Yamadera

 This stele had a bas-relief portrait of an actual person. It was placed here by the family to celebrate the life of a man who had been in the war between Japan and Russia just over a hundred years ago.

 This is another temple and it looked very old.

 This is a statue of an elephant. You can see it in the top right corner of the previous picture. Having an elephant here is very unusual, ordinarily there are lions, but I have no idea what the significance of it might be.

 I found another unusual feature when I looked inside at the altar. The main object was a large mirror. I can understand the symbolism of looking at a reflection of yourself, but mirrors are usually found in Shinto shrines where the represent the reflection of the light from the sun god.

This building is a storehouse for valuable items. Notice the symbol up under the eaves. It looks like something you might find in Nazi Germany, but actually this is a 2,500 year old Buddhist symbol.