This section of the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage is very exciting for me as it is through country that I have never been before, even though it is not too far from my home.
Ruriji is temple 14 on the pilgrimage, and I reached it at the end of my 8th day.
It is a Soto sect Zen temple with a Shaka Nyorai as its honzon.
With a bell tower gate, small treasure hall, and plentiful fresh offerings at the Mizuko Jizo, it is obviously an active temple, but I can find absolutely nothing about its history.
The sun was getting low, but my accommodations for the night were just a short walk away.
In the middle of nowhere is a noodle restaurant. The name has changed since I was there. It is now called Countryside Cafe Cheerful Hunter.
At the time, my wife was working for an NPO related to rural revitalization, and so had networked with other similar NPO's in the region, and so had been here.
Takahashi Imada and his wife are the proprietors. He is a hunter and so wild boar features heavily on the menu, along with other wild, mountain delicacies.
He gave me a plate of wild boar meat, a cup of amazake made by his wife, and a bed in an empty house on the property for the grand price of 2,000 yen. Their noodle restaurant is usually full, and he also offers hunting trips and minpaku-style accommodations nowadays, and yes! he was cheerful.
If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment