The real pleasure of a temple tour lies in visiting a shrine with a long history and feeling the breath of the history carved in in the building. To fully enjoy a temple tour, I recommend zazen, visiting hand-copied sutras, staying the night at the priest’s quarters and experiencing the culture of the so-called good old days.
Although Yamanashi has a long history, it is barely known and compared to Kyoto or Nara, many temples that are barely visited by tourists. At temples that built up such quiet history, visitors can enjoy the calm culture. By relaxing at the sacred temples, one is calmed down to the core.
31 monks live at the Kuon-ji temple, known as the capital of the Nichiren school of Buddhism. The history of some monks goes back more than 700 years. The monks let about 20 shrine visitors stay at the temple, show them the hand-copied sutras and let them try local yuba, a delicacy made from the skin of gently boiled soybean milk. I also recommend the Buddhist liturgy. Every spring, a 400 years old weeping cherry tree blossoms in the temple. People from all over Japan visit the temple to see this breathtakingly beautiful cherry tree at least once.
