Since I had come all the way to the Ikegami Plum Garden, I decided to take a walk to the nearby Ikegami Honmonji Temple, as a standard course here.
Looking at the map of the area posted on the wall of the plum garden, it seems that there is a way to enter the temple grounds from the back gate without climbing the long stairs from the main gate. Let’s go that way today.
As soon as I started walking, I noticed this large cauldron and a sweet shop.
I don’t think they actually cooked azuki beans in this cauldron, but they wouldn’t build a cauldron for a signboard, so I wonder if it was actually used somewhere in the past.
The sun is gradually setting and the rays are becoming better and better.
The bright red berries growing in profusion along the side of the stairs on the back road are eye-catching. I wonder if this is a Nanten (Nandina).
The Dabotou Pagoda could be seen on the left from the middle of the stairway. The Sorin on the roof was shining beautifully golden in the evening sun, but I could not get a good shot of it in this photo.
Shortly after entering the temple grounds, the first thing that caught my eye was this stately shrine pavilion. I did not notice it at the time I took the photo, but later I learned that this is the main hall of Ikegamihonmonji Temple.
The majority of people, myself included, seem to have mistaken the main hall below in front of the main gate.
In fact, I was mistaken at the time, and visited the not-main hall.
View of the five-story pagoda through the dragon in the water house.
I took this photo in a messy way, so the four corners are not organized, and the composition is a bit of a mess, but that being said, I rather like it.
I came in from the back today, so I didn’t have to climb the stairs on the approach to the temple. I can’t say it out loud, but I was lucky.
The stairs up from the main gate are quite steep, as you can see, so it was a big help.
So, this was the volume of the reverse walk around Ikegamihonmonji with LUMIX GF10 in one hand.
After several days of snow and cold weather, it was warm this day. I wonder if the “three cold and four warm days” will gradually bring spring closer and closer.
