This is a close up of the cartoon Buddhist monk. Notice that he is wearing a cloth bib like we saw on a lot of the statues beside the road or on the temple grounds.
This really surprised me because in a Shinto shrine there is a bell attached to a rope like this. When you approach the main hall of the shrine, you go up the stairs and ring the bell to get the god's attention. Then you pray after putting an offering in the coin box. Exactly how and why this is in a Buddhist temple is another of those questions that I was unable to answer.
This is a statue of a fudo myo, a warrior king who protects the temple from evil. It is similar to the statues found in the gate houses at the entrance. Maybe this statue was here because there was no main gate. I'll have more about this question in a day or two.
This is a view into the unlit main hall. The large bowl-like object in front is a place to put your sticks of incense after you light them. If you look carefully, you can see the smoke coming out.
This was on the grounds at the edge of a grave yard. Many (most?) Buddhist temples have a graveyard associated with them. People are cremated here, so there are no actual graves in the Western sense, but there are stones and sometimes ashes. The stone represents the whole family and not just an individual. During summer there is a festival called Obon when people go back to their hometowns and, among other things, clean the family grave. Also notice that someone has left a glass with something to drink at the statue's foot. It is common to leave food and drink. In the past people left unopened beer and sake bottles but because the economy is so bad people started stealing them to drink. Now, when they are left they are always open.