Trip (Eihei-ji temple)

Last weekend I went on a trip to consume 'Seisyun 18 kippu' or a discount ticket with which we can take local JR (Japan Railway) trains within a day. They are sold as a pack of 5 tickets, and I have already used three tickets before this trip.

Anyway I got on the first train on Sep. 8 (Sat.) and arrived at Fukui terminal. Fukui is a prefecture in Japan, and it locates at the middle of Honshu, the largest island in Japan, and faces to the sea of Japan. Fukui is also the name of a captital city in Fukui prefecture.

On the way the train I took ran about 7 minutes behind the schedule, because the limited express which ran the same line was delayed. I scheduled to take a bus which departs at Fukui station after about 10 minutes of the train's scheduled arrival time. But fortunately I could take the bus! Probably the bus bus-driver adjusted the time schedule for the passengers from the train! Thank you! We can reach to the front of Eihei-ji temple after about 30 minutes' ride from Fukui station.

By the way, do you know Eihei-ji temple? I did not know about it before this trip (^_^;;;

Dougen-zenji, who was born on 1200, went to China, and studied the real Buddhism from Nyojyou-zenji at Tendou-zan mountain. After that he came back to Japan and make this Eihei-ji temple. Now this is the most important place for Soutou-syu, a kind of Buddhism. And there are about 200 monks are doing training.

At the entrance we have to take off the shoes, and take them while we go around in the temple. There is a guide course, but we can go and see everywhere freely except for some points. We cannot go in the courtyards, cannot ring bells and drums, etc. We can take pictures everywhere except for the monks. In a room we cannot use flashlight.

The central part of Eihei-ji consists of seven halls called 'Shitidou-garan', and we can mainly see these halls. They are Sanmon (main gate), Butsuden (the central idol is placed), Soudou (the main hall for monks), Daikuin (kitchen), Tousu (rest room), and Yokushitsu (bath room). The shape of the positions of these seven halls and the gallery seems to be a person who performs zazen or meditation in Zen Buddhism, which is the main training in Soutousyu.

[Schematic panoramic view of Eihei-ji temple]


[Soudou]


[Houon-tou from outside the temple]


[Waterfall of Reirou]


While I waited for the next bus, I took a lunch near the bus terminal. Eihei-ji soba is a famous meal around this place!

[Eihei-ji soba]


Here I cannot upload more than 5 pictures in an article. More detailed explanations can be found here. (Sorry, but Japanese only.)

The trip will continue!

The Japanese version of this article is here!

Japanese character(s) (kanji)
* Eihei-ji : 永平寺
* Seisyun 18 kippu : 青春１８きっぷ
* Fukui : 福井
* Honshu : 本州
* Dougen-zenji : 道元禅師
* Nyojyou-zenji : 如浄禅師
* Tendou-zan : 天童山
* Soutou-syu : 曹洞宗
* Shitidou-garan : 七堂伽藍
* Sanmon : 山門
* Butsuden : 仏殿
* Soudou : 僧堂
* Daikuin : 大庫院
* Tousu : 東司
* Yokushitsu : 浴室
* zazen : 坐禅
* Houon-tou : 報恩塔
* Reirou : 玲瓏
* soba : そば, ソバ, 蕎麦