Wednesday 5^th April 2017

After breakfast (which was served in 25 small dishes) we headed for Hase-dera, about 17kms from Nara. It has Japan’s largest wooded sculpture and the building sits on stilts on the mountainside. To get to the sculpture you walk up 399 quite flat steps. Again, it is popular for its cherry blossoms. As it is out of town, no other westerners were there.

We noticed here that there were several stands with small statues which appeared to be of children. We discovered later that they were “ojizosana” or jizo for short and often represented children who had died young. The bib is to protect them in the other world.

Next was Yoshino where it is said you can view 1,000 cherry trees in one glance. We saw lots of trees but few were out in blossom. Anyway, we passed through some old towns with narrow roads winding through them.

We then drove to Nyoirin-ji but on approach the road was closed and all cars were directed into the carpark. There were hundreds of people walking up to the shrines. On arrival we were handed a map in English, which not only showed each shrine but indicated where the defibulators were located! Along the route were small shops/stalls selling food and various souvenirs. We tried the cherry blossom ice-cream.  Cherry blossoms and themes are everywhere!

We just followed the crowd up the hill and ended up at Kogan-ji temple. It seems that during the beginning of spring the road is closed so people can enjoy the view of cherry trees all over the valley.

Next stop was close to Nara where there are well preserved old wooden houses and storehouses.

Drove back to Nara to stop at Todai-ji which contains the Great Buddha, apparently one of the largest statues in the world and it is housed in the Daibutsu-den Hall, among the largest wooded buildings on earth, the construction of which brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy (circa 800). Two large gold leaf buddhas are seated at the left and right of the Great Buddha. Behind the large Buddha is a thick wooden pillar with a 50cm hole. If you can crawl through the hole you are assured of enlightenment. We didn’t try as the queue was long.

Deer wander all around the park and shrines. They are very tame and look for food. They can get quite nasty if you have food and don’t part with it! We saw one come up behind a woman and the deer grabbed the white plastic bag she was carrying.