At this point we just thought we were on our way to Temple 5, and were so pleased to see some bamboo!
However, not pleased to see dumping in a riverbed. It was my impression that Shikoku islanders didn't really dispose of their trash properly, there was a lot of dumping in open areas along the road.
However, not pleased to see dumping in a riverbed. It was my impression that Shikoku islanders didn't really dispose of their trash properly, there was a lot of dumping in open areas along the road.
A bamboo forest! I was so excited to see this because I thought it was so cool. This is the Japan wilderness you see in movies.
You'd think we were climbing to the moon if you saw how many stairs there were on the mountainside. It wasn't long after this that we, a group of determined and intelligent college students, realized that old people and busses couldn't take this road, so that probably meant there wasn't a temple at the top, just guessing. Though, if there was, it would've been amazing. Because I definitely saw the pilgrimage to be more like this instead of 90% asphalt roads.
But alas, we consulted my maps and compass and realized that we were heading in the wrong cardinal direction to be going toward temple 5 from temple 4. So we turned around and headed back through the bamboo forest.
Finally! Temple 5! We got there just as it was closing, around 5 p.m. actually, and didn't stay long. This is the view from a top the stairs. Temple 5 is known as Jizoji temple, the temple of Earth-Bearer. It was beautiful, yet deserted.
I was struck by how the color of his sweatshirt and the color of the wooden hut were almost exactly the same. I didn't mean to scare him.
I really should be hired as this politician's campaign propagandaist. Isn't this a powerful, yet homey photo?
Hehe, sneaky politician.... hiding behind his fan.
Oftentimes we would walk and walk and walk, but we wouldn't see people for a log time. I like the thoughts this image conjures, at least for me. I think about how there are people, still surviving and thriving and enjoying other people, even amongst the consumerism left over from the 80's.
This is a statue of Kobo-Dashi, the founder of Japanese Buddhism. He is the man in whose footsteps we are following when we walk between temples.
Temple 6, Anrakuji Temple, the temple of everlasting Joy. It was officially closed by the time we got there, but it was still pretty.
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