Etiquette for paying respect at temples

This is Kushikura Inari sha (Temple for Kushikura the Fox Spirit). People come to worship at this temple to bring a good harvest.

The following is what I learned as the proper etiquette for paying respect at temples. You want to make sure you cleanse your hands before going to each temple. They normally have a water station dedicated for that right before the temple. (More detailed instruction at the bottom of Part 2)

Then, you can make an offering of money to an offertory box. I grew up being told that giving 5 yen is good luck because it is synonymous with a word that can be translated to fate, karma, relation, connection or ties. So, if you went to the temple to pray/wish for good health, you want to have that as a fate, karma etc. Some people say more the better and give 10000 yen or more, but I normally only give 5 yen, 50 yen or 500 yen (they are all in coins).

Now you want to bow twice. First one is for asking your spirit guide to be connected to God and the second one is for the God. (By the way, I used word God, but it can be anything or anybody that particular temple is worshipping. In this case the fox spirit. I am using and will be using word God loosely.)

Clap your hand twice. It’s kind of like ringing a doorbell at God’s home to let them know that you are here. It also helps cleanse the area.

Then you can have a conversation with God or most of the people make a wish here.

When you are done, bow once to show your gratitude.

Mt. Kurama: March 29: Part 4

Keep going up the stairs and you will see a Dougyou Rokutai Jizo Son(6 guardian deity of children in childrean form) by the Kurama Kindergarten. These are 6 figures of Jizo (guardian deity of children) in a child form and even have bib on them as you can see. This is to represent that kids are children of the Budda (God) and a gift from heaven and reflections of the parents. I fantasized about having a child one day and sending them here and visiting this kindergarten everyday.




Next comes the Hou Jyou Ike , which according to the sign, this is the pond where people used to do good deeds like letting a fish or turtle go free here to save their lives (upper picture). Also they would go under the waterfall and meditate (bottom picture). I saw some red coy in a pond. Some of them seem to have the same color red/orange as the lanterns throughout the temples, very scenic and calming spot.




As I was going up the stairs, I noticed that each of the stones that are used as the fence were engraved with a person’s name who has donated money to Mt. Kurama a long time ago, and the donation amount of a 100 Yen (which is about a dollar now, but could be worth a few thousand or few hundred thousand dollars depending on when it was donated). Each lantern has a name of a person who donated money as well. This made me think of all the people who have come here before me and cherished this place and made Mt. Kurama the way it is today.

Close up of the stone with engraving.

Close up of the lantern with name of the donor.

Mt. Kurama: March 29: Part 3

You pay 200 yen at the gate for the entrance fee and they will give you a cute pamphlet of Mt. Kurama. (right picture) If you pay extra 300 yen, you get a little booklet of Mt. Kurama. (left picture) They do have pamphlet in English as well. This will come very handy because most of the signage in Mt. Kurama is in Japanese and if you don’t read Japanese, you need to refer to this little English pamphlet. (Pictures above are in Japanese.)

Those money you spend here at the gate or at the temple’s gift shop, it is used for the upkeep and the improvement of the Mt. Kurama. Temples and the road of Mt. Kurama is actually very well kept compare to other temples I went to in Kyoto. As you can see on a picture above, the lanterns have a very vivid orange color. It requires a lot of maintenance to keep it this way. My guide has been coming to Mt. Kurama for past 7-8 years and has seen a major improvement of this place. He thinks it’s because they are getting more and more Reiki visitors each year spending money here.

Another impressive thing about the Mt. Kurama is that there is no trash anywhere visible. They have a signage throughout asking people to respect the nature and not pick flowers or plants and to take any garbage home. I don’t recall seeing that signage in English, so I am letting you know now. If you do go visit Mt. Kurama please follow the rule I mentioned above. More rules and etiquette is on a pamphlet. I went to Mt. Kurama 3 times and did not see a single trash on a road.

For those of you who smoke, cigarettes ashes and butts also need to be taken home. They do sell a portable personal ashtray at many stores in Japan. If you know you have to smoke there, please bring your ashtray with you. (picture above is the portable personal ashtray in case you did not figure that out yourself)


One of the sad things I heard from my tour guide is that the some of the local people who goes to the Kurama temples for religious reason are not necessary too happy with the Reiki visitors. From what he said, sometimes when there is an event at the Mt. Kurama, people split up into two groups, religious and Reiki people. One of the reason they are not too happy with Reiki group is because some of the Reiki people does not respect some of the rules they have at Mt. Kurama. Some people don’t know the rules and not doing them on purpose, but I can see how it could be annoying for people who is following the rules and paying respect. I think it’s kind of like as a New Yorker sometimes we get annoyed by some tourists who are walking slow and blocking the whole sidewalk. (Even if you are not New Yorker, I am sure your town has some unknown rules that tourist does not know and annoy you.) So, I have decided to include a little tips here and there on my blog so you will be better prepared when you go there one day and make friends with local people.

Mt. Kurama: March 29: Part 2

Well, back to the Mt. Kurama. We took a train from Demachiyanagi station to Kurama station. It’s a very scenic ride. There were plum trees and cherry blossom trees blooming by the train tracks. At the train station, they do have a coin locker there as well if you want to leave some extra stuff you don’t want to carry up the mountain. I was lucky enough to have my guide warn me about wearing sneakers and wearing comfortable clothes. I did see some girls (that were not part of our group) wearing high heels and having a hard time walking. You could take a cable car up to the Kurama temple, but if you really want to get to the part where Master Usui meditated, be prepared to do a serious hike.

Kurama Train Station

Statue of “Tengu” (The Legendary Mountain Goblins of Japan) in a parking lot of Kurama Station. Mt. Kurama is known for stories with Tengu for Japanese people, not for Reiki. In fact, Reiki is lesser known in Japan than the U.S.

There are many steps just to get to the main gate of the temple and it’s just a beginning.

You want to make sure that you cleanse your mouth and your hands every time you come across water spots like this. This is to physically and mentally cleanse you to present yourself in front of God. The process normally calms you down and prepares yourself. Following is the proper etiquette for cleansing your hands and mouth.

1. Pick up a ladle with your right hand and fill it up. You only fill it up once and you will be using this water for the rest of the process.
2. Cleanse left hand by poring some water from the ladle.
3. Transfer the ladle to the left and cleanse right hand by poring some water.
4. Hold the ladle with right hand now and make a cup with left hand. Pour some water into your left hand and bring it to your mouth. (Please do not place ladle directly to your mouth.)
5. Rinse your mouth while you are covering it with your left hand
6. Hold the ladle with both hands and let the rest of the waterfall out by standing it up vertically.
7. Put the ladle back to where you got it.

By the way, I recommend carrying handkerchiefs in Japan. That’s what the most of the Japanese do. They use their own handkerchief instead of a paper towel to wipe their hands. Most of the bathrooms are not equipped with paper towel either. I completely forgot about it and had run out to get one the next day. I needed to air dry my hand every time I cleansed my hands at these water spots that day.

Mt. Kurama: March 29

Today I am going to Mt. Kurama with group of people I have never met. This field trip was organized by a Reiki salon called “Earth”. I was a bit nervous if I would fit in terms of the language and culture since I have been away from Japan so long. I also woke up with pain in my ankle since I walked so much the day before. Not a good start, but that was not going to stop me. I woke up bright and early. I don’t seem to be affected by jet lag at all. I have been going to bed 1-2am and getting up 7am past couple days without any naps. Since I am staying at Kurama Onsen (Inn) tonight, I needed to pack my sleep over stuff as well as my camera gear and some hiking stuff.


I arrive at the meeting spot (Demachiyanagi station) at 10:20am with 10 minutes to spare. I was told the organizer of this event is a middle age guy with shaved head. I don’t see anyone by that description, but I found a couple people who are dressed for hiking. I asked if they are going to Mt. Kurama for the Reiki field trip and they were. We introduced ourselves and started to chat. It seems like everyone in this field trip is a student of the organizer who is a Reiki Teacher. Some of the students knew each other, but not all of them did. So, I was not the only stranger. It was about 10 of us including a couple of kids. They were all about in their 30s to 40s and very nice people. I was stupid enough to buy many things at the Kurama temple, so I was carrying my camera bag, purse, and the paper bag from the Kurama temple. The people on a field trip, without my asking, kept holding my bags for me so that I can take photographs. Towards the end of the hike, it was a very slippery downward hike. I did lose balance couple times and was very thankful that I was not carrying the heavy paper bag with me.

To be continued...

I am back in the U.S.

I am finally back in the U.S. where I know how to use my cell phone and access the internet! I spent most of the last week and a half in a fog with a jet lag. Now my head is working, I am getting back into sharing my Japan trip. I wish I could have done this in real time, but my plan now is to backtrack through my trip and update this blog every 3-7 days. If you sign up for the mailing list, I will email you every time I update the blog. I did so much in those 18 days and cannot wait to share what I saw and learned!

Kyoto

Dear Reiki Photography Blog readers,
I just wanted to let you know that I am still here in Kyoto following my original itinary and more. I have so much to tell you, but I am on a computer at my hotel lobby with a time limit. So, I will keep this short. I will probably end up posting most of my trip when I go back to the states. I do not have internet access for rest of my trip.

Being at Mt. Kurama was amazing. I was able to send a short message from my cell phone to post here to let you know I was finally there. If you have requested a prayer, your request is completed. Has anything changed, did you fell anything? If you have requested post card, stay tuned. I have lots of great photographs to choose from.

I have experienced so many mini miracles in this trip, I really feel that I meant to be here at this moment. I cannot wait till I share these stories with you!