April 10, 2014

April 10, 2014

At 6:30 the monks of Koyasan summoned us for their Morning Prayer service. It was fifty minutes of constant chanting, burning of incense and occasional ringing of a gong. Afterwards we had breakfast. Since my stomach is still queasy, I watch Aimee eat. She tells me it's ok, but not as good as dinner.

After breakfast, I slept for another two hours, before checking out.  We walked the cemetery path again to see what we missed in the dark.  Most of the graves are marked with a stone pagoda.  The temple at the end where Kobo Daishi is said to rest in eternal meditation is now open.  One room has 10,000 donated lanterns kept eternally lit.  We left by the south exit and took the bus to the center of town.  There we visited two Buddhist temple complexes, Kongobuji, and the Garan with its colorful Great Stupa.

Afterwards we retraced our journey taking the funicular down the mountain, and a train to Osaka. Like Tokyo, Osaka has an extensive subway network. We took it to Osaka Castle Park. The castle is a massive double-moated fortress with a beautiful Japanese style keep or donjon in the middle. The donjon is a concrete reconstruction with a very detailed history museum inside. Osaka Castle played a major role in the unification of Japan.  We are approaching the 400^th anniversary of the Siege of Osaka. We climb the eight story structure whizzing past the exhibits. Aimee won’t let me read about the feudal wars waged from here.

We spent the night in Osaka. My stomach is feeling much better, so have pizza for dinner. It is still too early to try Japanese food just yet.