太郎防宮アンド瓦屋寺

This is ridiculously old, but one weekend maybe a month ago I decided to take in some of the local shrines and temples. I'm not particularly religious, but hands down one of my favorite things about being in Japan is being able to go and visit temples and shrines wherever you are. I recently read somewhere that even though there are convenience stores EVERYWHERE in Japan, there are still more Buddhist temples in the country. I found this to be quite reassuring to me, but I'm not exactly sure in what way it was.

On this weekend I decided to head west to Tarobogu, a shrine built on the side of a local mountain. The shrine guardian is a tengu called Tarobo, and the shrine god is the god of victory, so when I was there I saw many wooden prayer cards with things like "Let me pass the high school/university entrance exams" or "Help me find true love" written on them. I always enjoy reading a few of the prayers written down by previous visitors. There's usually a couple of really unique ones, but this time most were pretty casual and nothing really stood out. Another attraction of the shrine is what is known as the "wedded rock," Two large rocks with a split between them just wide enough for a person to pass through. It's said that if you have evil in your heart the rocks will come together and crush you as you pass through which leads to a lot of children running through trying to avoid being crushed. I managed to make it through walking at a leisurely pace unscathed.

After visiting Tarobogu, it was still rather early so I headed around to the other side of the mountain where there was a Buddhist temple called Kawarayaji. When I got there I was the only one there and felt a little like an interloper who had discovered a hidden hideaway meant only for a select group of people. The temple and it's surroundings are all covered by a canopy of tall trees and moss covered the majority of the stone walkways around the temple. Around the rear there is an old stone staircase which stretches for what seems about 2 kilometers and takes you down through a forest down the mountain and back into the town. I couldn't make it all the way because I had left my bike on the opposite side of the mountain near the bottom of Tarobogu and had to turn around before I had gone too far, but I have to say that Kawarayaji and its environs have to be some of the most etherally serene I've experienced. It reminded me a lot of my time in Shikoku in the mountains doing the temple tour.