After that wonderful welcoming dinner, the itinerary ramped up with visits to shrines, temples and gardens. Our regular guide and fearless leader Fergal turned the group over to two local guides who conducted the day’s tours.

Our guide was Mr. Takeshi Suzuki or Take as said to call him. He lives in Osaka and was a former schoolteacher. He has been a guide for twenty-five years and has worked with InsideJapan for fifteen years.

Our day started with a visit to Sanjusangendo.

Sanjusangendo is a Buddhist Temple that is known for its magnificent display of 1,001 statues of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, along with 28 guardian statues. It was founded in 1164 AD and is considered a national treasure.

The temple hall that houses the statues is 120 meters longest and is Japan’s longest wooden structure. At the center of the building is a large golden statue of Kannon. Flanking that statue on each side are five hundred human-sized statues of nearly identical Kannon standing in ten rows. Along the front, you find the twenty-eight guardians, starting with Fujin and ending with Raijin.

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed, however the link will take you to a site that includes images.

Our second visit was to the Kyoto Diagoji Temple.

The Kyoto Diagoji Temple is a Buddhist temple located just outside of Kyoto. The temple is on the UNESCO World Heritage site list. Our visit included a walk along the beautiful and extensive grounds, a stop at the elegant five-story pagoda and a look inside the museum.

Inside the museum:

We really enjoyed the visits. The grounds at both temples were awesome and inspiring. Learning a little bit about the traditions, religion and philosophies was very interesting.

We stopped for a lunch break at a market. Everyone split up and chose what they wanted. Sue, Rana, Take and I chose an Izakaya for our meal. We all enjoyed a lunch setup that they offered, with Sue and I both having the pork cutlet with a side of ramen.

Since I was a ‘smarty pants’, replying to some simple statements in Japanese, Take asked where I learned. I showed him my ‘cheat sheet’ I use to help me along and as a former teacher, he started testing me on the words and phrases. Talk about pressure! And in case you’re wondering, I did mess up one phrase, but got a “Very Good” and a happy nod.

Our final stop of the day was at the Okazaki Shrine.

The Okazaki Shrine is located in Kyoto and is a Shinto shrine. Its prominent features are the beautiful, tranquil gardens. I won’t ruin the tranquility with words, so enjoy the walk via the pictures…

Our walk was delightful, so lush and green with water features that awaken your senses. Bridges and buildings just blend into the environment. Very beautiful!

At one point in the walk, there was the stone walkway. Travel mate Liz and I walked it; she with much more grace. For me, it was a confidence boost. A small challenge to overcome an inner fear with a positive attitude.

As an aside, we were told afterwards that there have been people on the tour who didn’t quite make it across and finished the tour with squishy footwear and wet clothes.

Overall, it was a very interesting day. We did quite a bit of walking and we were all happy to get back to the hotel to rest for a bit before dinner.

To be continued…