Fourteen Days in Japan · Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
Day 6: Horai-ji Temple
We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day, which began with breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Calling it breakfast really doesn't do it justice, because it was truly a joy, both for the eyes and for the palate!
After breakfast we walked through the hotel lobby and found a small group of guests all staring through the big windows overlooking the river. They told us they were waiting for the daily feeding of the falcons from the balcony, when one of the hotel employees throws food to them.
Next, we all decided to go for a walk through the small village of Yuya Onsen, along and across the railway that runs through the village following the river.
Above is the entrance of a traditional bath house in Yuya Onsen, a few steps from the hotel where we were staying. The Yuya Hot Springs in Shinshiro have a 1,200-year history, and their waters are believed to cure many ailments. The architecture of the wooden bath house is splendid and full of details – it breathes Japanese history and tradition. Below is a beautiful HD video, filmed and edited by Roger Walch, which shows the inside of this bath house.
After a quick stop at the tiny railway station of Yuya Onsen, we walked back to the hotel. Then we took the small hotel shuttle bus to Kadoya, from where you can walk to Horai-ji Temple. First, we took a walk through the streets of Kadoya.
We knew that from Kadoya to the temple you had to climb a staircase lined with gigantic cedar trees, but no one had mentioned that the approach to the temple actually features 1,452 stone steps! We gave up on the massive staircase after a few steps and decided to get a bite at a local restaurant instead.
After lunch, the driver of the shuttle bus told us there was actually a way to drive to a parking lot reserved for buses, just a short hike from the temple. When he saw that I was carrying a camera bag and a couple of cameras, he offered to take a slightly longer route past some nice cherry trees, which he said were already in full bloom.
By the time we reached the parking lot and started walking down to Horai-ji Temple, the sun was already low, and the long shadows made the landscape around us look really beautiful.
Horai-ji Temple was built in 703 by the hermit Rishu. It was venerated as a place for curing diseases by many powerful men, including Takeda Shingen, a 16th-century daimyo, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, ruler of Japan in the early 17th century. The influence of the temple declined from the mid-19th century, however, when the samurai rule of Japan came to an end, and today only the sanctuary, the Nio-mon ("Deva King Gate"), the bell tower, the Okuno-in (inner shrine), the Ko-do (small hall) and two small annexes remain.
The hike gave us an appetite, so it was with great pleasure that, once we got back to the hotel, we got ready for another delicious dinner together.