Toyokawa Inari Jinja and Kozenji Temple

 I was walking into Sendai along the main road from Izumi Chuo to the downtown area. The road follows a shallow valley much of the way and the side streets are often narrow, going up steep slopes to reach the tops of the surrounding hills. Well before the road reaches downtown, the land flattens and there are more possible routes, all on back roads. I took one that I had never before walked on. It went through an area of one family houses and newer apartment buildings, plus a few small stores.

 All of a sudden I noticed this roof. It looked like it might be a temple or a shrine so I decided to investigate.

 I rounded the next corner and found a temple, occupying the first floor of a two story residential structure. The sign on the right says that it is Kozenji and the sign on the left indicates that it is Toyokawa Inari Jinja.

 The statue is definitely Buddhist as is the small stele besided it. I could not read the writing on the left.

 I walked around behind the building and discovered a Buddhist statue on the left.

Straight ahead there is a Shinto shrine. This was Toyokawa Inari Jinja. Toyokawa is a place name as well as the family name of a large clan from the old days. Inari is a fox god. Jinja, of course, just means shrine. There was no one around so I was unable to ask any questions.