Once we arrived at Temple #2, we realized that we had been there before, except that we had approached from the north rather than the east. A couple of years ago when we were getting ready for the Henro Pilgrimage, we walked in this area a few times.
This first picture shows something that it typical of both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. They are often in the middle of someone's farm, so the approach road has fields on both sides. These look like they will become rice paddies later in the year, but they could grow something else in them, too.
As we neared the temple buildings, the road split - on the right was a footpath leading to a flight of stairs and the main hall, on the left was a continuation of the road which leads to a parking lot. At the top of the stairs is a gate (the roof that you can see), but it does not have the usual guardian kings.
This is the gate and a wonderfully fuzzy view of my finger. The sign on the gate says Heaven Road Mountain. Through the gate you can see the main hall of the temple.
Most Buddhist temples have a graveyard associated with them. In Japan, people are cremated so, if the grave contains anything physical, it will hold only ashes. Most of the graves are for the entire family, not an individual. The surviving relatives will come occasionally and pour water over the stone and leave fresh flowers in the vases that are built into the grave stone. Obon, which is in August, is a time when people traditionally return to their hometown to do this.
This is the main hall. You can see that there was still snow piles on the ground, but the day was actually quite warm. About the time I took this picture, I took off my winter coat and stuffed it into my backpack. I was very comfortable with a winter shirt and two sweaters.
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