UJI JAPAN

Uji is a small city located in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. It is known for its beautiful natural scenery, historic temples, and as the birthplace of Japanese green tea. Uji is also a popular destination for hiking and enjoying the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside.

One of the most famous landmarks in Uji is the Ujigami Shrine, which is considered to be the oldest surviving Shinto shrine in Japan. It was built in the 11th century and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Another notable attraction in Uji is the Byodo-in Temple, a Buddhist temple that was originally built as a villa for a high-ranking government official in the 11th century. The temple is famous for its beautiful Phoenix Hall, which is depicted on the Japanese 10 yen coin. There is a funny legend about this building.

Once upon a time, there was a greedy daimyo who wanted to build a castle in the beautiful city of Uji. But the local residents were not impressed, and refused to sell him any land. Undeterred, the daimyo came up with a cunning plan.

He disguised his samurai as Buddhist monks and sent them into Uji with baskets of fish. The unsuspecting residents were impressed by the quality of the fish, and asked the samurai where they had caught them. The samurai, in their best fake accents, said they had caught the fish in the river near a temple in Kyoto.

The residents were so impressed that they asked the samurai to take them to the river. While they were distracted, the daimyo’s men marked out the land where they wanted to build the castle. The plan worked, and the daimyo was able to build his castle in Uji.

However, the residents were not pleased. They felt cheated and placed a curse on the castle, saying it would never be completed, and any daimyo who tried to finish it would be cursed to die. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the curse came true, and the castle was never completed.

The moral of the story? Don’t mess with the residents of Uji, or you might end up with a half-built castle and a curse on your head. And if you’re going to try and trick them, at least make sure your samurai can do a better job of pretending to be monks!