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“I really like gooooooold” stated one among Mike Myers’ many characters in ‘Austin Powers In Goldmember‘ (2002), and in relation to statues I can solely agree with the gold-obsessed Dutch super-villain. In quest of seeing some high quality examples of this strongly desired chemical component, I set off on an journey deep in to Saitama to see a temple that includes a spread of statues.
On the again of the festive season, and in want of some train (and journey!) I made a decision to cycle from the Tokyo Fox International Operations Centre in Itabashi-ku to Higashi-Kurume station in western Tokyo for lunch with my buddy Marcus. That was a 70 minute bike experience and helped to brush off the cobwebs of extra and indulgence.
As soon as we’d polished off our meals at a Chinese language restaurant chain we departed methods and I subsequently took the prepare on to Koma; a small shed-like station notable for the 2 big pink totem poles standing exterior it akin to a duo of fox statues defending a shrine.
From there it was a 20 minute stroll to the Buddhist temple generally known as Takifudoson and the primary sighting was not a golden one however spectacular however. It was a statue of Fudō-Myōō (I believe!); a Knowledge King outstanding in East Asian Buddhism who I’ve encountered a good few instances over time. Probably the most notable time was in all probability at this quirky off-grid location in Hiroshima prefecture.
The grounds of this temple had one thing of an eerie ambiance because the sound of the waterfalls echoed inside the advanced that additionally options ponds, stone lanterns, low bridges and carp. It was fully unstaffed which was maybe a bit of stunning given the outstanding time of yr once I was it attendance.
The temple grounds had been nonetheless in a state of disrepair however I imagine it was much better once I was on the town than earlier instances. The sight of a standing golden buddha statue is at all times pleasing on the attention regardless of the environment!
Seeing the varied Buddhist statues did remind me a little bit of my seven gods tour of Saitama seven years in the past. It might have been the identical prefecture however the two areas are nonetheless over 40 kilometres aside.
Within the different route on prime of a small grassy hill was the primary sight I’d made such efforts to see. The seated golden buddha definitely couldn’t be stated to be looming over the realm, and was a bit smaller than I used to be anticipating …… even when perched on a white table-of-sorts.
Earlier than ascending to the height there was yet one more golden statue to be seen midway up the muddy mound.
Lastly I stood on prime of the mountain and will benefit from the spectacular golden Buddha statue and the calm ambiance of the encircling space with nature trails aplenty which I’d wish to discover sooner or later. On this event I might simply sooth my thoughts and cleanse my soul! That bit clearly isn’t true however I type of want it was.
My buddy had really useful a vegan restaurant close by so I went looking for that afterwards but it surely was sadly closed. There was nonetheless one thing of a bonus as simply down the highway from there I got here throughout Enpukiji; a buddhist temple with a tall golden goddess statue.
That wasn’t the top of issues although as I nonetheless had the small matter of the prepare journey and lengthy bicycle experience dwelling after that. Takifudoson will not be precisely a sight that’ll get vacationers flooding in to this a part of Saitama however perhaps of curiosity to anybody dwelling in Tokyo wanting to simply escape town on a half-day journey for a little bit of nature combined in with some tradition. It in all probability wasn’t definitely worth the effort I put in to getting there and again but it surely was an journey of types and did present some a lot wanted train (in addition to lunch with a buddy) so it definitely wasn’t a nasty day trip!
- Takifudoson is positioned at 518 Dai, Hidaka, Saitama-ken.
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