Eiheiji - Blogabond

Made my way to Fukui today, which is on the same track as Kanazawa. Had a pretty fun conversation with the Japanese man I sat next to. Gave me opportunity to use my Japanese outside of ordering food and buying tickets. Small confidence boost *g*

Eiheiji is quite easily accessible from Fukui station by bus (a special bus is available). As I mentioned in my Preview post, it's a main temple and therefore quite big. Visitors are welcome (quite a lot of money is made this way after all) but have to abide by the same rules as those staying there for spiritual guidance or the study of Zen (e.g. no shoes inside, no provocative clothing, no shouting).

Before entering the complex itself, I took a look at the garden surrounding the temple and found a graveyard and some beautiful scenery.

Graveyard

Pond decoration

The temple was pretty much what I expected, but the tour to see the seven main buildings and halls was pretty neat.

Eiheiji hall

The four guardians of Buddha where present as well.

The Guardians of Buddha

Things to think about

The main corridor before leaving the temple was stacked with heirlooms of the temple and with pictures like this one:

On my way out I bought some special Eiheiji sweets and made my way back to Fukui. I was pretty surprised who was waiting there for me:

Raptor Jesus?

Yes, that's a Dinosaur in a white suit reading a book and holding a Lizard Skull. Apparently he advertises a local Dinosaur exhibition.

Wandered to Fuikui some time, ate Sauce Katsudon (which was mentioned in my Lonely Planet, good choice). Also, it seems there are Votes coming up in Fukui, as quite some cars like this where driving around. They have speakers proclaiming reasons to vote for their respective candidate. Gets annoying after some time.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

written by

JuergenS on July 8, 2010 from Fukui, Japan

from the travel blog: Two month of Japan

tagged Temple and Scenic

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