お戒壇巡り真っ暗で怖すぎました。まだまだ修行が足りぬようです。 Walking to the temple, you will see the first gate, Niomon (Deva gate). Two guardian deities welcome you for the temple. Take a look at the sophisticated carvings. Going through the Deva gate, next you will see Wet Jizo and Six Jizo on the right side. Jizo is a Bodhisattva, a deity who postponed Buddha hood to save others. Wet Jizo serves as a prayer for protection of the temple from fire. Six Jizos are our protectors of the next six realms; hell, hungry ghosts, animals, Asura, humans and heavenly beings. Each of these Jizo protects one of the six realms. Can you see the sixth Jizo in front puts her leg outside? This Jizo is ready to save people as soon as she can. Finally you can see the main hall. It is said that the start of this temple is about 1400 years ago. Since it started in the very old time even Buddhism has not been completely established in Japan, this temple welcomed all prayers, regardless of gender, creed or any religious belief.

Would you like to try Buddhism training? In the underneath of this mail hall, there is a pitch-black tunnel which you can walk in and can touch the key to Heaven. I was so scared to go in the tunnel because it was totally black, absolutely no light! I had to walk only by touching the right side wall. This is the lesson of Buddhism, you can engage in self-reflection and spiritual awakening. Then what is actually in the back of the door keyed in the tunnel? In there, it is said that the oldest Buddha image in Japan are enshrined. However, nobody has seen the hidden image for more than 1300 years even the monks in this temple, so it is a mystery here if the image exists or not. Even the copy of the image can be seen once every seven years.