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I have been surprised by the quantity and quality of “hidden” temples right in or not far from Tokyo. You don’t have to go to Nikko or Kamakura to find yourself in one of these amazing places. The one pictured above, Kuhonbutsu Joshinji, is near the Jiyugaoka Station. Other nice temples in or near Tokyo that you probably won’t see in the typical guidebooks include Heirinji, Gokokuji, Dojoji/Sanpoji, and Senryuji.
I hope you have enjoyed this past week’s pictures of Heirinji. Let’s end the week of Zen the way I did on that day, walking through the ancient gate.
I have another hundred or so photos from the place so perhaps we’ll revisit Heirinji on this blog in the future.
Today’s first photo is of the two-storied Sanmon (山門) Gate at Heirin-Ji. Another original from the 17th Century, it was moved 25 kilometers to its present location long ago.
This cemetery (霊園) was one of several, and the only typical one we saw, on the grounds. One featured a large burial mound and then there was the stone lantern resting place (松平信綱墓) as well.
The highlight of the previously mentioned walk is Heirinji (平林寺), quite possibly the most wonderful place on earth.
I have been to other Zen temples before in China, Kyoto, and Kamakura. Zen temples are my favorite, but they lose a lot of their impact when they are crawling with people. Even though the weather was perfect, we visited Heirinji on a Friday, without anything in particular in bloom or changing color, which meant we shared the nearly 500 acres with about five retired Japanese couples and a few monks who live there. Needless to say, we rarely saw anyone as we explored the grounds in peace.
The top photo is of Hansobo (半僧坊). You can find this structure to the left after paying 500 yen (rather expensive but worth it) and entering through the first gate (built in the Edo Period).
Heirinji is loaded with Japanese Maple trees. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many. Combine them with bamboo and a blue-sky day for best results.
As always, you can click on these images for a much larger (and better) view.
I’ll add more photos from these Zen surroundings over the next week. Stay tuned…
I have two Japanese maple trees in my backyard in the USA, but I don’t remember them being extra beautiful, extra green in spring. In Japan the maples seem to have an extra spark this time of year. Maybe it’s just because they haven’t been green for so many months so they merely appear extra special now. Or maybe the green gets a little tired later in the summer. In any event, they looked great around the gate of the Homeiji Temple in Ikebukuro a week ago.
From the inside of the gate the azaleas (ツツジ) looked good too.
On Kenpo Kinenbi (憲法記念日 or Constitution Day) I went on a bike ride to Oji (王子) via Otsuka (大塚), Ikebukuro (池袋), and a few other places. Along the way I stopped at Kishimojin in Ikebukuro. The name of this place is interesting I think.
The characters (read right to left) mean devil/demon, child, mother, god.
There is an inari shrine on the same grounds which can’t be adequately captured in a photo. The highlight between the torii gates is an enormous tree which is loaded with fresh, green leaves in May even though the tree itself is anything but fresh.
According to the sign, this tree has been around for more than 600 years.