Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and designated one of Japan's Important Cultural Properties. The name translates as
“Three Deliverances Gate” (Buddhism is supposed to save believers from the evils of
anger, greed and stupidity). As you pass through, look out for the tower with a large
bell, said to have been made from melted metal hairpins donated by the ladies of the
shogun's court, and for the pair of Himalayan cedar trees, one planted by US President
Grant when he visited the temple in 1879 and the other by the then Vice President
George Bush in 1982. Ahead lies the
Taiden
(Great Main Hall), while to the right are
ranks of
jizō
statues, capped with red bonnets and decorated with plastic flowers and
colourful windmills that twirl in the breeze. Amid this army of mini-guardians lie the
remains of six shogun, behind a wrought-iron gate decorated with dragons.
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