Comments by "Kim Jong-un" (@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un) on "Experience JAPAN" channel.

  1. As you mentioned, the Hōzanji Line is the oldest commercially operated funicular in Japan as it opened all the way back in 1918! Hōzanji station serves the Hōzan-ji temple which wasbuilt in the 1670s and was officially dedicated to the deity Acala/Fudō Myōō, though it has become a cult-center of the deity Kangiten or the god of bliss, the Japanese Buddhist equivalent to Hindu god Ganesha. What's now the temple was originally a place for the training of Buddhist monks as Mount Ikoma was originally an object of worship for the ancient people in the region, and thus this area was selected as a place for religious training. The training area is said to have opened in 655 by En no Gyōja, the founder of Shugendō, and it's where monks like Kūkai, who founded Shingon Buddhism, was trained. When the Ikoma rail tunnel was built after a difficult construction, Ikoma got rail access to places like Nara and Osaka, and thus more people moved to the area, eventually leading to the Ikoma Cable Car and the amusement park! For those who don't know: Deer are a symbol of Nara because the deer in Nara were historically viewed as sacred! Historically, they were considered divine messengers. The legend goes that the thunder god, Takemikazuchi, appeared in Nara riding on a white deer. The deer carried a scroll in its mouth, and Takemikazuchi warned the awestruck mortals who beheld him that from that point on, the deer would report their actions to the gods. The humans took note, built shrines, and granted the deer protection. Killing one of these sacred Nara deer was punishable by death, and so for hundreds of years, the animals roamed freely. They became semi-tame around humans, losing the fearfulness that most deer species possess. After World War II, when many Japanese were eager to cast off the past, the deer’s sacred status was officially revoked but were instead designated as natural monument and are protected as such!
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