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The Higashiyama Walking Course (東山遊歩道) in Takayama, Japan
One good thing about visiting Takayama during rainy season is you can do things like the popular Higashiyama Walking Course through Temple Town (寺町) without any crowds.
I’m hoping for an unseasonably dry rainy season in Japan this summer as I will be there for a few days of it a month from now.
Today’s photo was taken just over three years ago, in early May, at temple grounds I explored just outside Shakujii Park in the suburbs of Tokyo. Next month I’ll be back in Japan for the first time in three years. I won’t be in Tokyo in June, but I will be for a few days in August.
天王寺の桜
One of my favorite places in the world during any season, Yanaka’s Tennoji can be an oasis like no other on a blue sky day in early April.
You can see more photos of, and read more about, this Buddhist temple, including an old Edo Period drawing of the place, in this prior entry. This gate is much more elaborate than the original in the Edo drawing. Unlike most Shinto shrines in Japan, you can’t enter these Buddhist grounds once they shut the gates at dusk (or before they open them in the morning).
In just one more month, my favorite part of Tokyo (Yanaka) will look like this. I took today’s photo of some of Tokyo’s finest cherry blossoms at Tennoji (天王寺) on April 8, 2010.
Heirinji (平林寺)
If you are in Tokyo and want to visit a Zen temple not too far away then Heirinji should be on your itinerary. Avoid weekends and holidays and you may be the only one wandering through this oasis.
Directions: Heirinji is about a mile walk from the Niiza Train Station (新座駅) or you can take a bus that will take you right there. Niiza is about 30 minutes and 450 yen (by train) from Ikebukuro in Tokyo.