Myotsuji Temple

Next we traveled even further south to the only National Treasure Building in Fukui! Hard to believe so few people know about the temple. There was this lord named Tamuramaro Sakanoue who was going to fight in a war and on his way he had a dream and was instructed by Buddha? (or the man who brought Buddhism to Japan, possibly) to build a temple. It was built up in a mountain to keep the religion pure and away from the worldly influences of the Heian court. This was typical of the style of temples built in 806. Yep, that's right, the temple is 1,200 years old this year. Actually the main hall and the three-story pagoda were reconstructed about 750 years ago because they burned down. but you can hardly fault a temple for only being 800 years old.

Because it's in the mountain everything is really serene and calm. Moss is growing on all the trees, rocks, and buildings. Paths connect the buildings and wind their way up the mounain. It's really nice, and if I hadn't been there with 80 other foreigners it would have been really calm and a good place to reflect on life.

They had two ponds on the grounds. One of which had these ghost fish in it. creepy ghost fish!