Where are we today? Fukuoka and Nanzo-in
Wouldn’t a statue of Reclining Buddha that is as long as the Empire Statue is high be easy to find? Not for Dave and me, who can’t read Japanese signs and who missed the picture signs. 😆 We navigated Fukuoka’s amazing and overwhelming multi floored train station/shopping area and managed to get on the right train to the little mountain suburb where the Nanzo-in temple complex is. The Buddha statue lies in a nook of a mountain that is covered with Buddhist shrines and statues and stairs and walkways. One of the idols there represents a Japanese folk/Buddhist fusion of a “deity” that in modern times is associated with good luck. A priest credited a lottery win to the figure, prompting lots of people bringing their tickets and similar things there. Our journey to find the reclining Buddha took us up many stairs and around corners, but we finally found a ramp which led up into a building and to stairs on the other side which took us to the statue. Whew! So far as anyone k...