Japan Buddhist Temple After Dark

[GreyElf3K]

The Wheel of Fortune at 18:42 reminds me of the giant Tibetan prayer wheels.

[Yenaroo]

When you tripped over the beam at the entrance, do you hear a whining noise? At first I thought it was screaming. The funny thing is, that its constant until you step over the beam properly.

Kinda freaked me out. Sounds like screaming.

[softypapa]

@Yenaroo Ah, I know that noise though I have learned to tune it out after frequent visits to this temple. What you are hearing is the water pump running at the nearby priest's residence. The timing was indeed perfect and certainly freaky if you did not know the source of the sound. However, the source of the sound in the woods beyond the graves remains a mystery still... Thank you for watching and sharing your observation! ~Kurt :-)

[Symph909]

Whoa. at 23:00

No Sh---t!!

You certainly have some guts cause I wouldn't have stayed to narrate ANYTHING if I hear something moving at the entrance of a cemetery of abandoned people.. Whoa.. haha..

[LivingDog94]

Where in the world can you do this and feel completely at ease? 5*

[Daibusshi]

Very cool video... I live in LA, but last month when I was in Nara, I walked up to the Namdaemun late at night and just hung out with Unkei & Kaikei's Ungyo and Agyo for about an hour. I was the only soul around for the entire time. It was an amazing night, I can still close my eyes and go back there anytime I wish. Thanks for sharing, keep 'em coming!

[dmarie1184]

You should definitely go back up there during the daytime so we can see the forest and the cave.

And I probably wouldn't have looked at the deserted graves either--at least not at night :P I love Japanese ghost stories too--read a lot, especially since I'm writing a novel about the ghost/ghoul/mythical creature the Yuki-onna. So...at least it's not winter and you don't have to worry about her stalking you in the woods at night :P

[tbalsillie]

dark doesn't quite describe that.

[weya]

That was both amazing AND beautiful! I'm happy I stuck with you to the end, too! Although, I was comfortably eating my breakfast at home as you trekked into an unknown dark abyss... I'm sort of a lousy sidekick...

[TiramisuHappy]

Lately, we've been seeing you sneaking out of the house a lot for "long walks" at night! Something going on at home?? ; P

I'm so glad this episode of nighttime-wandering didn't end up in a "yukue humei todoke" (missing person report) to the police!

This should've been filmed a few months ago during the mid-summer. That's the official ghost-sighting season of Japan!! ; )

I lived in Kamakura city for about a year when I was a kid. As you know, Kamakura is famous for its ancient (cont'd)>>>

[TiramisuHappy]

>>> temples and shrines all over town. Kids back then used to play "kimo dameshi" (literal translation: 'testing your guts', kinda like a dare) on the temple grounds when it got dark at night. The whole town was rife with fantastic ghost stories and we were totally aware of what type of "things" we just might encounter. Boys would (one by one) deliberately walk into complete darkness of a graveyard in the back of one of those big old temples. And you're supposed to retrieve (cont'd)>>>

[TiramisuHappy]

>>> an object from the site back to your awaiting friends in the street light (often laughing their asses off!) "What's the matter? You look like you've just seen a stupid ghost!" Kids...

I don't know if children play those games any more these days. They're prolly busy playing their Xbox or PlayStation at home!! : (

Great memories never die.

[clayton1911]

Kurt if you see a Kitsune, do not look them in the eyes, they could have hypnotic powers just run ok!

lol thanks for sharing I enjoyed it,

[ronin6290]

I do hope that your wife beat you soundly when she saw this video, lol, I would rather wrestle with a tengu than one of those. . . great stuff however! Keep them coming. ~M,.

[Seanuk]

I will not be surprised if this turns into a Blair Witch film for Japan, Softypapa fights of Tengu! lol

[lostinxlation]

Buddhism and Shintoism coexists w/o having fought and destroyed each other because the govt made it that way long time ago.

When Buddhism got popularity, someone came up with the idea that even Shinto gods needed the relief from the suffering like the human did. Along with that line, they integrated shrines and temples and till the beginning of Meiji era, running shirines was the job of temples. Some temples were built ONLY to run shrines in those days.

[lostinxlation]

This custom got changed when Meiji govt decided to separate them and they are completely separate entities now, but you often can see stuffs from Buddhism and Shintoism mixed up in one place, which are the remainings of those days that two religions shared the same ground.

The idea to integrate Buddhism and Shintoism is called 神仏習合.

Today, they are separated and it is called 神仏分離.

[reaper4255]

Longest video I've seen on youtube, also one of the best!

[jordanems]

WOW! You live in Japan

[reymiland]

Thank you so much for this. Perhaps what you heard in the older graveyard was there to protect you and perhaps also to guide you away from a danger you would have faced had you wandered into the graveyard.

Thank you again for letting us see your world a bit through your eyes, as it were...

[plasmag1c]

my neighbour chant to japanese idol too, it is like a small cupboard , after done she will close it , is tat buddhist?

[allgoo19]

Excellent footage and narration, softypapa.