Oushuu33Kannon Temples 6-7 Part 9

We reached the top of the hill and found a gate but it was too close to the path to photograph. Instead I took this picture of a red temple through the doorway
Off to the right was the traditional bell tower, which Ian and I both rang to announce our presence.
The red temple building was surprisingly small and there did not seem to be any other buildings in the area, leaving us to wonder where we would get the stamps for our books.
The bell tower, here seen from in front of the red temple, was quite new, as was the red temple. The gate, however, appeared to be quite old.
Ringing the bell actually requires a bit of skill to get a clear sound. You use the multicolored rope to pull back the log and then let it swing into the bell. If the bell is moving for any reason, you have to hit it as it is moving toward the log or the sound is not good. Also you have to keep the log from oscillating and hitting the bell again, which also muddies the sound.

Oushuu33Kannon Temples 6-7 Part 8

After seeing the bell tower above us, we followed the path around to the left and found a roofed-over rest area with a spectacular view. Below us the cherry trees were not in bloom but they all had a pastel layer of pink around them. In the distance we could see the islands in Matsushima Bay. Matsu means pine tree and shima means island. Japanese does not have plurals so these are more like English uncountable nouns. The first picture was looking off to our left, out into the Pacific if you could see that far.
The next picture is the view to the right, sort of looking toward Sendai which is a half hour away by train.
This picture was taken with a telephoto lens and shows the upper right portion of the previous picture. You can see the rice paddies that go right down to the water's edge.
With the telephoto lens, you can actually see the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
Much of the surface of the bay is covered with large rectangular floats that have large underwater attachments. These are mainly used to farm oysters and various types of edible seaweed.
After spending a long while admiring the view, we turned and continued up the last little bit of the hill to explore the temple.

Oushuu33Kannon Temples 6-7 Part 7

As we followed the road up the hill toward the temple, we became amateur geologists. On our right side, the hill had been cut away to make room for the road and we could see a large number of layers. As you can see in the picture there were thin dark layers which appeared to be volcanic ash. In the middle of the picture you can see how one of these layers is displace with the left side higher than the right. This is apparently the result of a land slippage during a large earthquake. If you look carefully, you can see a more or less vertical fault line. Considering that there was a long drop on the left side of the road, we hoped that there would not be an earthquake while we were there.
After a kilometer of so, we reached the end of the road and the beginning of a long staircase. The picture shows the first flight of stairs but there were many more.
We decided that it was time for a break. There was a small parking area but no place to sit, so we used the stairs as a bench. After I sat down, I became aware of a sign directly in front of me. It had a red circle with a slanted line, a more or less universal sign meaning no. The rest of the sign says "Don't throw away your trash", but the interesting part is that the authority asking this is the Fire Department.
Here is a picture of Ian at a point about half way up to the temple. You can see how the stairs continue up and to the right, until they pass out of sight.
When we reached the top of the hill, the first thing we saw was a bell tower with a red temple building behind it. The path, however, did not come out here but continued around to the left.

Oushuu33Kannon Temples 6-7 Part 7

As we approached the high hills, a smaller hill suddenly blocked our view. It was quite picturesque with bamboo groves at the bottom and grove of cedar reaching to the top.
Once past that hill, we could see the temple again. In addition to visiting the temple, it appeared that, when we arrived at the top, we would have a fantastic view of Matsushima bay and all the small islands.
Below the temple and on a hillock in the flat farm land, we saw a graveyard. We thought that it must be associated with the temple, but when we actually reached the temple, we found the temple's graveyard, so we had no idea who took care of this one.
As you can see from this view which was taken a little farther up the road, this graveyard is quite extensive and was obviously well tended.
After passing the graveyard, the road climbed a short hill and at the top we found the access road for the temple. The large white and green sign was bilingual (Japanese and English) and was about tourist attractions in the area. The temple was shown on it but there was nothing else about it. The small white sign with the red arrow showed the way to our temple and the brown sign indicated the direction to another temple 14 kilometers away. We turned off the main road and started up the paved side road. It was a winding road with a few fairly steep places, but all in all it was a pleasant walk through the woods.