Today we visited Shinshōji, a Buddhist temple. It is located near Fukuyama and can be reached by a journey of just under thirty minutes on the bus through rural suburbs. The complex was built in 1965 and is therefore relatively new, which can easily be seen from the main hall made of exposed concrete.

It includes a rather large park where you can go for a walk, meditate, and find your inner balance again. If you wish, you can experience Zen for yourself there for a day. Guided by a monk, you start with breakfast, then move on to the meditative copying of sutras, followed by a tea ceremony. For us, the simple Zen we experienced while taking easily around two hundred photos in the park, surrounded by splashing water and chirping birds, was quite enough. 😁

Tomorrow we are off to our next stop: Fukuoka.