. 

                             

   The taller the trees, the older they are and the video shows a tree so tall, that the roots are thick and big enough to even become smooth to one person's touch. Although it may be impossible to say, you have to remember that this Shrine has been in this place for more than 1 000 years, which helps us to imagine how old these huge trees really are.

   As if the entire way here wasn't pretty enough, it was not the heart of the Naiku, as we can see in the next pictures:

                         

   My dear followers, on the top of these stairs lies perhaps one of the most sacred places in the entire japanese lands. At the top, the entrance to the worship building (Honden) is sealed and nearly 30 meters away from any civilian. The believers have to pray from a distance, following the same positions that were showed in Yamato-Hime Shrine, with the possibility of offering coins to the Kami. 

   This place is so sacred that not even pictures or videos are allowed in the stairs, with the fear that the Kami may dislike it. Only the Emperor and high rank priests can gain acess to the Honden's entrance, which is still a very rare moment to occur. I know you are curious about what lies beyond those stairs, but, unfortunately, I do not dare to infuriate the Kami nor the japanese ancient traditions. I can say though, that it is a place where everybody speaks, either with words or mind, and your eyes witness a distant wooden door with golden details, big enough for horse to enter.

   So, after we left the Shrine we went back to the street-market, but not before buying some famous Ise charms for protection:

   This was not the most famous, nor even the most crowded store within the Naiku, but it was the only one where pictures were allowed.

   In the street-market, we decided to enter a tea-house.

                                

   It was not a small tea-house, but the number of people made it look like it was not big enough for everybody to sit, although we managed to. Around 3:30 p.m we were left alone to persue our own desires. I went to explore the stores on the street with some friends, looking for souvenirs. In the meantime, we were able to realize that even the streets have their own wildlife:

   At 5:00 p.m we took our bags and went back to our appartment. The streets that we left behind, didn't look the same, anymore.

   We arrived at our appartment near 5:30 p.m, where we waited anxiously to see our faces in the Mie News. After those 2 minutes of fame, we gathered for a long and calm dinner in the cafeteria, returning, two hours later, to our rooms.

  My fellow viewers I hope you've enjoyed this blog post as much as I did writting it for you guys. The experience was unique and I plan to return before I leave Japan. Hope the videos brough you closer to this amazing experience! And I will surelly bring you more. 

  Tomorrow, the weather forecast promises rain but that doesn't seem to stop our plans....which I will not reveal. If they do fufill, then it will be a ''high experience''. What do I mean? Well have a little patient please.

   Don't forget to go to the Photo Section for more pictures!

Diogo here, thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!