Religious, Spiritual sights in Kyūshū
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A
Suwa-jinja Shrine
Between 7 and 9 October, this enormous shrine comes to life with the dragon dance of Kunchi Matsuri, Nagasaki's most important annual celebration. Inside you will find a number of cutesy komainu (prayer dogs!). Be sure to see the kappa-komainu (water-sprite dog, which you pray to by dribbling water on the plate on its head) and the gan-kake komainu (turn-table dog). The latter was used by prostitutes, who prayed that storms would arrive soon, forcing the sailors to stay at the port another day.
Suwa-jinja was established in 1625 and its forested hilltop setting is meditative indeed. Tram lines 3, 4 and 5 run to the Suwa-jinja-mae stop.
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B
Fukusai-ji Kannon
This temple takes the form of a huge turtle carrying an 18m-high figure of the goddess Kannon on its back. Inside, a Foucault pendulum (demonstrating the rotation of the earth on its axis) hangs from near the top of the hollow statue. Only St Petersburg and Paris have larger examples.
The original temple, Chinese in origin, was built in 1628 but was completely burnt by the A-bomb fire. The replacement was built in 1976. The temple bell tolls at 11:02 daily, the exact time of the explosion of the atomic bomb.
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C
Daion-ji
Climb the stairs to the large Kuroganemochi tree at the entrance to Daion-ji and follow the path that heads to the grave of Matsudaira Zushonokami. He had been magistrate of Nagasaki for a year when, in 1808, the British warship HMS Phaeton sailed into Nagasaki harbour and seized two Dutch hostages. The British and Dutch were on opposite sides in the Napoleonic War at that time.
Unable to oppose the British, Zushonokami capitulated to their demands for supplies, then promptly disembowelled himself.
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D
Shōfuku-ji
Shōfuku-ji is an historic Zen temple founded in 1195 AD by Eisai Zenji, who introduced Zen and tea to Japan. The site on which it stands has proved to be archaeologically rich, with recent excavations revealing remnants of a culture dating back 4000 years.
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E
Kōtai-ji
This is the only temple in Nagasaki with active monks-in-training and a favourite with local artists; it has a notable bell dating from 1702. The final temple along the temple-row walk,
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F
Kōfuku-ji
This temple dates from the 1620s and is noted for the Ming architecture of the main hall. Like Sōfuku-ji, it is an Ōbaku Zen temple - and the oldest in Japan.
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G
Daikō-ji
Just north of Sōfuku-ji, steep steps lead up to Daikō-ji, famous for somehow avoiding fires, even atomic ones, since its founding in 1614.
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H
Kanzen-ji
One of the many temples in the vicinity with one of the biggest camphor (kusunoki) trees in Nagasaki.
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I
Hosshin-ji bell
The oldest temple bell in Nagasaki, cast in 1438.
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