The fantastic tour at the Samurai Museum presents visitors with a brief history lesson of feudal Japan. The young and knowledgeable tour guides shed light on the hierarchy of Japan’s ruling power during the Shogunate period, which lasted for roughly 7 centuries between 1192 and 1867 A.D. During this time, Japan alternated between the unnerving peace under military dictatorships and the destructive chaos of civil wars before the Meiji Restoration ushered in the modern era for the nation.

The Samurai Museum is certainly a top activity for a trip in Kyoto. It balances history learning with quite a bit of fun. It is especially suitable for family with children. Even as an adult, I enjoyed participating in the game of throwing shuriken, a typical distraction device of the ninjas. English tours are available.

At the Samurai Museum, the Samurai and the Ninja were the stars of the show. Their origins, identities, history and culture expressed the defining traits of Japanese society during the medieval times. I have discussed the samurai in the last entry, and I will go through some basics of the ninja here.

Ninja Explained

In Japanese, the word ninja is consisted of the characters bearing the meaning of “invisible / hidden person.” This itself expresses the essential qualities of a ninja. They were coveted agents that engaged mostly in spying missions. In the feudal hierarchy of Japan during the Shogunate period, this somewhat odd profession arose as mercenary agents for both the Shogun, the Daimyo and the samurai.

Ninja as Coveted Agents

Despite having known of the ninjas from children’s cartoons since a young age, I had never actually fully understood what they did. All that I knew was that their black outfits covered all over their bodies except the eyes. They carried a short, single-edged sword, wore straw sandals and had superpowers like gliding on water and throwing shurikens at their enemies.

I garnered some real sense of the ninja phenomenon at the Samurai Museum, finally moving beyond the popular representation of the ninjas in children’s comics. The ninjas were the covet spies for hire and they came mostly from the peasant class. As mercenary fighters they often conducted intelligence and ambush missions, as well as irregular fighting against the enemy of their hirers and bodyguarding. During the Ashikaga Shogunate, the Daimyo, which had become increasingly powerful then, actively hired the ninjas for their agile skills to conduct missions.

The village clans of Iga and Koka were known to have trained professional ninjas. It is said that the Iga and Koka ninjas played a critical part in securing the Tokugawa shogunate. After the assassination of the powerful Daimyo Oda Nobunaga, the Koka Ninjas accompanied Togukawa Ieyasu on a long journey. Tokugawa Ieyasu reached a friendly territory by the escort of the Koka ninjas.

Finally, the ninjas also participated in the besieging of the Osaka Castle in the Osaka siege of 1614. They fought alongside the Tokugawa regular army. These incidents were critical in solidifying the Tokugawa Shogunate’s eventual power in the very last Shogunate in Japanese history.

The Ninja Weaponry

The shuriken is a star shaped metal plate with sharp edges. The ninjas would throw these or place them on the ground as a way to distract their enemies. Sometimes the edges of the shuriken were coated with poison. A common source of poison is the blowfish.

The shuriken was but one of the many devices that a ninja would carry with him on missions. However, they were actually quite heavy and so each ninja would only carry a few of those. The chief weapon is the single edged short sword, which they would use to harm their enemies. The sickle and chain could disarm the enemy by dislodging their swords, as well as attacking them with the sharp blade. The grappling hook was a device for besieging the Japanese castles at night.

A Game of Shuriken

At the Samurai Museum we had a shuriken throwing session and the visitors had a competition. We each had a chance to throw different numbers of shrikens at one time. The ones who won would take home the shuriken. Someone did actually manage to strike the Styrofoam board with all 5 shurikens in one throw. That is not easy to do. The best I could do was the get one in at one throw.

The Infamous Kamikaze Reference Explained

Finally, at the Samurai Museum I have learned something incredibly interesting about the Kamikaze. As we all know, the Kamikaze were the infamous suicide mission jets of the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII. They were the terrifying jet fighters that menaced the allied forces. Officially “Divine Wind Special Attack Unit,” these jets aimed at destroying the Allied naval fleets with agility and effectiveness.

According to the Wikipedia, “About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war in attacks that killed more than 7,000 Allied naval personnel, sank several dozen warships, and damaged scores more.” (The Wikipedia on Kamikaze).

Meaning “divine wind,” the word kamikaze was always associated with the war history of Japan. I learned in the Samurai Museum that it was a reference to the failed invasion of Japan by the Chinese Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. In 1274 and 1281, the Mongols of Kublai Khan attempted to invade Japan by sea in two separate occasions. But both of their attempts were stalled due to typhoons.

To the Japanese people, it was the “divine wind” that protected them in face of invasion by foreign forces.

Sources

Descriptions on site at the Samurai Museum.

The Wikipedia on Ninja.

The Wikipedia on Kamikaze.

Nanzen-ji Temple is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan. Nestled in the foothill of the Higashiyama mountains, Nanzen-ji Temple has an enormous temple ground that accommodates many sub-temples, as well as a 19^th century aqueduct. This presents tourists the opportunity for a variety of scenery in the tour. Needless to say, the late 13^th century temple is itself a history lesson to learn, besides the messages that inform the philosophy of life at its famous Zen karesansui garden.

The History of the Nanzen-ji Temple

Nanzen-ji Temple began as Emperor Kameyama’s retirement villa, a detached palace called Zenrin-ji palace during the middle of the Kamakura period in 1264. The name of this palace was taken in reference to the Eikando-ji Temple, which lies nearby to the north of Nanzen-ji Temple.

In 1287, Emperor Kameyama built a temple in the palace, and this temple stood for the inception of the villa’s religious nature. The original villa was turned into a temple in 1291, two years after Emperor Kameyama abdicated the throne and turned to the life of ascetism as a monk in 1289. By then, Nanzen-ji Temple has taken the form and substance as Japan’s “first temple of the land.”

Throughout its long history, the temple had experienced complete destruction during the civil wars of the Muromachi period (1333-1573). Reconstruction completed in 1597, and the temple continued to expand through the Edo period. However, in 1895, the Hatto was once again destroyed by fire. The current structure is a reconstruction in 1909.

The Religious Significance of the Nanzen-ji Temple

Nanzen-ji Temple is the head temple that oversees the Five Zen Mountains of Kyoto, of which Tenryu-ji Temple is one. In terms of its Buddhism, Nanzen-ji Temple is representative of the Rinzai school of Buddhism. Under its supervision are two tracks of great temples. The Five Zen Mountains of Kyoto was one, and the Five Zen Mountains of Kamakura was the other.

There are a number of exceptional features that Nanzen-ji Temple offers, making it a great destination for tourists. As with all temples in Japan, Nanzen-ji Temple is unique in its own right. I will briefly discuss some of the amazing features there that made the tour an incredible experience for me.

Sanmon

You won’t miss the stately wooden gate of Sanmon at the Nanzen-ji Temple. A structure of 1628, the Sanmon Gate was a gate established by the Tokugawa shogunate to commemorate the soldiers that died in the Osaka Castle siege. The very original Sanmon Gate of the 13^th century had long been destroyed by fire in 1447.

Meaning “three doors,” the Sanmon Gate of Nanzen-ji Temple is considered one of “Kyoto’s three main gateways.” The building has two stories. The upper level gives home to spirit tablets and precious Japanese artwork.

The Zen Garden at the Hojo

The Hojo is the abbot’s residence and the main hall of Nanzen-ji Temple.

The key features to appreciate at the Hojo are the national grade cultural treasures of fusuma (sliding door) paintings, the artwork of the Kano school of artists in the 17^th century; and the Zen rock garden, with an imagery of a mother tiger bearing her cubs across a river.

The Zen garden here was the work of Kobori Enshu, who was a 17^th century tea ceremony and garden design master. He was known to have introduced “western perspectives” in his gardens, including the perfect ratio to achieve the visual effects that encourage meditation.

The Hojo is quite a big compound and the red foliage there was very beautiful. I did sit at the porch and admired the Zen garden. Despite the heavy foot traffic there, I did feel momentary peace.

Tenjuan Temple

Meaning “heaven given,” the Tenjuan Temple is a small sub temple of Nanzen-ji Temple, with a main hall, a study and two gardens of 17^th century construction. This temple commemorates a Zen religious master that used to instruct Emperor Kameyama on Zen Buddhism.

By this time of my tour in Kyoto, I had seen a dozen of temple and villa gardens already. Yet I was still amazed by Tenjuan Temple’s garden. In autumn time it has a charm that works in mysterious ways.

The day was brightly lit, but the Tenjuan Garden was cool with a warm penumbra, as trees with lush red foliage line the small pond. Large carps in gold and red swam sluggishly in the pond, their tails stroking the fallen maple leaves floating on the pond’s surface. This garden space by the pond reminds me of a gentlewoman of sublime grace. I might like this garden even more so than the Sogenchi garden of Tenryu-ji Temple.

Tourists must stroll in one direction from the main hall of the temple. I loved the garden space so much that I took two rounds at the pond.

The Nanzen-ji Suirokaku Water Bridge

The Nanzen-ji acqueduct is a 19^th century red brick public utility structure, a part of the Lake Biwa Canal system. The Lake Biwa Canal was a public project that the Governor of Kyoto proposed to revive Kyoto from economic and cultural decline after the Meiji reign moved its imperial seat from Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1869.

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Beginning in 1890, the canal system draws water from Biwa Lake and in the process of channeling the water it provides Kyoto with both drinking and irrigation water, the source to power hydroelectric plants and also a passageway that enabled the transportation of goods. Tanabe Sakuro was the chief engineer for this project.

At that time in history, such an infrastructure was groundbreaking for Japan as the chief engineer drew upon the latest infrastructural expertise from the United States. The western style architecture of the aqueduct, named Suirokaku Water Bridge, with beautiful arches rolling to infinity, presents a remarkable juxtaposition to the traditional Japanese temples that span over the temple ground of Nanzen-ji.

The Biwa Canal system is still in use today for the transportation of water between Lake Biwa and Kyoto to fulfill water demand. However, the waterway no longer allows freight passage.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Nanzen-ji.

Nipponderful.com on Tenjuan Garden.

The Wikipedia on Nanzen-ji in Kyoto (Chin).

Japan-guide.com on Nanzenji Temple.

The Wikipedia on the Biwa Lake Canal.

Touristinjapan.com on Nanzen-ji Temple.

The Wikipedia on Kobori Enshu.