Oushuu33Kannon Temples 1-3 Part 11

For various reasons Japanese tend to cut of the tops of trees whenever they can. This lends an interesting look to trees because they are short but wide, and the top branches reach out horizontally for long distances. You can see that this tree has been decapitated at the point where the roof stops. This is particularly true on temple grounds where professional gardeners work their magic.
Another example of how gardeners treat trees is the following picture. It is the view out our kitchen door and shows a tree after last fall's trimming. Ten years ago when we first moved in, the tree was not visible above the wall. It grew and filled out in a delightful way. Then last fall the gardeners came and gave it the moral equivalent of a crew cut.
Having finally gotten the stamps from Temples #1, #2 and #3, we stopped for a sports drink and a snack. We had bought the snacks at the station and got the drinks from a machine. After a short rest, we started toward the nearest station, which happened to be the one that we originally arrived at. We continued north on the main road for a few hundred meters and then at a large intersection we turn east. Ian walked into the grounds of a Shinto Shrine to try and find a trash can for the remains of our recent repast. While I waited near the corner, I found this little shrine, probably set up in memory of someone who died in a traffic accident or just for travelers in general.
We were again walking through completely flat farm land, but this time on a new road, which meant that it was wide and had a sidewalk. In the picture there is a built up area off in the distance, the station is on the other side of that.
We did not have to wait long for a train and actually got seats. However, about half way through the 20 minute trip the train stopped on a bridge. It then slowly moved to one end of the bridge and stopped again. The driver then announced that there had been an earthquake and that all train traffic had stopped. We could not move until they were sure that there was no damage to the tracks. The drive must have repeated the announcement 30 times during the next 15 minutes or so. It was almost as if he thought that there were new people on board who had not heard the previous repetitions. I was not surprised because this is typical of Japan, they tell you over and over again what you know but do not tell you what you do not know. In this case, it was obvious that the earthquake had been big - the trains stopped - but the driver did not say how big or where it was. This information must have been known to him. It is on TV within two or three minutes after a quake. It was very frustrating, but finally he told us - it was quite large but to the south and there were few reports of damage. Another five minutes or so and we were on our way home. At Sendai Station, I changed to the subway and another 20 minutes had me at Yaotome Station. The follow 15 minute walk put me at home, very tired but happy.

I promise to show you the book in which we collect the temple stamps, so here it is. The first picture shows the cover. Notice that it is a traditional Japanese book with the binding on the right. The orange ribbons hold the individual sheets together.
This is the page for Temple #2. The priest actually wrote the characters into our books and added the red stamps. The stamp of the top right says that it is Temple #2, the large circular one in the middle is the temple stamp and the one on the bottom left is the official seal for the temple.

These two are the separate pages that we got for Temple #1 (left) and Temple #3 (right). We were a bit disappointed with these. The one for #1 was written with a felt tip pen and does not have the character of the calligraphy for #2. The page for #3 was put on with a stamp and there was not even enough ink to make a good, clear impression. Also there is no temple seal on the bottom left. Consider all the trouble we had getting this stamp, it is a bit underwhelming. However, it will do for the purpose - proof that we have obtained the merit for visiting the temple.
This ends our visit to Temples #1, #2, and #3. In the next, entries we will move on to Temples #6 and #7, which we visited on the following Sunday, March 14.