First Shrine Visit of the Year (Part 2) / 初詣 （パート２）

Continuing are wanderings around Takahata Fudoson.

高畠不動尊探索のつづき。

The 5 story pagoda we saw from the monorail.

五重塔。

Like I said, it was cold, but crowded.

寒いのに、やっぱり正月の時期お寺や神社は込みますね。

Standing in front of the 5 story pagoda.

五重塔の前に撮った写真。

Lots of food booths around the temple grounds, but we wanted to sit and eat in a nice, cozy and warm restaurant so we didn't buy any goodies from the food stalls.

屋台はいっぱい出てましたが、寒いから外で食べたくなかった。

How cold was it outside?  Enough to freeze the water surrounding the pagoda.

どのくらい寒いか？ 五重塔の周りのみずが凍ってましたよ！

 Ando / 行堂

Shoden-do / 聖天堂 （しょうでんどう）

The stairs lead up to the temple bell but was closed to the public.

階段の上に鐘があり、でも階段は閉まってた。

Kannon / 観音様

I'm not sure who he is as I didn't read the fine printing.

誰だか分かりません、細かい部分読んでなかったもんで。

Statue of Toshizo Hijikata / 土方歳三

Toshizo Hijikata was a member of the Shinsengumi and led one of the final battles of the Shogunate in Hakodate at Goryokaku.  There is a Hijikata Toshizo museum in Hino as well.  There is a museum in Hakodate as well that me and my family had checked out when we were visited Hakodate a few years ago.

Bridge that leads to a shrine to Benzaiten (one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune).  The bridge is also called Benten-bashi.

橋の向こうは弁財天。この橋も弁天橋です。

The top of the Niomon Gate / 仁王門

Ah, most important part of the temple or shrine pilgrimage is the omikuji (fortune).  Mine started out with the best you can get - Dai Kichi!  Yep, I think its going to be a good year.

あっ、初詣で忘れちゃいけませんはおみくじだ。僕は大当たりの大吉でした！！やっぱり今年良い年になりそう！

What's a visit to a shrine or temple without checking out their koi pond.

やっぱりお寺か神社に吹かせないものは鯉かも知りませんね。

Why yes, that is me!

そう、その後ろ姿は僕です。

One last look at the whole area before heading off to lunch.

昼食を食べる前に振り返ってもう一度高畠不動尊を眺める。