Post by washi on Apr 29, 2015 0:52:38 GMT
Photo by 663highland
(Who I hope will forgive me, since I presented it unsullied and properly attributed in the placemark.)
The spectacularly beautiful Byōdō-in in nearby Uji (the temple on the 10 yen coin) is well worth the time of visitors to Kyoto to go out of their way to see. Uji is famous for tea, especially matcha, the powdered green tea used in the Japanese Ceremony, and browsing though the shops near the temple can be delightful. But since 1998, Uji holds at least one other attraction that is well worth seeing, and that is the Tale of Genji Museum. The last 10 chapters of Murasaki Shikibu's classic work of fiction are set in Uji, and this is a point of much local pride.
The museum is on the opposite side of the river. To get there one can cross the street bridge (which according to a painting in the museum, is located about the same place as the ancient bridge that was essential since ancient times for getting between the Kyoto and Nara areas without a long detour). I strongly recommend taking the foot bridge instead, because it gives much more the feel of the historic one, and looking down at the powerful current passing under your feet cannot help but recall Ukifune's thoughts of suicide by throwing herself into the rushing water. Going this way will take you through the Ujigami Shrine, one of Japan's most ancient, and dedicated to the brother of the legendary Emperor Ōjin, who is said to have lived there before he killed himself so his brother could ascend the throne. The route will also take you though a beautiful shaded glen, which you can see in Google Street View.
Information about the museum is presented in the placemark. My real purpose in posting this is because, with 3 days only before the GEC Layer is locked, I bought a hard drive case and fished out several pieces from the c:drive of the computer that died before I had finished the work. What I want to do with this piece is drop one more link into the Layer for a piece that I never wanted to post there, but which I immodestly think is worthy of note. The attached file is as complete as anything I write ever is, so I am posting it in a regular forum here, and over in the old GEC as well.
Download File
