Kyoto, in Sound • Episode 04
A podcast series which asks the people who live in this city to talk about their favourite sounds.
In the last episode of Kyoto, in Sound we explored the unrelenting noise of Kawaramachi with Liz. This time, we’re in a place that’s far more peaceful.
It was a drizzly October morning. Colourful umbrellas of all sizes dotted the streets and the leaves on the trees were starting to turn from green to red. Golden flashes of seasonal change dotted throughout the canopies above.
I was standing in Shinnyo-do temple with Kacchan, a well-respected buddha sculptor in Kyoto who has worked with, and repaired the statues of, the biggest temples in the city. Together we came to record sound of this magnificent, but relatively unknown, place.
Even though Kacchan’s work allows her to build a relationship with the finest of holy places in Kyoto, she has brought me to Shinnyo-do because it’s her local temple. When I asked what her favourite sound in the city was, she told me stories of this place. A place she visited almost every day when growing up in her family home; a stones-throw away. Of the monk’s chants and the autumnal winds. The insects and the silence.
For Kacchan, Shinnyo-do is a place to visit when she needs time to think.
We were there on a day when the Amitabha Sutra Association performed their Inzei Amida Sutra — a once-a-year special offering to the gods. During this special performance, the rhythmic and melodic chants of the monks rise and fall in unison with each other, and as it turned out, nature as well.
As the monks’ performance continued, the birds began calling out in response. Their voices wove into the chanting, a prayer of their own. It reminded me of that Mary Oliver poem I Happened to Be Standing, where she writes of the birds singing: “what could this be if it isn’t a prayer?” That perfect moment when human ritual and nature become indistinguishable.
Unlike Kiyomizu-dera or Fushimi Inari, you won’t find Shinnyo-do in guidebooks. It’s a local temple. Quiet, intimate, and without all the crowds jostling for photos. It’s a place where you can simply be, and listen.
This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Fountain.fm.
If you’d like to follow along for future episodes — or if you’re visiting Kyoto and would like to join one of my guided sound walks — you’ll find everything at www.kyotoinsound.com.
Have you ever noticed nature joining in with human ritual? I’d love to hear about it — please reply by email.
Thank you, as always, for noticing with me.
🍂 SJF
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