Regional discoveries | Value Village

ToyamaShrines & Temples

Takaoka

Takaoka Daibutsu

A bronze Great Buddha cast with the techniques of Takaoka copperware. The local industry, given form.

ToyamaShrines & Temples

Takaoka

Zuiryuji Sanmon

The gate, Buddha hall and lecture hall are all National Treasures, laid out in strict symmetry.

ToyamaShrines & Temples

Toyama

Hie Jinja (Toyama)

The tutelary shrine of Toyama, known for the Sanno festival.

ToyamaShrines & Temples

Tonami

Senkoji

Held to be the oldest temple in Etchu, looking down on the scattered village.

ToyamaShrines & Temples

Himi

Kozenji

Known as the temple where the manga artist Fujiko Fujio A was born.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Wajima

Sojiji Soin

An old Soto Zen temple. It was once the head temple; after a fire the head moved to Yokohama, and this site remained as the founding temple.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Komatsu

Natadera

Halls stand among strange rock formations. Here Basho wrote in the Narrow Road that the autumn wind was whiter than the stones of Ishiyama.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Komatsu

Ataka Sumiyoshi Jinja

It stands on the site of the Ataka barrier, known as the setting of the Kanjincho tale of Yoshitsune and Benkei, and draws prayers for getting through a hard test.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Kanazawa

Myoryuji

Pitfalls, hidden staircases, escape routes. The devices the Kaga domain built in against emergency are still there.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Wajima

Sojiji Soin Garan

Damaged in the Noto Peninsula earthquake; restoration continues.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Anamizu

Myosenji (Anamizu)

Its stone five-storey pagoda is an Important Cultural Property.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Nanao

Otokonushi Jinja

The great floats of the Seihaku festival set out from here. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

IshikawaShrines & Temples

Hakui

Myojoji

Ten buildings including the five-storey pagoda are Important Cultural Properties. One of the finest Nichiren precincts in the Hokuriku region.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Eiheiji

It is still a working training monastery. Dogen taught that not only zazen but cleaning, eating and washing the face are all practice. His Tenzo Kyokun sets out how to think about kitchen work, and its root is the same as the craftsman's work we have been following in this series.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Obama

Jinguji

The Omizu-okuri rite, in which water drawn here is sent on, pairs with the Omizu-tori at Nigatsudo in Todaiji. Wakasa and Nara are joined by water.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Fukui

Daianzenji

The funerary temple of the Matsudaira, lords of the Fukui domain. On the Senjojiki behind it stand the great stone mausolea of the lord's family.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Echizen

Tsurugi Jinja

It holds a National Treasure temple bell. Oda Nobunaga's ancestors are said to have been priests here, and the place name Ota is the origin of the family name.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Obama

Myotsuji

Both the main hall and the three-storey pagoda are National Treasures. Wakasa keeps many old temples tied to Nara.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Eiheiji

Eiheiji Sanmon

Trainee monks enter by this gate and do not pass out again until their training is done.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Obama

Hagaji

An old temple of Wakasa. Its principal image is said to have been modelled on Empress Gensho.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Obama

Mantokuji

A dry landscape garden that uses the slope of the hill, designated a Place of Scenic Beauty.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Echizen

Sojadaijingu

The soja of Echizen Province, on the site of the provincial capital.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Fukui

Asuwa Jinja

It enshrines Emperor Keitai, and is known for its weeping cherries.

FukuiShrines & Temples

Katsuyama

Echizen Daibutsu

Seventeen metres tall, a seated figure larger than the Great Buddha of Nara.