Page 176 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

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Eihei-ji
永平寺
! D4 ⌂ Fukui Prefecture
§ (0776) 63-3188 (bookings
and Zen training) £
Established in 1244, Eihei-ji
EXPERIENCE Central Honshu been Japan’s most active
is one of the Soto Zen sect’s
two head temples and has
Zen meditation monastery
since the late 16th century.
In a classic rectilinear plan, its
halls and covered corridors
climb up the wooded moun-
tainside. Soto Zen pursues
gradual enlightenment by
prac ticing meditation away
an important Soto Zen monastery
from the real world; the The Jouyoumon gate of the Eihei­ji Temple,
monastery has about 50
elders and 250 trainees. The p
atmosphere is cheerful, yet PICTURE PERFECT
life is austere, with no heating Noto Peninsula Sun Rice, Sunset
and a simple diet. In the Sodo 能登半島 Shiroyone Senmaida
Hall (to the left), each trainee ! E3–4 ⌂ Ishikawa comprises over 1,000
has just one tatami mat for Prefecture £ @ n In small rice paddies on
eating, sleeping, and zazen the steep slopes leading
(meditation). Silence must the old Wajima train stn; down to the Noto
(0768) 22-1503
be observed in the hall, as Peninsula’s rocky
well as in the bath buil ding Projecting 45 miles (70 km) shoreline. Head here
and toilet. Laypeople wish ing into the Japan Sea, Noto is at sunrise or sunset for
to experience the rigorous a quiet region of fishing an atmospheric shot.
Soto Zen regime must book villages known for seafood
well ahead. and untouched traditions.
The east coast and the sandy standing up to 50 ft (15 m) tall.
west near Kanazawa are quite Between events, drums are
developed, but the north played at Wajima and Sosogi.
and northwest are rocky To the west, Monzen has
SHOP and picturesque. Public the major Soji-ji Zen temple
transportation around Noto
(partially open while under-
is limited; bus and train are going restoration). In Hakui
Wajima Market similar in time and cost, but are the important shrine of
Each morning, the the bus network is wider. Keta Taisha and a 2,000-year-
streets of Wajima ring Wajima, a weathered old sumo ring – Japan’s oldest,
out with the cries of the fishing town, produces top- still used each Sep tember.
vendors at this market, quality, durable lacquerware Senmaida, Sosogi, and Monzen
which is said to be over with at least 70 layers of lac- can be reached by bus from
1,000 years old. Stalls quer. Nearby Hegura island Wajima, Hakui by bus or train
sell fish brought in from is a stopping-off point for from Kanazawa.
the port, vegetables migratory birds. Located just
from the nearby east of Wajima, Senmaida is
farmland, and handi­ so famed for its “1,000” narrow
crafts like the famous rice terraces by the sea that Did You Know?
Wajima lacquerware. it has been awarded heri-
! E3 ⌂ 1-115 Kawai- tage status by the Food & Wajima lacquerware
machi, Honmachidori, Agriculture Organization of is created by applying
Wajima 928–0001 the UN, while Sosogi’s coast nunokise (cloth)
# 8am–noon, except has unusual rock formations.
2nd & 4th Wed of month Many summer festivals here onto the objects
to be glazed.
feature demon-masked drum-
mers and kiriko lanterns,
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