Miidera

Yo guys Hello again We are back This is number four We're halfway done now We’re really lucky, we’re at the peak of sakura season, or cherry blossom season, here in Otsu So, we saw a lot of really great cherry blossoms at Miidera E: Really stoked M: It's gorgeous E: It's so pretty The canal is like, one of my favorite places M: Yeah it's totally lined with huge cherry blossoms M: We timed this on purpose though We spent like two weeks putting off this day because we wanted to get like, decent weather and, more importantly fully bloomed sakura and we did! E: What's it called? M: I believe it's "Miidera Bansho" which is "The Evening Bell at Miidera" E: Right Soooo, who did we meet at Miidera? M: We met Benben!!! Benben!! E: It was really exciting M: I wonder if – I mean, I’m sure you’ll edit over this to have pictures of him but, Look at these stickers that I purchased!! M: So we – I love Benben, who’s the mascot of Miidera and I’ve met him multiple times – we both have aaand I went to the Benben shop and bought these of Benben blowing his conch shell This is for Roddie and this is mine E: That's awesome M: So Benben is the mascot for Miidera and he is a …. turtle monk with a bell on his head! I'm actually not sure what he is E: As you see every day M: Yeah, just a common occurrence M: So! We came out of the shop where I had bought these stickers and then look up ahead and Emily’s like, “look who it is!” E&M: IT"S BENBEN!! E: Look who we ran into M: Benben! We found Benben! Hi Benben! M: hahahahaha he’s the best. I’ve met him three or four times hehehehe is he posing in the background? E: I can’t! I can’t handle it M: He’s waving at the camera, back there Yeah he’s my favorite M: So we took a selfie with him and we got him to blow his conch shell, which is my goal every time I see him E: So, who is Benben? Maddie, Maddie-sensei? M: Oh boy, so. Benben is not really a turtle monk So Benben is based off of (to my understanding) Benkei who is a famous monk who was NOT from Miidera he was from Hieizan Enryakuji which was a rival temple of Miidera, actually I think we talked about it in the Seta video The guy who slayed the giant centipede… E: Fujiwara no Hidesato M: Fujiwara no Hidesato, yes He met the Dragon King on the bridge at Karahashi On the Dragon King’s request, slayed this giant poisonous centipede In return for that he received a bell And it’s a giant bell I think we’ll probably show some pictures of it but it’s like this size I mean, it’s gotta be like four feet tall And he gave it to Miidera as a gift Miidera is one temple of the Tendai Sect of Buddhism and then Hieizan Enryakuji is another And they did not get along back in the day and they both were known for their warrior monks especially Enryakuji One of the biggest warrior monks who I think is supposed to be like, over six feet tall or eight feet tall? M: Something ridiculous E: Holy cow M: Yeah. Named Benkei, came down from Hieizan one day… No, he came down to Miidera one day, I guess attacking it and stole their giant bell and carried it back up to Enryakuji because he wanted it there But every time they rang it, it didn’t sound right so it sounded like, I think “eeno eeno” which in Kansai-ben, which is like the local dialect here means like, “I want to go home.” Like, “kaeritai”, it’s like “I wanna go home I wanna go home!” And so, he was so angry, like "this bell won’t ring right!" So he threw it back down the mountain back to Miidera, down into the valley E: That might… cause some cracks M: Just like, “oh fine, you wanna go home so badly? You can go home!” Threw it down the mountain and then they recovered it and now it’s at Miidera But it’s covered in scratches E: And for some reason the temple felt that Benkei made the perfect mascot M: Yeah! So for some reason they made the mascot this monk that had stolen the bell from them and he wears the bell on his head M: That’s a pretty sweet story E: It’s a pretty awesome story M: And Benben is adorable and he comes to a lot of events He’s one of my favorite mascots He also hands out business cards, which I guess not a lot of mascots do E: Do you have yours, do you wanna show the camera? M: I do! I think I do So this is Benben’s business card and the other side has – depending on the business card – a photo of Miidera Yeah! So yours is like, the momiji version E: Ohhh! M: So there we go… E: Fancy M: Those are Benben’s business cards E: So yeah, that’s number 4! M: Yes, number 4, Miidera…no Banshou Evening Bell at Miidera! Oh, Miidera was also known as Onjoji E: Yeah Onjoji! Onjoji is actually the real name of Miidera but it’s much better known as Miidera It’s one of the most famous it’s one of the largest and most famous temple complexes in not just Otsu, but I think Shiga as well M: I believe that, yeah E: I made a few other videos about the other Omi Hakkei that we have gone to see recently Check those out if you’re interested if you’re not that’s okay, I don’t know why you’re here I’ll be sure to put a link to the blog post that Maddie’s gonna write in the description, ‘cause she’s the artist I just kinda point the camera at stuff So subscribe if you want, if not that’s okay, I won’t be offended M: Subscribe! E: And we’ll see you later! We'll see you on our next adventure E&M: Bye!! E&M: Benben! Benben!