The ten yen coin comes to life!

“Once you’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all”, lament many cynics.

 Well I challenge you to a duel! 

Yesterday, me and my delicious friend Lester went on a temple-hopping mission to the nether regions of Kyoto.

First up was the sleepy little town of Obaku surrounded by lush emerald greenery, home of Manpuku-ji, a Chinese-style temple in the Zen tradition. Does that sound like a contradiction in terms, Chinese Zen? Apparently not, and they’re seemingly proud of it.

As far as I was aware, manpuku means full stomach in Japanese, so I was wondering what a ‘full stomach temple’ could imply. Free brown rice and tofu upon entry per chance? Ooops, tut tut, silly me. The correct translation is ten-thousand fold happiness Zen temple, which is far more appealing, let’s face it.

Ponder the raked stone garden. No pebble out of place, no stone left unturned. Aaah, beautiful tranquility at its best. There’s something about those places that just smells of inner peace. Or is it just the incense?

A little further down the (train) track is the greater-spotted Uji. Uji-me-flip!

What’s all the hype about? 

Reach for your nearest ten yen coin, and you’ll see a temple on the back. I think you’ll find that’s Byoudou-in, or in English Temple of Equanimity. Don’t you just seriously love the names they come up with?

Anyone prosaic enough to believe that they’ve seen all temples without seeing this one should think again. This is an indescribable treat! Not only the stunning temple itself, but also the museum where you can see a splendid array of wood-carved offering Goddesses. In a word: phenomenal.

My humble advice: make a beeline, quick sharp!

Getting there from Osaka: Take the Keihan train from Yodoyabashi and change at Chushojima to the Uji Line. Get off at Obaku for Manpuku-ji, and ride to the end of the line to Uji for Byoudou-in.