Once, when many planets intermingled and
the boundary between man and god was vague...
This is a tale of a particular family, a tale of love and rebirth.
Kyousougiga
Hello, everybody watching Kyousougiga!
Are you surprised to see that it's now live-action?
No, you're not on the wrong channel! This is, indeed, Kyousougiga.
That's right.
Today's episode is the Kyoto Live Action edition,
so we've come to Kyoto.
Yay!
Voice Actress (Un) Ryouko Shiraishi
I am Ryouko Shiraishi,
the voice actress for Un.
I'm Erika Nakayama,
Voice Actress (New) Erika Nakayama
a brand new voice actress.
And since we're visiting Kyoto as part of Kyousougiga, that means...
That means...
That's right.
We'll be visiting all the places that
the Looking Glass City was modeled after.
I see! We really get to do that!
It's time for the Kyousougiga Live Action Edition.
Start!
Yay!
Kyoto Live Action Edition
Genkouan
Our first stop will be Genkouan, in Kyoto's town of Takagamine in Kita Ward.
There is a very famous window here.
Okay, this is our first stop on the Kyoto live action edition: Genkouan!
Wow! This temple is beautiful!
It's so pretty.
Yeah, so pretty!
The part that appears in Kyousougiga is inside.
Genkouan Built in 1346, the present building was constructed in 1694.
I see.
Let's go inside.
Wow!
Wow.
This was in Kyousougiga, wasn't it?
It was.
The round window
"Window of Enlightenment" "Window of Delusion"
is the Window of Enlightenment,
which represents the universe.
And the square window
is the Window of Delusion,
which represents the suffering of human life.
Suffering.
This room was used for the scene in chapter 2 of episode 1.
This temple didn't exist in the time when Priest Myoue
and Koto-sama were supposed to have lived,
but it's used to portray the scenery they envision in their minds.
It's such...
...a wonderful window.
I'd want to use this.
I can understand why you would want to use
a window like this in Kyousougiga.
It's like a picture.
Yeah.
It looks like a painting.
Like it's framed.
Like the frame of a painting.
A round frame...
When I think of it that way...
Permission was given for this filming.
I can understand why they would call this
the Window of Enlightenment.
Oh?
It's like the whole world is right there.
Like it's been cut out.
Like it's been cut out and put there.
It's strange.
It's very strange. Strange.
Permission was given for this filming.
The square window kind of
makes you feel relaxed, but...
It's supposed to be reality.
Right, but it's reality.
Like when bad things, or sad things happen to you...
and things just can't work out.
But when you look at this one,
you get a sense that it will all work out.
I feel like it'll all work out.
Before we move on, I'd like you to take one of these.
What is this?
Goshuin It's commonly believed that this practice began with a stamp given when a buddhist sutra was copied. Now it's given to anyone who visits a temple.
It's called a Goshuin Book.
A Goshuin Book?
Yes.
A Goshuin book is like
a stamp book for adults,
used when you visit shrines.
I had no idea.
It's like this.
Wow.
I'd like to collect these stamps as we go around to different temples and shrines.
Isn't this cute?
This is for you.
Oh, this is mine? Yay!
Wow.
What does it look like?
Oh, of course, it's...
It's all blank.
Let's go get it filled up.
I'd like a stamp, please.
Please.
Thank you.
And so...
Here's the Goshuin for Genkouan.
Here it is!
Ta-da.
It's delicate, but so cool.
So cool.
Pure Land Buddhism Headquarters Chion'in
Next we're heading to Chion'in, 30 minutes from Kyoto Station by bus.
They've got a great gate!
Here we are at Chion'in.
Yay!
The triple gate you see here was the model for
a version that appeared in Kyousougiga.
Headquarters of the Pure Land Buddhist Sect, Chion'in: Triple Gate (24m high, 50m long) The three gates of the triple gate, the "Gate of Emptiness," the "Gate of Formlessness," and the "Gate of Detachment" symbolize the stages of enlightenment.
Normally, the word for a temple gate
combines the kanji for "mountain" and "gate,"
but the gate of Chion'in is written
with the kanji for "three" and "gate,"
and is called the Triple Gate.
The three gates symbolize
the three steps to enlightenment.
It's huge!
It's gigantic! Wow!
Wow.
And the stairs... wait...
The stairs go up past it.
Yeah, that's more stairs.
There are so many steps, it looks like a wall.
All I can see are steps.
And they're so steep.
This is where Myoue turns to look back in the very first
promotional video for Kyousougiga, right?
Yeah. But it looked a little smaller there...
A lot smaller, actually.
A lot smaller.
But the real one is huge.
The real thing is much bigger.
Much bigger...
Wow.
We got our stamps!
Kurama Temple
To get to our next stop, Kurama Temple, take a bus from Kyoto Station,
and then a 30 minute ride on the Eizan train line.
We'll be going to the main shrine.
Niou Gate
This is Kurama Temple,
the headquarters of the Kuramakoukyou sect,
A version of the Niou Gate appeared in Kyousougiga, as well.
founded in 770 by Priest Ganchou
to worship Bishamonten.
The real Kurama Temple is in the mountains of Kita Ward, but the version in the anime is located in the city.
Their teachings are
to be one with mother nature.
The Curved Path
Normally, you're supposed to
walk to the main shrine by the curved path,
which takes 30 minutes to traverse on foot,
but we took the Kurama cable car,
Kurama Cable Car
the shortest cable car in Japan,
and the only one operated
by a religious organization, instead.
Pretty rare, huh?
By the way, the reason our clothes have changed
is because it's actually a different day.
There's a lot to see, and they're far apart,
New Path
so if you want to see the sights
we're showing on this program,
make sure you have plenty of time.
Does this keep going?
It does, yeah.
It does, doesn't it?
Look, there it is.
Kurama Temple Main Shrine
There it is!
This is the main shrine of Kurama Temple.
It's just like in the anime.
Wow.
This is where Professor Shouko lives.
Oh, yeah. So does Kurama!
And Kurama.
'Cause it's Kurama Temple!
It's Kurama Temple.
And Bishamaru...
Bishamaru...
If he were here, that'd be a little scary.
It would be. Do you think he'd fit?
Bishamaru! Hey!
He's not coming out.
Excuse me, senpai!
Yes, Erika-chan?
I've found something interesting.
What is it?
That!
What?
That!
See, that!
Oh, that.
Those are called... Komainu Dogs, right?
Yeah. Good job finding them.
...Yeah.
Komainu Dogs Their proper name is "Shishi Komainu," but normally they're simply called Komainu.
To be precise, these aren't Komainu;
they're tigers, servants of Bishamonten.
These are the A-Un Tigers.
The one with the open mouth
and perked up ears is A.
And the one with the limp ears
and closed mouth is Un.
Komainu come in pairs, with Un on the left and A on the right. The ones at Kurama Temple just happen to be tigers instead.
A is female and Un is male.
All Komainu are paired like this.
In the anime, A and Un are a pair of bratty little boys,
so what do you think now that you've seen them bravely protecting the shrine?
Hmm...
Well, I've never seen them up close like this,
but they're cute.
Yeah.
They're brats and really childlike, but...
But they're always with Koto, and they're always helping her.
They're cool. They're strong.
Yeah.
Pretty amazing.
Yeah, aren't they?
To wrap up the second day,
Kyoto Kitayama Malebranche Kitayama Street, Kita Ward, Kyoto, across from the Kyoto Botanical Garden Hours: 9AM-9PM (every day)
we went and had a girls-only party at the
Kyoto Kitamaya Malebranche.
It's a fashionable bakery
that's been in business for 30 years.
Here you go. These are samples.
Wow! They're so pretty!
They're cute.
They are cute. So colorful.
And there are so many different shapes.
Yeah, lots of shapes.
A lot of them look like cakes you'd see in Kyousougiga.
They do.
Milky Chocolate Cake (Left) Green Shine (Lime Cake) (Right)
*Appearances may vary as all pastries are uniquely crafted.
Here's what I, Shiraishi, ordered:
a stylish and Japanese-styled Milky Chocolate Cake,
and the Green Shine, which reminds me of Myoue's prayer beads.
Summer Beach (White Peach Cardinale) (Left) Summer Festival (Coconut Berry Mousse) (Right)
*Appearances may vary as all pastries are uniquely crafted.
Nakayama ordered...
a Summer Peach that would be perfect for Yase,
and a Summer Festival, which looks like Koto-chan's Aratama.
Let's eat.
It's good.
It's good!
It's sweet. I love chocolate cake.
It's kind of sweet and sour.
Now that we've filled up on sweets,
it's time for the second half of the Kyoto Live Action Edition.
But first...
Kugimiya-san, Suzumura-san,
we bought you presents.
Ta-da!
Fall Season Dry Candies Kyoto Autumn Leaf x1 Ginko x 1 Autumn Harvest x1 Autumn Colors x2
*Only available in fall *Only available at the Kitayama Branch
Dry candies made of chocolate.
They're autumn-flavored, like this autumn leaf.
Look forward to it!
Kyousougiga
Kouzanji Touganoo Mountain
We saved the best for last on our third day of the Kyoto Live Action Edition!
About an hour from Kyoto Station by bus, Kouzanji on Touganoo Mountain.
A special guest will join us here.
The Kyousougiga Kyoto Live Action Edition!
It's time for the second half!
Yay, yay!
We're here.
We are.
Yes, and since it's the second half, we have a special guest for you.
Kazuki Yao-san!
Hi!
Whoa, whoa, wait a second.
He gave you a high five and just...
Voice Actor (Chief Priest) Kazuki Yao
Hello, I'm Kazuki Yao.
Thanks for coming!
This is our third day.
You've been here three days?
We have.
I just got here.
But we've got a lot to do today.
I see.
Yes.
So there's still plenty to do.
Yes.
I'm going to enjoy my time in Kyoto.
Let's have a good time.
All right, then!
Kouzanji Front Path
Kouzanji was founded by the Priest Myoue,
Myoue (1173-1232) A Priest of the Kegon School of Buddhism in the early Kamakura period. Also called Priest Myoue or Priest Touganoo. *"Priest" is a title, not part of his name.
of the famous saying,
"True to thy station," in 1206.
The Myoue in Kyousougiga is modeled after
"True to thy station" means that a person should fulfill their allotted role in life.
the Myoue who founded this temple.
He really existed?
Wow.
Yeah.
He made this temple.
That's really cool.
I mean, Akira Ishida and Ken'ichi Suzumura exist in the anime, but...
The person really existed.
That's right.
Wow.
And he founded this temple.
That's pretty amazing.
There are a lot of legends about Priest Myoue,
but he was the first person in Japan to do a certain thing...
We're here at what may look like a plain old tea plant field.
Maybe it's normal, but this is the first time in my life
seeing a field of tea plants.
Same here.
Have you seen one before?
No, I haven't.
Calling it a plain old field is rude to it.
But this is what they look like, right?
True.
I've seen in them in photos or videos, but...
But there's something special about this one.
The Oldest Tea Field in Japan
This is supposedly the first place in Japan that tea was cultivated.
In Kyoto? Not Shizuoka?
Wow!
Here.
Oh, that's right!
So this is a really historic place.
It was here?
Right.
Wow!
Priest Myoue was a very strict priest,
and he wanted to find some way to fight the sleepiness
that was distracting him from his training.
Then he drank some tea from China,
and his sleepiness went away immediately and he was able to study more.
So he started cultivating it, and he went on to drink it all the time.
Tea makes you feel calm, doesn't it?
It does.
It relaxes you.
It's different than coffee. It's tea.
When we want to take a break, in Japanese we say, "Let's have some tea."
Come to think of it, wasn't there a scene where Koto gave some tea to Yase?
The caffeine in tea must've been
perfect to wipe away the sleepiness from her training.
Now that we've finished studying Priest Myoue,
let's go to the Sekisuiin.
Wow.
It's the real thing.
Wow, look at this.
It's for real.
It's exactly the same.
Wow!
It's just like in the anime.
Wow.
Wow!
This is the Sekisuiin,
Sekisuiin
which we saw in episode 1 of the TV anime,
and is a national treasure.
It's a national treasure?
A national treasure!
This is where Koto-san...
...and Myoue-san were together.
and Myoue kept saying "Love!" "Love!" "Love!"
That famous scene.
That's right!
Right there.
Yes, that was here!
It makes it come right back to you. This is where it happened.
Um, guys, there's something catching my eye here...
I see it!
This thing next to me.
I've been wondering, what is this dog?
That's really neat!
A wooden puppy.
Wooden Puppy
It's a puppy made out of wood.
Priest Myoue loved small animals so much that he thought
they might have been his parents reincarnated.
He would keep this by his side and pet it.
He must've petted it a lot.
It's all smooth.
It's smooth and round.
And Priest Myoue is right over there.
This is Priest Myoue?
Yes.
Priest Myoue Meditating Above the Trees
"Priest Myoue Meditating Above the Trees."
That's a hard title for a voice actor to pronounce.
Meditating... meditating...
...above the trees.
Yay, I did it.
Wonderful.
So this is Priest Myoue.
Wow.
You can see his prayer beads hanging from a branch.
Those are his prayer beads.
You're right! It's so detailed.
Priest Myoue.
Wow.
And the same Priest Myoue...
would pet this puppy.
This?
This puppy.
This puppy is the model for Inuyama-san.
Labrador
So Inuyama-san is the puppy all grown up.
He grew into Inuyama-san.
It's what he looked like when he was little.
This is his model.
But it amazes me that the anime is so true to his image, they even used the dog.
I can't believe they used the dog!
That's amazing.
I think this is a special place for Kyousougiga.
What do you think, now that we're here?
It feels really deep.
You can't tell which is the anime and which is the real world.
It makes me wonder if this is how it looked back then.
It feels like, being here,
you could go back in time to that point.
It really does.
It's like time has stopped.
It's like you can see who Priest Myoue was.
I feel like I like him even more.
Yeah.
For the second half of the anime, now that we really know who he is,
we can tell them when they're doing something wrong.
"That's not quite what he was like."
To Suzumura-san?
"That's not our Myoue."
To Ishida-san?
To both of them.
They wouldn't like it if I told them, so you tell them.
Isn't it the other way around?
Buddhalocanii
This is Koto-sama's human form,
Buddhalocanii.
It's bigger in the anime.
Several times bigger.
It was really big, right?
It really has a certain presence.
Yeah, a sort of kindness.
Yeah, kindness...
A peace.
Priest Myoue lost his parents at a young age,
and he considered Buddha as his father, and Buddhalocanii as his mother.
And in the anime Kyousougiga, a rabbit named Koto used her form to become human,
Yakushimaru Third Son
and became the mother of Yakushimaru and the other children.
Oh, right, you said that.
Yes, she did.
Kurama Eldest Son
In episode 1.
Right.
I think you all saw that.
Yase Second Daughter
She has a gentle feeling.
A gentle aura.
An aura.
She has a mother's aura.
Though she looks very dignified.
She makes you feel relaxed.
Now it's time for our last stop,
the one used in the show's title...
Choujuugiga (Birdmen and Beastmen at Play) A national treasure of the Heian and Kamakura Periods. Four scrolls on paper in ink.
This is the Choujuugiga,
from which Kyousougiga gets its name.
It consists of four scrolls.
The first scroll, where anthropomorphic rabbits, monkeys,
and frogs play, is especially popular.
It's said to be the forerunner of manga and anime.
This one's singing, you can tell.
Is it?
Doesn't it look like he's singing?
The squiggle coming out of his mouth?
I thought it was his tongue.
You mean the two frogs are singing?
I can't tell.
And he's the chorus?
He's dancing.
He's dancing?
That's a wild dance.
It feels like they could come hopping off the page.
In the anime, Priest Myoue draws pictures and they come alive.
That's what it feels like.
The first two scrolls were written in the Heian period and the latter two during the Kamakura period. Its authorship is unknown, but some believe it to be written by Toba Soujou Kakuyuu.
The Choujuugiga
wasn't drawn by Priest Myoue
like in the anime,
but it's safe to assume
that it exists in Kouzanji
because of Priest Myoue,
who loved animals and nature.
It's stimulates the imagination.
I'm trying to figure out what they're doing.
They look like they're having fun, though, all of them.
It's interesting how everything looks to be about the same size, though.
Like the frogs and the foxes.
Oh, you're right.
They're all about the same size.
Right.
This is a fox, right?
It's a fox, yeah.
This fox here is cool.
He's cool. Stylish.
It all makes for an amazing story, though.
The three of them have forgotten the show and are lost in the Choujuugiga,
so that's it for the Kyousougiga Kyoto Live Action Edition.
And so we've spent the entire second half at Kouzanji.
What did you think, Special Guest Yao-san?
I had a great time.
After spending the day here, Kyousougiga feels much closer to me.
Yeah, you're right.
That's how it feels to me.
It really does.
When you move through Kyoto, you can see lots of shrines and temples,
but these places have something special that makes you
understand why they chose them as settings for Kyousougiga.
It's really fun, I think.
Yeah, I can see why they chose these places.
It's nice to get a chance to actually come and see them.
Yeah!
The air, the sounds...
And the smells.
You won't understand unless you come here.
And the Choujuugiga... I knew the name because you hear about it a lot,
but I think this is the first time I've really had a chance to see it.
Me, too.
So it was great to see what the animals were like,
and the expressions on their faces.
It was fun.
So we're going back to do more voice recordings.
And when we see the pictures,
we can say, "I've been here! I've been here!"
There'll be lots of places like that.
That's true.
For you two, especially.
Since you went to a lot of places.
Yeah, we got to see lots of places.
Hope you had fun.
Thank you.
Okay, everyone!
Goodbye!
Kyousougiga
Isn't Kyoto great?!
It's got good food and dancing!
It's so fun! I never want to leave!
The Council of Three is...
...getting ready for the festival!
Yase and Kurama are planning something in secret!
And Myoue is alone, thinking about the past.
They get Koto involved and then there's trouble!
Next time:
A Story Where Two Plan and One Worries
"A Story Where Two Plan...
...and One Worries."
Stop being miserable,
and let's have some fun!