Himeji Castle and Engyoji Temple

On Saturday morning we left Osaka for Himeji,  Himeji Castle is located in Hyogo Prefecture.  It is a hilltop castle, perhaps the most famous in all of Japan, and is also known as Hakurojou or "White Heron Castle" due to its white stuccoed exterior.

The day we visited was Himeji Castle's last day to be open before extensive repairs; it coincided with the last weekend of sakura, so it was very crowded.  Chris and Bryan opted to wait in line to see the castle proper; Kathleen, Michelle, Kasey and I decided we would have a hanami on the castle grounds.

We purchased some beer and some kasutera (little cakes) and relaxed in the sun for a while.

We left late afternoon for Engyoji Temple, a Buddhist complex located on a mountaintop.  Engyoji was founded around 1000 years ago on Hakusan, a part of Mount Shosha.  Word soon spread that anyone who climbed the mountain would be purified in both body and spirit.

Even today, people from all over Japan make pilgrimages to the mountain and Engyoji, and its buildings and seven of its Buddha statues have been designated "Important Cultural Properties."

We were fortunate to be able to spend the night at the temple dormitory.  Bryan, Chris and I shared a room with Sato-san, a dentist who will be travelling to Austin at the end of the month as part of the Rotary District exchange.

We were given yukata (Japanese cotton robes) to wear after the ofuro (bath), and relaxed on the tatami mats in our room with some shochu (grain alcohol) which I had received as a gift at another Buddhist temple.

We awoke early and walked through the forest to the kongodo, one of the temples on the grounds.  There we observed a Buddhist monk reciting sutra and mantra prior to meditation practice.

Afterward we walked up a hill to the jogyodo, the training hall.  It sits directly across from the daikodo, or great auditorium, and adjacent to the jikido, which serves as dining hall and living quarters for the monks.  This part of the complex was featured in scenes from "The Last Samurai."

At the jogyodo, we were instructed in meditational practice.  The monk who led us kept with him a wooden stick, which he used as requested during the meditation-- if anyone felt their concentration wavering, they could hold their hands together in front of them, at which point the monk would come over and whack them three times on each side of their back.  I took advantage of this when I started to fall asleep, and was immediately awake again!  The twenty minutes we spent in meditation felt like a long time, but was probably just right for novices...