| If you're going to visit Japan, you have to read | | | | There are many ancient temples and shrines, not |
| this article based on Miki's blog. Japan is full of | | | | only in cities like Kyoto and Nara, but all over |
| history and there are many places to visit. Some | | | | Japan. Today, we will discuss the Yakushiji temple |
| are more steeped in history than others are. One | | | | in Nara prefecture. Yakushiji is one of Japan's |
| place you've got to see is Yakushiji temple, but | | | | World Heritage sites. They completed the tower |
| there's something about it you need to know first! | | | | around the year 698 C.E. and moved it to its |
| Built in 698 C.E., the Yakushiji temple in Nara | | | | current location approximately 1,300 years ago. |
| prefecture holds quite a secret. Learn why one of | | | | Because of natural disaster, the only part of the |
| the towers is taller than the other one, and what's | | | | temple remaining untouched is the east tower. |
| in store for the temple in the future. You won't | | | | The restoration expert, Tsunekazu Nishioka, |
| believe what the builder had in mind! | | | | rebuilt the west tower, which is next to the east |
| Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following | | | | tower, in 1981. Although the towers are supposed |
| words and phrases:jinjya - "Shinto shrine"kanse(i) - | | | | to be a matching pair, the newer west tower is |
| 1: "complete, completion" 2: "perfection, | | | | taller and more colorful. The regular layperson |
| accomplishment"saigai - "calamity, disaster, | | | | might even assume that this was a mistake on |
| misfortune"saiken - "rebuilding, reconstruction, | | | | the carpenter's part, but Mr. Nishioka boldly |
| rehabilitation"kenchiku - "construction, | | | | decided to alter the height. The towers, which are |
| architecture"aet(e) - "dare (to do), challenge (to | | | | made of wood, shrink with the passage of time. |
| do)"omom(i) - "importance, weight, dignity, | | | | According to Mr. Nishioka, after one thousand |
| emphasis"shizumu - "to sink, to feel | | | | years, the two towers should be the same height. |
| depressed"tsukuru - "to make, to create, to | | | | The east tower must have looked like the new |
| manufacture, to draw up, to write"senmon - | | | | west tower when it was newly built. If you think |
| "specialty, subject of study, expert"daiku - | | | | only in the moment, it might have been better to |
| "carpenter"zan nen nagara - "I'm afraid to say, I'm | | | | build the new west tower with the same height |
| sorry to say"sedai - "generation, the world, the | | | | and color as the old east tower. However, how |
| age"shison - "descendants, posterity, | | | | about when you think one thousand years down |
| offspring"hitoajichigau - "be just a little bit | | | | the road? People, such as Mr. Nishioka who |
| different, be something new to one"tateru - "to | | | | specialize in temple and shrine restoration, work |
| build, to construct"mesaki - "near future, | | | | with the next thousand years in mind. I am in |
| immediate, before one"sekaiisan - "World | | | | awe of the living power of wood and of the work |
| Heritage"idoo suru - "to move, to transfer"too - | | | | done by these talented carpenters. |
| "tower"seimeiryoku - "vital energies, | | | | Unfortunately, I won't be able to witness these |
| vitality"tameiki - "sigh"mirai - "the future" (usually | | | | two towers becoming the same height a |
| distant) | | | | thousand years down the road. However, it's |
| Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following | | | | exciting to wonder what future generations will |
| words and phrases: | | | | think upon seeing these towers. Traveling to |
| "Question" "Why are the heights of the east | | | | Kyoto or Nara with this fact in mind might make |
| tower and the west tower different?" | | | | you appreciate your trip in a different way. |
| "Answer" "The towers, which are made of wood, | | | | What will the buildings that are being constructed |
| shrink with the passage of time. Therefore, the | | | | all over Japan now look like a thousand years |
| west tower is higher so that the two towers are | | | | from now? It would be nice to leave for posterity |
| going to be the same height in one thousand | | | | buildings not only beautiful to the eye, but also |
| years." | | | | beautiful for the future. What sort of historical |
| ---- | | | | buildings do you have in your country? |
| Japanese Temples | | | | |