Wed 9 Aug 2006
Off in the hills near our apartment you can see this big white statue. We found out that you could go inside the statue and get a good view of the area. It was also supposed to be surrounded by a nice garden. I’ve learned that there is a good bit of understatement in Japan. This ‘nice garden’ turns out to be 50 acres of manicured land unlike anything you would find in the US. On Saturday, our neighber, Mrs. Sedukhin was kind enough to take us all there. In the garden was a 3-storey pagoda, a giant statue of a reclining Buddha, a bridge over a big pond, and the hungriest koi in Japan (see video). There was a waterfall, an old kiddie train that looks like it hasn’t been used in years and an Edo-period playscape.
There were also a few buildings to show how people in the area lived in the olden days. They were filled with all sorts of artifacts and weaponry, including huge mallets to process rice.
Then there was the statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy that looms over the entire site. The stairway goes up about 200 feet and is filled with 10,000 (?) little golden statues of Buddha. The view was impressive. It was a very nice Saturday, all the more because we were some of the only people there.
Also: some pics of our dinner that night (not sashimi again!) and the interestingly named pucca and cream collon candies. As well as the Hard-off and Off-house resale shops. Seems there is lots of re-gifting in Japan. A whole store filled with still-wrapped gifts like towels, sheets and kitchenware. I guess these things re-circulate like Christmastime fruitcakes.