Mt. Shosha

Mt. Shosha - Engyoji Temple
From Himeji we took the #8 bus to Mt. Shosha, conveniently, the bus terminated at the bottom of the path leading to the Mt. Shosha Ropeway. This cable car takes you up into the mountain temple area.


Temples at Mt Shosha (above Himeji)


"Maniden is the main building constructed in 970AD. It is dedicated to the goddess of Mercy. The Main hall stands half-way up this rocky mountain and is built without a single nail, same as Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto. Unfortunately the orignal temple burnt down in 1921 and the construction of the present building was complected in 1932" - (taken from ropeway tourist leaflet)

As you can see from the above picture it is starting to rain. The became so heavy that we had to abandon the next 1-2km uphill trek to see the more buildings here. The path was getting too muddy, we noted on the way back down the mountain that there was a temple bus to take people up and down the dirt roads around the temple area, we assume that if we had arrived at the right time, we may have been able to ride on it.


The Glowing Green Tree. Don't know if there was something special about this tree, but it was covered in glowing green moss and was growing right beside the temple. I think it must have been a lucky tree, because each vending machine I used for the rest of the day, gave me too much change... I had a few free drinks thanks to the Goddess of Mercy & that tree.


Residence?


Water Dragon - Cleanse yourself at this well before entering the temple