Bunkyo-ku

Hi Everybody,
We went to try to find another fukappatsu kain (less-active member) or oyasumi kain wo (sleeping member) of the Church in Bunkyo-ku. It was about 30 minutes north of Minato-ku by train but probably only about 5 miles away from our apartment.

As we emerged from the station we saw this beautiful shrine and decided we would come back to look at it after our visit.

The guidebook says, "Bunkyo-ku means culture-ward and it has been said to be the academic and intellectual center of Tokyo. It is where Tokyo University and other major universities, galleries, printing, and publishing companies are located. there are an abundance of temples and shrines, beautiful parks, stunning botanical gardens, etc.  Bunyo is quite a hilly part of Tokyo.  Of the 433 hills in Tokyo, 133 can be found in Bunkyo
Since most hills form their own communities that date back to the Edo period they reflect a lot of the city's colorful past."

As we walked along and saw some of the older places, you might have thought they were pretty old and from the Edo period.
(ha ha)  

We're back! And here is the entrance of the Buddhist Temple grounds with my favorite person
standing in front!

Here are the familiar guards:  These statues are Nio or Benevolent Kings.  They are a pair of protectors who commonly stand guard outside the Japanese Buddists' temples one on either side of the entrance.  The open-mouth version is placed to the right of the temple, the closed mouth to the left.The Nio's fierce and threatening appearance is said to ward off evil spirits and keep the temple grounds free of demons and thieves. At Shinto shrines the guardians are replaced with shishi lion-dogs or foxes and sometimes have one mouth open and one mouth closed, too.

In some accouts the Nio were said to have followed Buddha and protected him. The open-mouthed guard  is called "Agyo" who is uttering the sound "ah" meaning birth.  The closed-mouth statue is called "Ungyo" who sounds "un" or "om" meaning death. Also the the mouth is open to scare off demons, and the other mouth closed to keep in the good spirits

We were surprised to see such a large Buddha there.

There was also a beautiful cemetery there.

                       Isn't this a beautiful Japanese couple on the stone?               They must have loved each other very much.

The Japanese have believed that their ancestors return to this world on certain occasions each year. Even in the present day those of the Buddhist religion believe there are four times a year in which ancestors are present in this world- the equinox days, New Year`s and the Obon festival in summer. A YORSHIRO (these wooden sticks that are by the graves or stuck into the ground) is used to attract (or guide) the spirit to the grave. By the way, we were the only people working in the office part of the day today with the Area Presidency as it is a holiday in Japan celebrating the equinox.

Last, but not least, the sister missionaries and one of their sweet investigators, Lieke, from the Netherlands, forming a "T" for Tokyo.  They have been coming regularly to our house for dinner and wonderful gospel discussions.  Lieke is so special and we are so happy to know her!
GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE; you are very special to us, too!