Yamadera

The day after my home county, Kilkenny, won their 4th consecutive All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, a feat that has only been achieved once before in the history of hurling, I had the day off. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the match live with fellow Irish men and women, as I'm currently the only Irish representative in the entire prefecture of Akita. So I resorted to staying at home and listening to the match on Internet radio.

I had planned to go for a drive with my friend Chika, but we hadn't decided where we would go. I met up with her at about 9:30 in the morning and she said she knew of a nice place to go, but it was a bit of a drive. Well, it just so happened that I was in the mood for driving, and the weather happened to be fantastic too!


So we headed south to a place called Yamadera, just north of Yamagata City. This is a beautiful area is home to a famous old temple called Risshaku-ji (立石寺), which dates back to 860 AD. The monks here spent their time digging holes into the mountain, which kinda resembles Swiss cheese! And there are, apparently, 1110 steps from the entrance to the complex all the way to the Oku-no-in sanctuary at the top.


Boring facts aside though, it's a really peaceful and beautiful area to visit. There are lots of small temples, jizō's, and huge trees! From the top there is a incredible view of the surrounding area.


This was a buddha that people rub for good luck!


I don't know what these were. But there were a lot of them!


It was well worth the 4 hour drive each way!