My first temple…

Part of the organized events was a visit to the local temple and a cruise on the bay.

In all honesty, I am not a big fan of temples, but in a few days I might change my mind. This temple called… is a medium size temple and we learned from an English guide who did not speak English that well the traditional structure and rituals that used to happen there. The most interesting thing was the hara-kiri room where otherwise very capable samurai were committing suicide upon losing their “lord; between 16-20 samurai per lord, depending on the context. Obviously from a modern standpoint it does not make any sense, but the defending argument was that it was a culture of honor and respect. I always thought that hara-kiri is a practice that was helping the “victim” escape being captured which was a bit of a pain before the Geneva convention not to mention that it was the ultimate shame for a samurai. It also helped the victim not to give the satisfaction to be killed by his opponent and had the practical aspect that you could not be tortured to provide sensitive information.

Another interesting features of these temples is that the gardens have carved walls with statues (see fig)