Kasagi-dera and Enjo-ji Temples

      On the second day of the “Golden Week,” we left Osaka by car.  Instead of the route the car navigation system recommended, we averted Nara, which should have been too crowded, and approached Kasagi through an old highway, Yagyu Kaido.  As the Yagyu Family provided swordplay instructors for the Tokugawa Head Family, the highway must have been a trunk road in the golden age.  The moment of glory lasts momentarily.  We had difficulty passing a few oncoming cars.  We thought the situation was bad, but worse was to follow.  The uphill to Kasagi-dera Temple was no more than a mountain trail.

Kasagi-dera Temple

     In Japan, natural giant rocks have been objects of worship since ancient times.  They were called iwakura, or sacred rocks, and were considered to be the abode of gods, or, in other words, the dwelling places of invisible gods.  Kasagi-dera Temple was founded when this worship of megaliths was combined with Buddhist thought, and a Maitreya statue was carved into a giant rock in Mount Kasagi.  Other giant rocks became training spots for mountain ascetics along with the caves composed of giant rocks: Senju Cave, Passing-Through-the-Womb Cave, Attributed Akasagarbha Bodhisattva Image Carved into a Giant Rock, Drum Rock, Perturbable Rock, and Equality Rock.  Before we got back to the Maitreya image, we found the site of Emperor Go-Daigo's Temporary Residence.  We could easily imagine how the emperor and his followers missed Kyoto.  Today, a mountain trail is built through some giant rocks and caves as a tourism infrastructure, and we can visit the holy training spots like hiking.  If you'd like to give it a try to Japanese mountain asceticism, Kasagi-dera Temple could be the best place.

Matsumoto-tei Restaurant

     We visited Kasagi-dera Temple and toured among huge rocks for about an hour. After the hard austerity-like sightseeing, we were too tired out and hungry to go down the mountain, and we used Matsumoto-tei Inn as a restaurant. For the first time in my life, I had a dish with pheasant poultry.

     We climbed down Mount Kasagi and headed back to Osaka.  The cat navigation system nagged us to turn right and then left and so on.  When we lost the sense of direction, Enjo-ji Temple, which we plan to visit next time along with Gansen-ji Temple, abruptly appeared on our right.  We pulled the car off into the parking lot, and visited the temple.

Enjo-ji Temple

     Enjo-ji Temple has the Pure-Land garden, which reminded me of Joruri-ji Temple, which we had visited months before.  That type of garden might have been popular among the temples in the southern Yamashiro Province.  It's a pity that the National Treasure Seated Vairocana Statue was absent, exhibited in the Nara National Museum from Saturday, April 16th, to Sunday, June 15th.

Kasagi-dera Temple

Address: Kasagiyama-29 Kasagi, Soraku District, Kyoto 619-1303

Phone: 0743-95-2848

Matsumoto-tei Restaurant

Address: Kasagiyama-20, Kasagi, Soraku District, Kyoto 619-1303

Phone: 0743-95-2016

Enjo-ji Temple

Address: 1273 Ninnikusencho, Nara, 630-1244

Phone: 0742-93-0353

Joruri-ji Temple

Address: Futaba-40 Kamocho Nishio, Kizugawa, Kyoto 619-1135

Phone: 0774-76-2390