Unlike most weeks I had nothing in particular planned for Saturday, which turned out to be just as well, since if I had any plans they would likely have been cancelled due to rain. Now, I've never been one for deciding not to go out or not to do something just because it's raining, but it seems like there's no such thing as light rain in Japan. With the heavens bucketing out their contents I considered going outside ill-advised, and it felt so cosy to just sit in my room and listen to the sound of the rain. I did go out at some point to get some exercise and food, but for the most part it was a nice quiet day of study, reading and watching videos.
Sunday lived up to its name - not a trace was to be seen of the saturation unleashed the day before, so I decided to check out some of the temples and shrines that are very nearby to where I live (you can barely go ten minutes without stumbling on one in some places). I found myself drawn to a certain temple marked by - if I remember correctly - the tallest pagoda in Aichi prefecture. Using this as a central point of reference, I wandered around the temple grounds, which turned out to be much bigger than I had bargained for. There were a fair few shrines and Buddha / Bodhisattva statues about, more often than not at the top of a flight of stairs. There was also a graveyard that I found surprisingly difficult to navigate - perhaps there are charms on it to confuse the wicked?
The main aspect that impressed me about these temple grounds was the sense of quiet and relative isolation. I saw a building wherein monks were sitting and looking studious just like in olden times, and there was a deep foresty sort of area surrounding the place, barely five minutes away from a main road, but as peaceful as if it were right out in the country. Being able to stumble upon places like this even though I'm in a city is something I really like about Japan, or at least Nagoya.
