Rin'oji

 Continuing around the pond, I soon came to another picturesque spot.

 Once around the small pond I was back near the entrance. Passing through this gate put me at the entrance again.

 This time the doors on the hall next to the entrance were open so I looked in. I expect that this is used for group meditations and sermons.

 The stairs leading up to this hall were made from large slabs of stone.

 As I passed out of the garden, I noticed that some more people had entered and were sitting around one of the resting places.

On the way back to the street, I noticed this carved stone, one of many that I showed before.

Rin'oji

 Here is another view of the pagoda.

 This strange looking thing is representative of something you frequently see in the entrance to a traditional Japanese building, homes or temples. It is the roots of a large tree that have been trimmed and polished. I have to admit that I kind of like them. One interesting point is that each is unique and you can pass a lot of time following all the curves.

 This appeared to be a small meditation  hall.

 The garden very skillfully combines small trees, stones, and other plants.

 There is no smoking in the temple grounds, but in the garden there was a small, room for maybe four people, roofed area with ash trays. Since there was no one there at the time, I used the seats to take a short rest. I deserved it since I had already walked about 15 kilometers, including my morning walk with Ian.

I had not seen any other humans while walking around, but as I sat there resting, I saw a man enter. He had a camera in his hand and he started taking pictures, too.

Rin'oji

 This stone structure has small rocks piled on it as offerings.

 I found a group of stools (?). They are made from ceramic and a shaped like tree trunks. The tops, however, are covered with a colorful glaze that runs down the sides.

 The small pond is home to a number of carp.

 Depending where you stand, the view of the pond is completely different.

 A large and a small Buddhist statues. The seem to be engaging with the peace and tranquility of the garden and especially the pond.

A view of the pagoda from across the pond.

Rin'oji

 The garden contains a very nice three story pagoda, or more properly, a stupa. These represent the structure built over the grave of the Buddha or other person. Traditionally the stupa holds a relic of some sort or a sacred writing. Stupas are very interesting architecturally. There is a single core that runs through the middle from the top to bottom. The bottom end extends below the bottom of the ground floor and fits into a bowl shaped hole in a large stone. This method of construction is extremely strong and the stupas remain standing during earthquakes even when all the surrounding buildings collapse.

 Just beyond the stupa (you can see the first roof on the left) there is a bridge. The surface is curved, a shape that is typical in Japanese gardens.

 This little building was a place to sit out of the sun and provided an entrance to the service area beyond.

 I was intrigued by the shape of this tree.

 This is a good example of the 'pay attention to  your feet' paths that I previously mentioned. The flag stones are very irregular and difficult to walk on, even when you pay attention. A branch path goes between the trees and you have to cross the roots, which require even more concentration.

Another curved bridge. This one has no railings but instead there is a row of green plants.

Rin'oji

 Rin'oji as a large garden that costs 300 yen to enter. Since I had never seen it I decided to go in, even though most of the flowers would already be past their prime. You enter through a short hallway in which you pay on a machine. Just inside the garden, I turned around and found the entrance to some sort of meeting or meditation room.

 Straight ahead was the garden proper and on my right was another large room. This one, however, had glass windows so that the garden would be visible from inside.

 This is what you would see if  you were inside looking out.

 In Japanese gardens many of the trees are supported so that they can grow into unusual shapes.

 The paths in traditional gardens, even in just the temple grounds, are often made so that you have to pay close attention to your feet as you walk, otherwise you will trip and possibly fall. This forces you into one of the basic Buddhist meditation, being completely in the present.

This little building was a pleasure to look at.

Rin'oji

 This is the temple bell tower. The buildings in the back seem to be work sheds.

 One interesting thing about Buddhism is that you do not have to give money or food as offerings. Many people leave stones as you can see in this picture. Often, in areas where there are many medium size stones, especially flat ones, people will pile them up so that they seem to represent a stupa.

 A crew of temple carpenters was building a new roof over the place to wash your hands. Building temples, shrines, and associated buildings requires special skills so there are specialists who do the work.

 This is the altar in the main building. A priest will sit on the cushion and chant sutras while keeping the rhythm on the gong that is sitting on the floor to his left.

 Outside I found a small artificial hill constructed from old gravestones.

The building containing the altar (right) is connected to the offices and living quarters (left).

Rin'oji

 Still going up the entrance stairs, I found this stone model of a temple, or maybe a shrine, off to the side.

 I also found this much more formal stupa at the side of the stairs.

 The craftsmanship was surprisingly detailed. The little drainage ditch at the side of the stairs was decorated with little round stones stuck into the concrete. Larger stones separated the drainage ditch from the stairs.

 At the top of the stairs, I could see the main building directly in front of me.

 This Bodhisattva was standing among the trees on the left side of the main building. There was also a smaller stele with a figure on it.

I also found this large stele, a bit taller than me. I could not read the inscription, or I should say I did not attempt to read it. Sometimes I can make sense out of them. Most of the time they contain an introduction with some historical information and then a list of people who donated funds to the temple.

Entering Rin'oji

 Just behind the gate was this guardian king. I guess he is there just in case some evil sneaks by the kings in the gate.

 The path was lined with sculptured stones. Each one was different. This one had what appeared to be an abstract design carved into the polished top.

 A little further on, there was a statue of a Bodhisattva of some kind. If I remember correctly, the stele said who had donated the statue.

 The drain along the side of the stairs was under repair. The one on the other side was okay, maybe it had already been repaired.

 A path lead away from a landing on  the stairs to this bright red torii. This is a Shinto shrine that is part of the temple. I wish that religions in other parts of the world could coexist as well as they do in Japan.

This is the shrine itself. I could not determine its name. I could find no signs. I did, however, find it on my map but it was unnamed.

Leaving Shifukuji

 I could not find a path that directly connect Shifukuji with my next and final goal, Rin'oji, so I decided to go down hill to the road and enter Rin'oji from the main gate. This flight of stairs lead down to a gate from which the path continued down hill.

 This may be part of living quarters for the priests.

 This is near the entrance to the temple.

 Short walk west on the road and I discovered this sign. It indicates that the path on the right is the entrance to Rin'oji.

 A short way in from the road, I passed through a large gate. The protecting kings were almost completely covered and I could find no way to take a picture of them.

Beyond the gate the path connected to a flight of stairs. Along both sides of the path there were sculptured stones that appeared to have interesting carvings on them.