Japan: Nagoya: Osu Kannon Temple

At one end of the Osu Kannon Shopping District is the Osu Kannon Temple, a Buddhist temple that was originally built in 1333 after the Emperor of Japan had a vision about the Bodhisattva of Compassion.  I had heard the temple was quite famous, so when my CouchSurfing group was looking for a place with sightseeing and cheap shopping after visiting Nagoya Castle, I recommended Osu Kannon (and was glad that I did!).

 

The building is truly an impressive structure, and it also houses a huge collection of ancient Chinese and Japanese texts.  Much like at the museum in Nagoya Castle, I’m surprised to find that there’s so much I can learn about ancient China in Japan.  It’s easy to forget that the two countries had such good relations long ago when they effectively hate each others’ guts now.  In that light, the current situation is quite a pity.

Inside, I bought a small sachet that holds a tiny red card from the temple.  You can choose something for most aspirations in life, such as good health or financial prosperity and the like.  I chose one for students, hoping it will help me focus on improving my Japanese language skills.  In Chinese pinyin, it says “xue3 ye4 chang2 jiu4, xue3 li4 xiang4 shang4″, and rather reminded me of the Chinese saying “hao3 hao3 xue2 xi3, tian1 tian1 xiang4 shang4″…  And as I labor to write this, I come to realize that I really need a blog that supports East Asian text…  Sigh.

[Our CS group, left to right, Jiaming, myself, Chandler, and Hero, on the steps of Osu Kannon]

Notice that the wind is doing something quite epic to my hair as this picture is being taken…and I wondered why it was so tangled that evening…

[We all have our moments of fail.]