More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Kobo-ji is a small temple on the river bank in Hagi, Yamaguchi. According to the temples founding legend Kukai (Kobo Daishi) stopped h...

The town of Mine in central Yamaguchi is known as the fossil capital of Japan. Dominated now by cement production the area is geologic...

Honjo is a large village on the north shore of the Nakaumi and the main village shrine was a branch of Kumano Shrine. I think this was t...

Just finished another couple of masks, and rather being something new they are copies of earlier ones that had been ordered. Whereas m...

This rather fine Fudo statue is in front of Ryuo-in, a Shingon temple in the Miyaki District of saga Prefecture. Also known as ...

Usually when I post about architecture it is about modern structures built in out of the way places during the heady days of Japans ...

Kurami Shrine is yet another small shrine with an ancient pedigree. It is listed in both the Izumo Fudoki and the Engi Shiki. Izumo has ...

Konomineji, temple 27 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage is known as both nansho and a sekisho. a "nansho" is a temple that is consider...

Visiting Kurami Shrine involved a small detour off my pilgrimage route,  but I deemed it worthwhile as it was supposed to be a fairly im...

The Daishi-do in Oda Town in the mountains of Ehime south of Matsuyama, is a zenkonyado, a free place for pilgrims to spend the night....