Shrines, Swords and Study

I'm still getting used to weekends that I don't spend at work. In fact, I'm still getting used to not being at any kind of work throughout the whole week. Sometimes I get a bit "What? There's no money coming in? So every time I spend money I'm running at a loss?!" but this is all a part of acclimatising to this new environment. I would never have been able to do this a few years ago. Moving back to the issue of weekends, even though I try to be lazy and sleep in I find myself waking up at a similar time as on weekdays, during the day itself time seems to creep by, but at the end it feels like it's flown by.

As my destination for this Saturday's wonderings I chose Atsuta Shrine (熱田神宮/Atsuta Jingu), one of the three most important Shinto shrines in Japan. On the way there I passed the first above-ground train station I've seen since arriving - the trains didn't look that different from English ones, except the electricity runs above them on wires rather than below on rails. It also helped me visualise possible routes to the airport a bit better. Premature, I know, but the memory of the trip from the airport to my dorm previously filled me with some uncertain horror, so I want to be as organised and familiar as possible for when I make it again next January.

The trip to Atsuta (walking, as usual) took a surprisingly short amount of time. Once there I was a bit confused as to which was the parking entrance and which the pedestrian, but eventually I found myself in front of a massive wooden gate (or tori) and walked though into the shrine grounds. Since being in Japan I have noticed that when one enters a shrine everything seems to become a lot more quiet and peaceful, as if a kind of holy aura surrounds the place. I'd make an analogy to English churches, but my memory of them is somewhat hazy. And the change in atmosphere might just be because I turned off my iPod, anyway.

Atsuta Shrine lies in the middle of a large, shady grove, I'd say overall about the size of the graveyard in Southampton Common, perhaps a little bigger. All around this place were scattered smaller shrines, then at the site of the main shrine were several buildings used for wedding ceremonies and the like. I actually caught site of a couple in Shinto wedding gear, as well as a chap who was having his new car blessed. Within the shrine (not open to the public) a whole load of important deities are venerated, and legend has it that Kusanagi, a mythical sword and national treasure, is stored inside, though no one has ever been able to confirm this.

There was an area with benches and things for resting, in front of which was a pond in which carp and turtles swam. Also a large sacred tree, which was clearly incredibly old, though gnarled and not even as tall as the entrance gates. Japan has the highest life-expectancy for humans in the world (average 82, according to Wikipedia), and though I don't stop to ask people their age, I've seen quite a few elderly-looking people on my travels who seem mobile enough but very stooped in posture. Perhaps there is a connection?

Sunday consisted mainly (as did Saturday evening) of studying, in an attempt to get into a good rhythm of getting work done again, though I did venture out once or twice to find food. For the first time since arriving in Japan I managed to walk to the Aeon Mall at Aratamabashi without getting seriously lost! My excuse of shopping there to save 20 yen on bread used to sort of fall apart when I'd spend 230 yen getting home on the underground, so successfully pulling it off this week gave me a certain amount of pride. Next stop, Nobel Prize!

Every picture ever taken of Atsuta shrine.