Day 6: Museum day in Nagano

 Today was a museum and street food day. 

I went back to Zenko-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, to actually spend some time exploring it. I bought a ticket to view the Sanmon Gate (and go to the second floor of the entrance), Kyozo (an octagonal sutra holder), Hondo (the main hall), and the museum. 

It was all incredibly gorgeous, and it was really nice to be able to explore, you couldn't take any pictures inside any of it though, so I have none. The main hall has a big Buddah statue, and the "O-kaidan Meguri". The O-kaidan meguri is a tunnel below the temple that you walk through to signify rebirth. You cannot use a flashlight, you keep your right hand on the wall and walk through the tunnel, there is a key along the way. That is what I knew going into it. Had I read the pamphlet they gave me, I would have understood that the "key" was more of a symbolic key, not a door I needed to go through. It is the "key to paradise" - called Jomae. It is below the holy image of "Go-Honzon" the Holy Buddha. Amitabha Buddha is the founder of the paradise of Pure Land according to Buddhist teachings. By finding the key you are entitled to be invited to Paradise. But I did not read the pamphlet, I just followed the arrow into a dark hole in the ground with the vague notion I was going to find a key in there to get me out. Let me tell you, this tunnel was neither lit, nor was it straight. I probably was only down there for a few minutes, but it felt very long. Occasionally, I would run into the person in front of me, but generally it was nearly silent, and pitch black. It was a little scary. Then I found the key, but I did not know what I was supposed to do with the key, so I am in the pitch black, frantically trying to figure out how to get out the dang door. After a few frantic seconds that felt like hours, I heard some shuffling ahead, and I hoped that was the right way to go and continued onwards. Shortly there was light, and a little shaky I got out of the tunnel. Overall, very cool experience. Wish I prepared myself a little more, but that's some good adrenaline in the morning. I thanked the Buddah for letting me get out of there, and continued onto the museum.

The museum had a bunch of really cool Buddha statues, and the most gorgeous mandala made out of sand by the current Dahli Llama. It was really neat to see all the artwork. Next I went to the Kyozo, a giant octagon that contains a sutra (a Buddist script), its a huge octagon, that has spokes around it and you push it, one rotation is supposed to give you good luck for the year. Naturally, I did a rotation, you can always use some good luck. Finally I went to the entrance gate and looked out over the town. It was a great view. 

Next I decided to gorge myself on street foods. I had these mochi balls that are cooked kinda like marshmallows in a sweet soy sauce, grilled rice balls with a miso paste, rice on a stick wrapped in bacon.

I wandered around town for a while and ended up at the art museum. They had a bunch of cool Japanese art, and a big exhibit by the artist Higashiyama, who created a lot of beautiful artwork based on the Nagano region, as well as elsewhere in the world. 

I grabbed an apple boba tea for my walk home with the cutest marshmallow that looks like a cat on top. I called it an early night, and got some rest, ready for tomorrow.