This is a digital reproduction of a photo taken inside a temple. We can recognize the place from the Buddhist style statue in the background, and the long rope connected to a 'bell' that, when shaken, is intended to get the attention of the spirit there for prayer. Several people are lined up and looking in the direction of the stature, one of whom is mid-bow, and ranges from older men and women to what seems to be a younger girl towards the front. However, for me, nothing from this angle marks this image as particularly Japanese--perhaps opposed to China or Hong Kong--except for the bell pull, which I -believe- is only found in Japanese temples and am probably wrong about that nevermind.
But it does read as specifically 'asia' if only because of the gilded kanji characters, which even fro those who can't read Kanji can be recognized as 'non-western' because they do not resemble roman letters in any way. Instead of one of the large matsuri scenes, we have here a tiny and crowded, perhaps more 'usual' scene, though I am not sure if Temples are usually this crowded unless there's some event involved or it is a particularly popular and well known shrine.
For some strange reason I feel like I've been to this temple...
The buddhist statue is far away, so it didn't catch my eye at first. I was first staring at the people at the bottom of the picture and it reminded me of how many pictures I have inside temples like this! :)
For people that do not know japanese culture they might think this as chinese, but I think it strikes me as Japanese because there are many temples like this in japan, with the buddhist shrine and the bell, etc.
I think it's a really cool picture! the angle shows the shrine well and makes it more personally with the people at the bottom of the picture
I agree with both posts, I think that this image is of a Buddhist temple. I at first didn't know that was a bell pull, or that it was a significantly "Japanese" thing. It appears to be a pretty big tourist attraction in Kyoto since the photographer was only able to get this close to the shrine. My eye was immediately drawn to the ornate alter with all the gold and red. It looks almost like it is a store front with how narrow the picture is and that these viewers are window shopping. -Christina
This is a digital reproduction of a photo taken inside a temple. We can recognize the place from the Buddhist style statue in the background, and the long rope connected to a 'bell' that, when shaken, is intended to get the attention of the spirit there for prayer. Several people are lined up and looking in the direction of the stature, one of whom is mid-bow, and ranges from older men and women to what seems to be a younger girl towards the front. However, for me, nothing from this angle marks this image as particularly Japanese--perhaps opposed to China or Hong Kong--except for the bell pull, which I -believe- is only found in Japanese temples and am probably wrong about that nevermind.
ReplyDeleteBut it does read as specifically 'asia' if only because of the gilded kanji characters, which even fro those who can't read Kanji can be recognized as 'non-western' because they do not resemble roman letters in any way. Instead of one of the large matsuri scenes, we have here a tiny and crowded, perhaps more 'usual' scene, though I am not sure if Temples are usually this crowded unless there's some event involved or it is a particularly popular and well known shrine.
For some strange reason I feel like I've been to this temple...
ReplyDeleteThe buddhist statue is far away, so it didn't catch my eye at first. I was first staring at the people at the bottom of the picture and it reminded me of how many pictures I have inside temples like this! :)
For people that do not know japanese culture they might think this as chinese, but I think it strikes me as Japanese because there are many temples like this in japan, with the buddhist shrine and the bell, etc.
I think it's a really cool picture! the angle shows the shrine well and makes it more personally with the people at the bottom of the picture
I agree with both posts, I think that this image is of a Buddhist temple. I at first didn't know that was a bell pull, or that it was a significantly "Japanese" thing. It appears to be a pretty big tourist attraction in Kyoto since the photographer was only able to get this close to the shrine.
ReplyDeleteMy eye was immediately drawn to the ornate alter with all the gold and red. It looks almost like it is a store front with how narrow the picture is and that these viewers are window shopping.
-Christina