Today I’m visiting Seimei Shrine, the main destination of this Kyoto trip. Seimei was a grand master of Onmyodo. He’s a historically significant figure, and he was a hit in the movies too. I hear his grave is on the outskirts of Kyoto, but the shrine sits to the north of central Kyoto. I’d been there before, but it was my friend’s first time. It was a hot day, so walking around was tough.
The torii gate
It has a kind of thrown-together knockoff feel, doesn’t it? It was probably built after the movies came out.
This isn’t drinking water.
It’s for purifying your hands. Nobody knows what happens if you drink it.
The shrine
It hasn’t changed much since my last visit, but the surroundings have changed a bit. On top of that, there’s now a statue of Seimei. Peaches are said to hold the power to ward off evil… but why it’s there, I dunno.
Ema plaques with wishes written on them
As far as I know, hanging one of those costs about 10,000 yen. Seimei is famous for being prickly, so I wonder what kind of wishes he’ll actually grant. Above all, you should never pray for your love life to go well. Even a relationship that’s going great could fall apart.
Episodes about Seimei are hung up here.
Those who know them already know them all, I guess.
A shrine maiden
She was really pretty for a shrine maiden, but the photo came out weird. There’s a popular saying that the younger and richer a shrine is, the prettier its miko. If a shrine doesn’t make money it can’t hire miko, and if it’s old, family members do the miko part-time work.
This is a shrine I found after leaving Seimei Shrine.
Apparently it’s a shrine where you pray to cut off bad ties and form good ones. In a word, a shrine just for affairs, I suppose. -_- Kyoto really has all kinds of shrines. No wonder people can’t help coming to Kyoto.