More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Mononobe Shrine, the Ichinomiya of Iwami, enshrines Umashimade no mikoto, the ancestor of the Mononobe. His grave lies on the hillside...

By mid afternoon on the second day of my walk along the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage, I came to Mononobe Shrine, the Ichinomiya (hi...

Climbing higher on Mount Wakasugi after Kongochoin, I was surprised to find a newish temple though there was none marked on the map. ...

On the morning of my tenth day walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage I awoke in Kiki to the promise of a fine day as I headed to Hiwasa and t...

Teramachi, literally "temple town", in Hagi is , not surprisingly, home to many Buddhist temples. I will post on some of the...

Kongochoin is temple number 89 on the Shingon Kyushu Pilgrimage. It is not far from Temple 9, Myooin, just a little bit higher up Moun...

Composed of thousands of islands, it is not surprising that boats feature on some of the local manhole designs. This first one is from...

Of all the Fudo statues at Kongochoin I think this pair were my favorites. I think its because of the traces of color and the fact tha...

Firstsite is a new and controversial arts center in Colchester designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Vinoly. Firstsite refers to the ...

A little higher up Mount Wakasugi from Myo-oin is Kongochoin, temple 89 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage. Like Myo-oin there are a lot ...