Japan

I walked down to Kofukuji today in the evening to catch the huge Pagoda with the moon rising behind it. The five-story structure(Gojunoto) is the second tallest Pagoda in all of Japan. Built in 725 AD by the Empress Komyoh and last rebuilt in 1426, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage listed site.

The Adachi gardens feels like part of a painting. Too bad visitors cannot touch or walk among the heavenly garden. The garden is the brain-child of Adachi Zenko who created it in 1980 as a way of combining his passions for Japanese art and garden design.

Today we take a walk down to Yasaka-dori in Kyoto to the stunning Yasaka-no-tō Pagoda. Built in 592, the Pagoda is the only standing structure of the Hokan-ji Temple. The rest of the structures have either been destroyed by fires or earthquakes over the years.

I went down to Kamakura today to take a look at the 1001 Buddhas at Hase Dera. The temple grounds is adorned with hundreds of small statues of the Jizo Bodhisattva, who helps the souls of deceased children to reach paradise.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental bronze statue of Amitābha Buddha located at the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura. The bronze statue dates back to 1252 AD, in the Kamakura period.

Fukuyama Castle is one of the most beautiful castles I have witnessed on my travels in Japan. It belongs to the Edo Period. Most of the structures were destroyed in the air raids of World War II in 1945. Only the Fushimi Yagura and Sujigane Gate have survived the ravages of time.

It was a painful, yet life changing experience at Nagasaki Peace Park couple of weeks back, so I took off to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial today. Commonly called the Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Dōmu, it is the only structure left standing near the hypo-center of the first atomic bomb which exploded on 6 August 1945, and it still remains in the same condition as just after the explosion. The structure is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kochi Castle used to be the seat of the Yamauchi lords, who ruled over the surrounding area, then known as Tosa, during the Edo Period. Mani & I hike up the castle, the only one in all of Japan to have all the original buildings in the honmaru, or innermost ring of defense, still standing.

This weekend I was lucky to witness the Awa Odori, a traditional Bon dance. It originated in Tokushima Prefecture and is danced to the lively call of “Yatto San, Yatto, Yatto. The dance has a history of about 400 years, and is one of the largest festivals in Japan.