The leaves have finally started getting red and orange. On Saturday, Satoshi and I had lunch at our favorite ramen shop,
Momofuku-tei. We found out some bad news though, they will close down next month and be replaced by Ippudo. Ippudo is a popular ramen shop in Japan and they even have a shop in
NYC.
After lunch, we caught the bus from Ikeda, up to Kyuanji. We've passed by this temple for several years on our way to
Cosmos no Sato, but never got around to checking out their fall colors...until this year. Apparently this year there weren't any typhoons hitting mainland Japan, so the leaves are supposed to be really beautiful because the typhoons didn't beat up the trees. Downside to this is that the winter is supposed to be...brrr...fahreezing..we'll see (still crossing my fingers to see some snow, what can I say, I'm from Hawaii!!).
The property is huge, there are many maple trees, pine trees and many man-made ponds. There was even a building with a huge statue of Buddha lying on his side. You can also walk behind the statue and go into a columbarium (spelling?) type of room with many drawings of different disciples of Buddha covering the wall from top to bottom. Kind of spooky walking through this room, but still awesome to have been able to.
Despite the bad news (about our favorite ramen shop), it was great to be outdoors and see some beautiful fall colors. Have a great week.
Kyuanji
From Hankyu Ikeda station, take bus#26, #135 or #136 to Kyuanji (about 10 minutes)
Bus fare: 170 yen one way
Admission to temple: 300 yen (about US$3)
Phone: 072.752.1857
