More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

  Mount Kurokami is a more than 450-meter high mountain between Takeo and Arita in Saga that has been a site of mountain worship since ancie...

  Iwayaji, temple 44 on the Ohenro pilgrimage in Shikoku, is located among towering cliffs and spires of rock high in the mountains of Kumak...

The Motomiya Magaibutsu are a set of Buddhist cliff carvings in the Kunisaki Peninsula. I had started the day at what are believed to be...

The Treasure Hall at Makiodo Temple in the Hunisaki area. Makiodo was built on the site of Makisan Denjo-ji, a large temple in the Kun...

Tachikue Gorge in the mountains south of Izumo City is a scenic spot with cliffs and strange rock formations. Just the kind of plac...

Last weekend I was visiting the priest at Takuhi Shrine on Nishinoshima in the Oki Islands. I was intrigued by the print of Fudo Myo han...

Shujo Onie Fire Festival February 10th was the Lunar New Year and on the 16th the Shujo Onie Festival was held to mark the occasion. It w...

Mine-Ji is an ancient mountain temple looking down on Unnan Town in the Okuizumo district south of Lake Shinji. I previously posted on th...

The third and final mountaintop temple we visited a few weeks ago up in Izumo was Mine-Ji, and the Nio were particularly impressive. I had...

Reiko-Ji is the only remaining temple building in Tachikue Gorge. When the area was a stronghold of Shugendo there were many more. The large...