Visiting temples and shrines, mostly unusual and less visited.

Nata-dera
26/05/2022 / Last updated : 23/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Otsu to Kanazawa via Nata-dera　大津から金沢

6th. April 2022 This is a driving day as we head for Kanazawa. Crawling up the west bank of Lake Biwa becomes tedious, so we opt for the toll-free motorway. This is a better choice as it is faster, we have a long way to go, and the view is much superior. Instead of car-lots and derelict hotels you get lake and mountainscapes. At some point, we hit the coast and drive with a placid Nihonkai (Japan Sea) on our left and high vegetation covered cliffs and small fishing communities on our right. But we are losing time, so cut inland again to find Route 8. We want to visit […]
Eiheiji temple
29/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Eiheiji Temple in Fukui 　永平寺

October 2017, Post typhoon, the morning is bright with watery sunshine and a lot of fast moving, ragged cloud. We set off for Eiheiji Temple arriving about 10.30. On the road there is a lot of debris from the Sugi and other trees. People are out clearing up everywhere. We note more serious typhoon damage here and there, mainly vinyl houses and advertising signs but, occasionally, bigger problems where roof tiles have been lost. Eiheiji Temple The temple is large, with numerous buildings connected by covered passages and stairs but, as it nestles in a narrow mountain valley, it is necessarily compact. There is a spacious, tatami floored hall with […]