Osaka Science Museum – $5.5 for two adults, kids free. Cute, lovely museum. The fourth floor has the most amount of interesting hands on experiments.
- Word of the day: Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines. (Source: Wikipedia.)
- Lion-dogs or komainu (Korean dogs) are often in pairs at the entrance to shrines. Sometimes they will be inside the shrine. They guard against evil spirits. Some private houses have them at entrances. It’s thought they originated in India and came, with Buddhism to Japan. Often one komainu will have it’s mouth open (some say the male), one will have it closed (female). The open mouth is sounding ‘a’ and closed mouth ‘um’, the beginning and end of the Sanskrit alphabet representing the beginning and end of all things. The ‘um’ becomes ‘om’, the vibration of the universe in Buddhism. In Greek the letters would be alpha and omega.
- They can be seen at Buddhist and Shinto temples.
- Foxes, or kitsune in Japanese, are protectors at the entrance to Inari shrines. There are over 32,000 individual Shinto Shrines in Japan. Inari shrines are dedicated to Inari, the god of rice, fertility, tea, sake, agriculture and industry. Foxes are regarded as the messenger of Inari. They are the guardians and replace komainu (Lion-dogs) of other shrines. Foxes protect the kami or spirits. Kitsune are mythical creatures and have magical powers. They can be male, female, both or neither. The white ones are supposedly good foxes and the black ones are tricksters. The fox above holds a key to the rice granary. The last one has a jewel on it’s tail and the first one hold a golden rope. The crimson bib, also seen on many other creatures, could be a symbol connected to the red of the torii gates. (Source: https://www.dianehollands.com/torii-lion-dogs-and-foxes.)
- Some statues of kitsune, which are often adorned with red yodarekake (votive bibs) by worshippers out of respect.
