25/04/2019 / Last updated : 11/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Muroji and Hasedera Temples plus Sekijuku　室生寺、長谷寺、関宿

Day 83, November 2016, Muroji Temple　　室生寺 We wake to a chilly morning after a quiet night but, thankfully, the weather is brighter. I discover the michi no eki Udaji Muro has a river behind it, the Uragawa, and I watch the egrets and a cormorant. After breakfast, we move out towards Muroji, a temple that used to be exclusively for women as Koyasan was forbidden to females. After parking the car near Muroji, we wander through the village a little, then over a red arched bridge and, turning right, enter the temple. Passing through the gate, we note that the guardians, Niosama, are nothing extraordinary. A steep flight of steps leads you […]

24/04/2019 / Last updated : 11/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Mt.Yoshino – Kinpusenji and a walk up to Mikunari Shrine 　吉野山

Day 82, November 2016, Yoshinoyama Kinpusenji Temple　　吉野山金峯山寺 Another chilly, damp morning and the rain, despite a contrary forecast, starts before we set off for Mt.Yoshino. We decide to walk in rain suits, if necessary, but when we arrive, the rain has stopped though it is still decidedly chilly. We park in a huge, empty car park and set off uphill for Kinpusenji Zaodo. Kinpusenji Zaoudo is the second largest wooden building after Todaiji temple. It is just as impressive as I remember it from our first motorcycle journey, in cherry blossom season, well over 30 years ago. D. is struck by the huge, wooden pillars that are labeled as wood […]

09/04/2019 / Last updated : 19/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Koyasan – Kongobuji and Jisonin　高野山

Day 81, November 2016, Due to the revving of car engines and people chattering, I wake early on a damp misty morning to discover that michi no eki Kudoyama is a meeting point for Suzuki Jimny fans. More and more of the 660 cc. jeeps were arriving every minute, I had no idea they were so popular. We leave the michi no eki and head for Koyasan as the rain arrives. I can feel my muscles complaining as I swing from side to side, winding the car round the incessant bends. I don’t think I have ever felt that sensation before in all my years of driving. Is it the […]

17/03/2019 / Last updated : 11/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Kumano Kodo Trail-Nakahechi, Daimonzaka 　熊野古道中辺路大門坂

Day 77, November 2016, After another warm night and a cloudy morning, with only a hint of sunshine, we make directly to another kodo (Nakahechi), Daimonzaka. This trail heads up to Kumano Nachi Taisha and Seigantoji temple. The latter being the Buddhist temple attached to the Shinto shrine. Temples and shrines used to be more aligned, especially the Shugendo sect of mountain ascetics which bridged the two beliefs. This alignment was suppressed after the Meiji Restoration though some twin arrangements survive. Daimonzaka (Kumano Kodo Nakahechi) After a short walk along the road from the car park, we find the entrance to the kodo. This is marked by a couple of […]

07/02/2019 / Last updated : 29/01/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Kuonji Temple　久遠寺

Summer 2018, Wake to an overcast, misty morning at Asagiri Kogen, Michi no eki. Immediately we move further away from the stench, emanating from the manholes, so we can attempt breakfast. Kuonji Temple Set off for Kuonji, as the day brightens into sunshine. Shy, Fujisan continues to drape its elegant form in cloud. By 9.30am it is 30 degrees C. The road to Kuonji passes Motosuko, Motosu Lake, and then climbs into the mountains before deciding to follow the wide but shallow Fujigawa. Fuji River. Kuonji is approached through a traditional temple gate and then, a narrow street, climbing past the usual shops and restaurants associated with major temples. The […]

30/12/2018 / Last updated : 16/03/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Togakushi to Zenkoji 　戸隠から善光寺

Day 62, November 2016 Numata River Terracing Yes, there is ice on the windscreen but the damp towels hanging on the wing mirrors are not frozen solid. The temperature did not drop that low. After breakfast, as this area is a famous example of river terracing, we walk across the carpark of michi-no-eki Shirasawa to an observation point. Unfortunately, as is the all too common with viewing points, the trees, planted as landscaping, have grown so as to completely obscure the view they were supposed to compliment. The viewing point is, as a result, pointless. As we drive out of Numata on R.120, however we get an idea of this […]

27/12/2018 / Last updated : 29/01/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Sazaedo at Aizu Wakamatsu さざえ堂

Summer 2018, Sazaedo An intermittently wet day, so we drive to Aizu Wakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture, via the Bandaisan Gold Line, to visit Sazaedo. This is a spiral, wooden pagoda that was once a temple in its own right. It is situated, naturally, at the top of a flight or two of the inevitable steps. At first we climb to the very top of the steps, to visit the shrine. This is dedicated to the young boy soldiers who committed suicide when they found themselves to be on the losing side of the Boshin War. This was one of the last ditch resistance attempts against the Meiji Restoration’s abolition of […]

06/12/2018 / Last updated : 08/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Matsushima – Zuiganji　松島瑞巌寺

Day 56, November 2016, Jyobon no Sato Noisy morning, as michi no eki – Jyobon no sato – serves as a rendezvous for construction workers, trucks and machinery. The toilet is vast and, like the whole of the road station, uses a lot of timber in its design. Its walls, due to the lattice design of heavy timber, are a series of square recesses, some of these are decorated with vases of flowers and one has a rather nice sumi-e of Dharma. Time to head to Matsushima, as D. is determined to visit Zuiganji; a temple she visited on a solo trip as a high school girl and has never […]