A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 21 September 2021 - T for Tuesday - T for temples, geisha's, a guzheng and a hike

 Hello lovely ladies, It's Tuesday again and time to meet over a nice drink (or two). While we're sipping our beverage, I would like to show you two postcards from Japan. The first one was sent by Riel (Little Flower) and it features the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple in Kyoto.

Riel mentions it's one of the most popular, famous and crowded temples in Japan and that it is included in the UNESCO WHS list.

Wikipedia writes: Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period.^[2] The temple was founded in 778 by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, ordered by the Tokugawa Iemitsu.^[3] There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water.^[4][5]

It was originally affiliated with the old and influential Hossō sect dating from Nara times.^[6] However, in 1965 it severed that affiliation, and its present custodians call themselves members of the "Kitahossō" sect.^[7]

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.^[8]

The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese translation of the English expression "to take the plunge".^[5] This refers to an Edo-period tradition that held that if one were to survive a 13-meter (43-foot) jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. During the Edo period, 234 jumps were recorded, and of those, 85.4% survived.^[5] The practice was prohibited in 1872.^[5]

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers.

The temple complex includes several other shrines, among them the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, a god of love and "good matches".^[4] Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 10 meters (30 feet) apart,^[9] which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love.^[10] One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

 The site is particularly popular during festivals (especially at New Year's and during obon in the summer) when additional booths fill the grounds selling traditional holiday foodstuffs and souvenirs to throngs of visitors.^[11]

In 2007, Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World.,^[12] but was not picked as one of the seven winning sites.

The stamp on the left is (I think) a mandarin duck, and down the side are the words International Letter Writing Week.

October 9 is World Post Day, commemorating the date in 1874 that the Universal Postal Union was established. The week surrounding this date is also marked as International Letter Writing Week.

The whole series for that year looks like this:

The stamp on the right (on my postcard) is a woman playing a guzheng. This is a guzheng:

It's a Japanese zither.

Here is a Youtube video to hear the sound of this instrument

This stamp series (of musical instruments) looks like this:

My second postcard is also from Japan and it features the Miyako Odon dances  of the Gion geisha, held during April. This annual event is the first sign of the coming spring in Kyoto.

Japan’s geisha are famous the world over, but as they usually perform only at small private gatherings in the teahouses of the geisha districts, it’s not often that visitors from overseas get to see them. Even having deep enough pockets to pay for a private geisha party isn’t good enough – you need an introduction from an existing client in order to gain admittance to the private and exclusive world of the geisha. Fortunately, Kyoto’s geisha communities put on annual public shows, which provide an opportunity for less-privileged ordinary people to see the geisha perform their arts. The most famous of these performances is the Miyako Odori, at which the geisha of the Gion Kobu geisha community perform.

Geiko and Maiko

Geiko are women trained in dance and music, with an emphasis on grace, beauty and dignity. (Kyoto geisha prefer to be called ‘geiko’ meaning ‘arts child’, rather than ‘geisha’, which means ‘arts person’.) Geiko communities are very traditional, and are governed by strict rules, and the Gion Kobu community is perhaps the most conservative of all. Geiko begin their careers as apprentices called ‘maiko’, usually aged fifteen. From then on, they move into a geiko house, and dedicate their lives to the geiko world. First they are trained in conduct becoming of a geiko – bowing deeply to show respect to their seniors, and undertaking everyday tasks with grace and elegance. They then move on to training in the geiko’s arts, such as music, dance and calligraphy, and they begin to join the geiko in entertaining clients in Kyoto’s teahouses. Around the age of twenty, maiko graduate from their apprenticeship, and become fully-fledged geiko.

The stamps are very pretty. 

The man on the brown stamp is the founder of the Japanese Postal System. 

Baron Maejima Hisoka (前島 密, January 24, 1835 – April 27, 1919), born Ueno Fusagorō (上野 房五郎), was a Japanese statesman, politician, and businessman in Meiji-period Japan. Maejima founded the Japanese postal service, and is known as Yūbin Seido no Chichi (郵便制度の父), or "Father of the Postal System".

Then there is another Letter Writing Week stamp. This time from 2020.

After having 'been' to Japan, we travel back with the intention of visiting Elizabeth and Bluebeard's T-Party. 

My qualifier for this T-Party is my Kombucha. I still make it regularly. Here are some bottles I did this week. They have to stay sealed like this for at least two weeks for their second fermentation.

Sometimes there is a duff bottle, and then we hear a loud 'Bang! and then we know another bottle has exploded. It happened a few times last year. This year only once (last week).

It makes a lot of mess. And the glass shards fly everywhere.

Here is a bottle that definitely didn't explode. We have finished drinking it and I am keeping the bottle so I can buy the same one again as we both like it.

It is Port of course.

On Friday I showed pictures of our excursion to the Alhambra in Granada, and today I will show some pictures of the mountain hike I did on Sunday.

I am wearing the pink top.

Most participants were young people, and there were a few families with children.  Apart from my gym teacher and me, there was nobody over 50.

This is a very old and tall pine.

The mountain was called La Sagra.

Standing on top of the world!

I like walking with my sticks.

That wraps it up for me. 

Happy T-Day all!

Hugs,

Lisca