Jun 1, 2010

Oushuu33Kannon Temples 4-5 Part 1


On this Sunday, Ian and I met at the Japan Railroad station in Sendai and took a local train south. We were going to the temple where we would find statue #4 of Kannon and then we would search for statue #5. The information that we had been able to obtain indicated that #5 was in a private home and that it had recently been move about a kilometer from its previous location, also in a private home. We really had no idea what to expect. It was just after 8 in the morning when we reached the platform and discovered that there would be very few other passengers. The platforms for the express trains were crowded, but there was almost no one waiting for the local trains. As you can see, this end of the platform was completely empty.The train itself was not much better - there being only a handful of people on the train.
After about an hour, including a wait to change trains plus many local stops, we reached Minami Kakuda Station, the starting point for our walk. We were very surprised because there was nothing there. This is the road directly in front of the station. I will have more picture of the area after our return from the temple; we had to wait a long time for a train.
Standing on the road, I turned to the right and looked at a rice paddy. The tracks and platform are just to the right of the picture. In other words, behind me when I took the above picture. Returning to the new picture, you can see an egret in the middle. It was a beautiful, pure white bird.
It must have sensed us watching it, because after about a minute, it flew away.

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