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One day in Tokyo I headed west on my bike on Waseda Dori (from my apartment near Waseda University) and just kept going. After several miles I got on Old Waseda Dori (Kyu Waseda Dori or 旧早稲田通り) and ended up at Shakujii, a wonderful area of parks, shrines, Buddhist temples, and ponds. Today’s photo comes from one of those temples. It must have been spring time as the irises were in bloom in this pic.
Today’s photo isn’t from Japan, although I suppose it could be. I took this photo of the Buddha just prior to the sunset in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon.
Yakuo-in Temple is a famous place in Tokyo for peonies (in April). The original flowers were brought from the Hasedera Temple in Nara Prefecture. However, if you go around to the graveyard at the back of the temple in April you will find loads of wisteria as well.
The address is 4-8-2 Shimo-Ochiai and the flowers are usually at their best between April 10 and May 1. Yakuoin is a five-minute walk from Shimo-Ochiai Station on the Seibu-Shinjuku Line or a 10-minute walk from Takadanobaba Station.
I didn’t actually go into Sankoin, and I’m not even 100% positive this is a photo of it, but I walked past this neat looking building from the side and took this photo while walking around Koganei in west Tokyo a couple years ago. Sankoin is a Buddhist nunnery (whatever that is) where you can eat Kyoto-style Japanese food.
As we came down the trail (one of many and I have no idea which one) on Mt. Takao we found ourselves alone with a priest and a waterfall.
Frequently when you encounter jizo (地蔵) you see them in groups of six, representing Buddhism’s six realms of existence. Today’s photo was taken in Tokyo’s Oji (王子). I’m not sure the exact location, but this photo has GPS information attached to it so it shouldn’t be difficult to find out.