Zenkoji Temple Nagano

Our time in Suzaka and at the zen temple has come to an end. We've spent such beautiful days here, helping out on a meaningful project, and, in return, having the opportunity to live in a stunning natural area and experiencing many traditional Japanese activities and rituals: the tea ceremony with all its details and formality; zazen meditation, …

So, we are off on our cross-country adventure. The first trip was pretty quick and easy. It was my first time on the Shinkansen, or bullet train. We got to the station and tried to get reserved seat tickets. The reserved seats are included with our train passes, but the next two trains were booked. We decided to check out the non-reserved cars so …

Mainly travelling today.

We ate breakfast in a Coffee House near our hotel and then caught a taxi to Kyoto Station. From there we took the Hikari Shinkansen to Nagoya and then the Shinano express to Nagano. On the way we passed through Ena again.

Arriving at Nagano we managed to identify our hotel on the city map, a couple of …

Family Day.. Mums request.
It was 1 hour drive in the taxi but worth it. We went to the Zenkoji Temple.

It was fantastic. A guide helped us with the whole experience.
We had to take off our shoes. It was very cold. Walk on the bamboo reed mats.
First we had to worship the gods. Take pinch of salt. Say a prayer and then threw …

... and see the snow monkey, which is only and hour from Nagano. However I did get another great experience. I stayed at the foot of Zenkoji temple in the north of the city. The guest house was in a 100 year old Budha temple, we couldnt even take our ...

... at the room plan we have one of the larger rooms. In the guide book it says there were many shojin ryori restaturants near the Zenkoji temple so we headed there.  It was dark and we almost needed fleeces! Up at the Temple, we couldn't see any ...

According the legend of the Zenkoji Temple in Nagano, I'm now eternally saved!  What a bargain for only 500 yen, let me tell you.  Ok, first to the beginning.... I woke up today to sunny skies here in Matsumoto and ate a quick breakfast ...

... yourself for hours on end and was one we wished we had more time for. However there was one final stop to make today; Zenkoji Temple in Nagano city.  Zenkoji is one of the oldest Japanese temples around and was the first to allow male and female ...

... in the Japanese Alps. Everyone seemed super friendly compared to the megalopolis of Tokyo. We took a sunny mid-morning stroll around Zenkoji temple then slurped some delicious soba for lunch. The sakura was past full bloom but looked fantastic around the ...

Family Day.. Mums request. It was 1 hour drive in the taxi but worth it. We went to the Zenkoji Temple. It was fantastic. A guide helped us with the whole experience. We had to take off our shoes. It was very cold. Walk on the bamboo reed mats. ...

... monkey, so I said good bye to him and rushed to the bus stop. As soon as I arrived at Nagano station, I took a bus to Zenkoji Temple, which  is one of the most famous temples of Japan. The temple welcomes all the Buddhists, regardless of their ...

Zenkoji ...

... to find our guest house, or ryokan, which was actually located within the temple grounds.  The main attraction in Nagano is the Zenkoji Temple.  But more on that later.  Our guest house was pretty much the sweetest thing ever.  Very ...

On our day off today, we took a trip into Nagano city. It was about 35 minutes by train. We visited the Zenkoji temple which is 1400 years old. It holds the first Buddhist statue ever brought to Japan. It is wrapped in cloth and is believed not to been ...