Noda City / Yoshino 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / Ninjutsu Memories

To the left is a photo of the main entrance to Kimpusen-ji, the main Yamabushi temple in Yoshino. It is a National Treasure and reputed to be the second-largest wooden building in Japan. To the right is a photo of a statue I found on one of the temple porches. He is highly revered, though again my memory fails me and I can't provide you with a name, but his statue is always found outside of the temples rather than inside because it seems he was a little too fond of the ladies and of drinking saké.

The huge lotus on the right catches rainwater. The chain you see hanging into it directs the rainwater down, which seems a much more interesting way to do it that the spouts we use. In front of the lotus is a tree to which have been tied "bad fortune" papers people have drawn. For a small fee, you can shake a cylindrical container until a numbered stick falls out of the small hole in the top. Nearby are a multitude of numbered drawers. The drawer with the same number as your stick contains your fortune. The photo on the left is my fortune, which was a "slightly bad" one, so I added it to the tree.

Here's a shot from the porch of the temple showing some other buildings in the area as well as the two lotus rain-catchers. To the right, a detail of the roof. I love the ornate tiles.

Noda City / Yoshino 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / Ninjutsu Memories