Kimono Day

Today was Kimono Day! We headed out at 8:15 to put on our dresses and then headed out for a day of sightseeing and shopping. After putting on the eighteen layers of clothing and twenty belts that constitute the Kimono, we headed to Kiyomizu temple to pray at the shrines and admire the view. The main building of the temple was actually a large stage, which people used to jump off of to get wishes granted. With an 85% survival rate it was doing pretty well, but even so people are no longer allowed to jump off the 13 meter high platform.

After touring the temple (and getting a good number of admiring glances from the locals) we shopped in the area around the temple, culminating in a free for all modeling session for the Kimono-clad Ross team. Once the photo crazed crowd began to thin we headed down the winding, Kimono-unfriendly steps to our lunch. After 45 minutes of noodles and tea, we another temple, this one with an extremely large Buddha on the roof. We were able to enter the Buddha from the back, and inside were 12 shrines, one for each sign of the Chinese zodiac.

Not yet satisfied, and with plenty of gas left in our Kimonos, we headed to Kennin-ji temple. This was a large, traditional temple complex that housed a very large painting of two dragons and a number of other traditional Japanese art. After leaving Kennin-ji, we walked through Gion district, an area known for its Geishas, although we didn't get to see any.

It was finally time to say goodbye to our Kimonos. Many tears were shed as the layers and belts were removed one by one, but in the end we were happy to be back in normal clothes. After putting on our jeans and sweaters again we headed to a ninja-themed restaurant, where we cooked our food at the table and were entertained by a ninja-slash-magician who dazzled us by juggling swords and vanishing handkerchiefs. With our stomachs full, we grabbed some desert and coffee and jumped on a bus back home. A long but fulfilling day.



- Floriaan, Lorenzo, and Sebastian.