Hello, I'm Andrew Marston and welcome to Tour Japan
the show where I tell you about a place in Japan and then we go there.
Today we're headed to yet another location that's part of Kyoto's UNESCO world heritage site
the legendary Buddhist temple Kiyomizudera.
The most famous part of the temple complex is the 13m tall wooden stage
that extends from the front of the main hall.
During the Edo period it was believed that if you jumped off the stage and survived
your wish would be granted
Although now this practice has been prohibited
of the 234 recorded jumps during that period
an impressive 200 jumpers survived
and hopefully got their wish.
The temple was built on the site of the Otowa Waterfall
whose famously pure waters still flow near the bottom of the temple complex
and has been channelled into three streams for visitors to partake of
Also near the stage you'll find the iron spear and sandals of the legendary strong-man warrior-monk Benkei
alongside a regular pole weapon used by ordinary non-strong man monks
As the story goes, if you're able to lift the spear
you'll be endowed with prospoerity and are worth to be a protector of Kiyomizudera.
Lastly, twice a year they have special illumination events at night.
once at the end of March during Hanatoro during sakura season
and again in the end of November for the autumn leaves, which is when we're visiting
Alright, here comes a smorgasbord of fall colors so I hope you're hungry...
... or something...
... start the video...
So, whenever I visit Kiyomizudera
inevitably I end thinking about how I would try to survive that 13m stage jump and get my wish granted.
Would I go for the classic Parkour, dive-roll at the point of impact
Would I just wear a bunch or loose clothing and whole bunch of padding underneath?
Let me know in the comments what creative stategy you would employ to survive the jump
and also what your wish would be.
Thanks for watching, I'm Andrew Marston. See you next time.
You've been watching Tour Japan on the Happy in Japan channel.
Click here to watch another episode, and subscribe now.