After two calm days of “just being” in Osaka and taking in the atmosphere, I visited Kyoto today. Another large city, but with a much older feel to it, probably because of the many historical temples and shrines. When I left my hotel this morning, I imagined myself being submerged in spiritual reflection while strolling from one holy place to another.
Well…. not quite.
Surprisingly enough, I was not the only person with the idea of visiting Kyoto. Busloads of tourists were unloaded on the parking lots around the shrines and temples, spreading themselves in multiple streams flowing through the narrow streets. Once you get caught in it, you cannot do anything else but float along. Carefully you scan for little openings for an escape, even as briefly as a minute, to take in the scenery. I write carefully because there is a constant danger of having your eyes poked out by a sunbrella or colliding with the evil of all evils: the selfie-stick.
Despite the interesting history of the different sites (two of which are on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list) and the stories about their construction, most people seem to have come for two things only: selfies and luck (selfish luck?).
I remember standing opposite the temple Kinkaku-Ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) whose image is reflected beautifully in the Kyôko-chi (the Mirror Pond). Still, almost everybody had their backs turned to the spectacle and eyes were instead directed upwards as in worship to their own reflection held up high by the selfie-stick. Minutes pass until finally the perfect selfie has been obtained and the temple is left behind without a second look.
The hunger for the perfect selfie is only forgotten (briefly) when in front of the opportunity to buy luck. Truly an astonishing amount of money is spent on lucky charms.
I once read somewhere that superstition is a sign of ignorance. That surrounded by situations we do not fully understand, we lazily look for an easy way out. We gladly chuck responsibility for our decisions out of the window and rather put our fate in lucky charms. Sometimes no money is spent. Instead a ritual is carried out religiously, hoping for some ready-made luck to prevent a problem from occurring.
The thing is though: everybody believes in luck. Highly educated and/or succesful people are known as well to carry a lucky charm on them or do a certain ritual for continuous luck. I admit ending up doing some of the suggested rituals. You never know, right?
But I did not take a selfie while doing it.