Picture Post

On Saturday I went on a trip to visit Kofu and see what it had to offer. I went down early for the Ping Pong night at church and walked around. First up is the temple that is up the street from the church building. Apparently, we are in the middle of a Japanese time known as Obon (sp?). It is kind of like Japanese Halloween, where they believe that the spirits of ancestors come back and stuff. At the temple, there were monks singing and ringing bells as the families lit incense and left flowers on the shrines to their ancestors. 

 This is on the pathway up to the older shrines. Bonafide bamboo is what you are looking at. I wish I could express how painfully loud the cicadas were in here. The air was vibrating with the sounds of these stinking bugs. 

A sea of shrines 

 This was at the temple site. I am sure there is significance, but I don't know what it is.

 Another view of it.

 This area was closed off. I think this is where the monks are monks at. 

 This was the entry way into the temple

 These are the walls of Kofu Castle, which was built about 1600. These walls represented the pinnacle of scientific achievement and engineering at the time.

 The entire time I walked around the castle, I couldn't help but think of the 3rd Ninja Turtles movie where they go back in time to feudal Japan. On my way out I caught this picture of TURTLES!!! The movies were real...

 Utah isn't the only place to have a statue for a bird

 A view of the lake with the turtles

 A zen path running through a rocky zen-like garden

 This is a big, rather ornate, building on the grounds of the castle. I don't know what it is used for...it didn't have any signs up or anything. 

 Upon further inspection, this was it. A big room with some laundry in the corner. True Japanese memorials.

 These are replica doors from the times when they were built. There is a little door built into the big door. I think this is proof that several hundred years ago, people were small. My backpack is there to show you how small the door is...

 The castle literally just runs into the city proper. It is actually more in the middle of the city.

 Ancent Japanese scaffolding. Rumor is that a project was started here by ancient ghosts and the scaffolding is only visible during a full moon...oooooo....

 Down the steps

There is a big obelisk on the grounds. I don't know why, except to give more rumor fodder for the next Dan Brown novel.  

 This is the lawn up to the watchtower

 Ah...A rare find indeed. This is the actual stone table that C.S. Lewis based the stone table on for the Chronicles of Narnia. It was grossly exaggerated it would seem...Aslan the Lion? More like Aslan the Housecat.

 A shot of the walls and another gate.

 I have already shown you evidence that the people back then were very short. I don't understand why they would make these stairs like this though. These stairs about about 30% bigger than normal sized stairs, making it really difficult to go up and down...and I have long legs!

 Some building...

More walls. 

Well, that was the trip to Kofu Casle. I also went to an outdoor mall and lost in Ping Pong to Sister Watanabe, she was ruthless...