This is totally unconnected to what I have been writing about recently and will continue to write about below, but it is interesting and says a lot about Japanese society. An Australian poet, who is a good friend, is visiting Sendai and I met him for lunch yesterday. We ended up at an Italian restaurant, ordering a pizza and a couple of other dishes. The pizzas came in two sizes and we asked the waitress how big they were. We settled on a large size rather than a half size. We chatted a while and the other two dishes came. While we were eating them, a waiter, not our original waitress, brought the pizza. It was delicious but was quite small. We both have been in restaurants where the pizzas were that tiny, so we did not complain. However, after we had finished, our waitress came over again with a large pizza. She said that they had made a mistake and would we please take this new pizza. The one that we had finished was to be complementary. Both of us thought that in either the US or Australia, few restaurants would voluntarily bring a replacement and that many would argue if you complained. I should point out that you do not tip in Japan and if you try the person will give you the money back in most cases.
Returning to the graveyard at the Dou'unji Temple, I found this statue of a Bodhisattva and a group of grave markers.
This sign board had a nice poem: Buddha's children remember their parents, know their ancestors, and know the Buddha.
In the middle of an open area, this Bodhisattva stood alone but not forgotten. Someone had recently placed fresh flowers in the vase.
Leaving the graveyard, I entered the parking lot and took a closer look at the statue and grave markers that I had seen when I entered the grounds.
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