For some reason, I had not yet visited Maruyama Park (円山公園), which is only about a 25-minute subway stop (with a transfer from the Toho to the Tozai Line at Odori) from Fukuzumi. Within the park is the Hokkaido Shrine (北海道神宮), which is said to enshrine four gods: the god of Hokkaido, the god of developed land, the god of claimed land, and the god of Emperor Meiji.
After leaving the Maruyama subway stop, I walked in a square before finding any signs directing me to the park. Hint for those wanting to go: Look for the big clump of trees. You can't miss them - this park is huge. (See map below.)
While I regretted not visiting the park during the summer months, we just had our second snowfall of the season this weekend and the grounds were covered in about 3-4 inches of snow.
Gorgeous.
If you follow the main road and veer to the right, you'll arrive at the shrine's entrance gate. As a lone traveler, I wasn't quite sure of shrine protocol, and although I probably could have broken a few rules of respect and not gotten in trouble because I am a foreigner (外国人), I wanted the full, proper experience. A middle-aged woman was about 100 feet ahead of me, so I waited and watched for cues to bow, then mimicked what she had done. (This is a good principle to follow while traveling anywhere in most cases.)
On the trail to the large shrine, you will pass smaller shrines dedicated to different deities. (Pictures of these were not allowed.) As you approach each one, stop at the entrance and bow with your palms pressed together in front of your chest. The woman in front of me also lingered after her bow, just gazing at the shrine in respect and adoration.
If you continue to follow the trail, you will come to an area to purify yourself before entering the main shrine. Dip one of the ladles in the water and pour some over each of your hands, then use the rest to purify your mouth. If you're confused, just watch someone else. Better yet, if you stand to the side with a confused facial expression, someone will usually show you how to use the water properly. (I know this from experience. :P)
After purifying yourself, you can enter the main shrine. Etiquette for praying at a shrine can be found at Hokkaido Jingu's English site here, but the main points: deposit money, bow twice, clap twice, bow once more.
You can also buy charms for myriad of situations (love, health, school, even traffic safety) for anywhere from 600円 to 1200円 or another type of charm called omikuji (おみくじ), on which you can write your wish or prayer and then tie or hang it in the shrine's courtyard. Most of the wishes I saw were from high school students hoping to pass the entrance exam to their top-choice college.
So, about that third bucket list item... I ate lunch at KFC. (Yes, Japan's Kentucky Fried Chicken chain.) The most obvious question: Why? Well, for about a month I've seen MatsuJun's KFC commercial on TV a few times a week, especially during Arashi's Challenge Week in October, and the pot pie he advertises actually looks good. (And I don't even like chicken pot pies.)
NOTE: I did not take the above picture. The KFC outside of Maruyama Park didn't have any posters of MatsuJun in it. :( So I just found one on Google images. Thank you, anonymous photo taker!
The box is expensive - about 600円 - and includes one piece of chicken, the pot pie, and then your choice of a small drink, fries or coleslaw.
Yep, about $6 got me this. On the plus side, it was delicious, and not just in a fatty, full-of-unhealthy-ingredients kind of way. It was amazing and almost worth six bucks.
More impressive was "Christmas Colonel" outside the restaurant. I never would've guessed I would get into the holiday spirit after a trip to a fast-food hotspot.
Ho, ho, ho, Santa Colonel.
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