Visiting the Rengein Tanjo-ji main temple, Tamana, Kumamoto

After finishing the Okunoin branch temple visit, we went to the main temple in downtown Tamana. My mom already went there, so I was decided to take a walk by myself.

Let's start from the Nandaimon (南大門) gate. The brand new wooden gate was completed in 2011. Hideteru Kawahara, the 3rd chief priest, bought the Aomori (青森) hiba tree by himself. And it's used for Japanese nails made from local sand iron.

Passing the Nandaimon gate, then go straight down the sando road to the main hall. The time was already past 5 o'clock, I didn't see nobody else.

The five-story pagoda next to the main hall. The wooden building, nicknamed as the Heisei five-storied towers, was completed in 1997. Like the above-mentioned the Nandaimon gate, it was made up of Aomori hiba tree.

Visiting Rengein Tanjo-ji Okunoin, Tamana, Kumamoto

Taking a short break in Yame-Fukushima, we went to Rengein Tanjo-ji Okunoin (蓮華院誕生寺奥之院), a Rinzai temple in Tamana, Kumamoto. As name suggests this temple is a branch of the Rengein Tanjo-ji main temple, located in the heart of the city.

It's a big temple with restaurant and a resting place in front of the entrance. Oddly enough, the gate at the entrance has changed a little to make it a circle. It seems to be called the heart gate (心経門 shinkyomon in Japanese) and was carved with the Buddha's general cardiac.

Passing the above-mentioned Shinkyomon gate, pay an admission fee (200 yen per person) to go into the temple. The time was already 4:30, 30 minutes before closing time. I ask a female staff who sells an admission ticket for entry into the temple. She said "You must see the big Buddha statue first, then go other places such as the five-story pagoda and the bell tower".

Before going to the Buddha statue, I took a picture of the five-story pagoda and Niomon gate. This is a very beautiful pagoda, with a height of 51.5 meters which is the third largest in Japan.

The big Koen Daibosatsu (皇円大菩薩) Buddha statue.

A view of the entire temple from the Buddha statue. The Niomon gate where we visited before, can be seen in the center picture.

Going back to the Niomon gate, then we saw the bell tower. The bell tower, called Hiryu-no-kane (飛龍の鐘), is considered to be the world's biggest bell. It was first made in Kyoto and finally came here in May 1977 by way of the Seto Inland Sea.

Visiting Izumi-Fumoto's old samurai village

Finally, we visited to the Izumi-Fumoto old samurai village (出水麓武家屋敷群 -buke yashiki gun) in Izumi. Among with Chiran and Iriki, the village is known as one of the three major samurai residences of Shimazu clan.

There are many houses still living in their daily life, therefore we can only visit two places, Saishotei (税所邸) and Takezoetei (竹添邸) that are open to the public. The latter was used for NHK's taiga drama shooting which was aired "Atsuhime" (篤姫) in 2008.

It was already half past four, so we decided to go only one place, Saishotei.

A typical Japanese-style living room with Samurai sword sets and Chinese landscape paintings are on display.

A view of Japanese garden from the living room.

Walking Kusano, a historical place in Kurume

On December 6, we made a day trip to Kusano (草野), a district located at the foot of the Minou (耳納) Mountain Ranges in the east of Kurume city, Fukuoka. It's little far from the central Kurume, and it takes about 40 minutes by car.

The Kusano area has been developed as a castle town of the Kusano clan between Heian and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. In the Edo era, it was crowded as a post town on the Bungo-kaido old highway leading to Hita from Kurume. Today there are not only many shrines and temples but also some Japanese and Western buildings were built between Meiji and Taisho periods, and creating a traditional townscape of Japan.

The Kusano Historical Museum (草野歴史博物館 -rekishi hakubutsukan). It was first built as the Kusano Bank head office in 1911 and was used as the Bank of Fukuoka Kusano branch after the war. The city bought and refurbished in 1984 and opened as a fork museum to the public. In the museum, you can see the history of Kusano region and its surroundings and ancient documents dedicated to the clan.

The Yamabenomichi Culture Hall (山辺道文化館 -bunkakan) is a resting facility for tourists. Built in 1914, it has been designated as the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the government.

Visiting a Chinese-style garden in Kagoshima

Next we were going to Kangakuen (冠嶽園), a Chinese-style garden in Ichikikushikino, Kagoshima. The garden was open in April 1992. It is said that it was made with the wishes of friendship exchange with Xu Fu's hometown, China which together with honoring the master Xu Fu at the site of Choho-in.

Let's take a tour of the beautiful sansui landscape garden.

A pavilion seems from the garden. There are some display items such as paintings, landscape pictures and so on. And it's free!

The style of the garden is the natural style sansui garden, it is modeled on the shape of the garden near Suzhou, China where is the mecca of the Chinese gardens. Most of them were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

We left the garden and headed to Hanagawa Sabou Park (花川砂防公園 -koen) where located the Bogakutei (望嶽亭) pavilion. The park was all built in the Chinese style, and we came here for a moment we feel like China.

Visiting Iriki-Fumoto's old samurai village

On the second day, we went around the northern part of Kagoshima Prefecture, such as Iriki (入来) in Satsumasendai city.

Taking on Prefectural Route 50, National Highways 504 and 328 and passing on a typical Japanese countryside, we arrived to Iriki-Fumoto old samurai village (入来麓武家屋敷群 -buke yashiki gun). Among with Chiran and Izumi-Fumoto, the village is known as one of the three major samurai residences of Shimazu clan.

The old samurai village divided by a stone wall made of cobblestone stones. This is the old national highway; from here several stone wall paths extend to the left and right.

The Kayabukimon (茅葺門) Gate is a symbol of Iriki's old samurai street. The gate itself was broken by typhoon gomi in August 2015, but it was repaired now.

The Old Masuda Family Residence (旧増田家住宅 kyu masuda-ke jyutaku). It is a samurai style house with thatched roof, but it was used to be a dentist's home built in the Meiji era. The two buildings are orthogonal and become consecutive buildings. The house at the back is a normal living space with dirt floor and the next one is only allowed to use the master, the eldest son and for their guests such as the feudal lord of Shimazu. There is a floor with veranda.

The stone walls that make up the fence build up a cobblestone. The preservation of this samurai village is focused on the fence, and each house is often rebuilt according to the modern life.