Hello, Shizuoka TaaS.

Ryuge-ji Temple is the Nichiren sect of Buddhism.
This time I will introduce you to the Soshido and the main hall.

Climb up a gentle slope to reach the Founder‘s hall and the main hall.
First, pay your respects.

The temple etiquette is ‘ichirei gassho ichirei’.
Unlike shrines, temples do not clap hands noisily.

In temples where bells may be rung, they are rung before the visit.
Bells rung after visiting a temple are known as ‘returning bells’ and are said to bring bad luck.

The procedure for visiting a temple is as follows.
(1) Bow at an angle of 45 to 90 degrees.

(2) Put your money in the money box.
　Do not throw money vigorously.
　Put the money quietly into the money box.

(3) Ring the crocodile bell (shrines generally have a bell).

(4) Straighten your posture and quietly clasp your hands together in front of your chest.

(5) Make a wish or chant a title in your mind.

(6) Fold your palms together and bow again at a 45-90 degree angle.

Leave the hall.

Worship with all your heart.

First, enter the Founder‘s Hall.

The Founder‘s hall, which enshrines Nichiren Shonin, has 220 ceiling dragon head paintings embedded in the ceiling .
The sliding doors also look like works of art.
Foreigners are said to be interested in everything they see.

Next, visit the main hall with its eye-catching thatched roof.
It was built as a prayer hall in the early Edo period (1603-1868).

Inside the main hall, which was built for the Yōjuin “Oman no Kata”, tea utensils and pillow screens used by the “Oman no Kata” are on display.

Items that were really used in the distant past have been preserved now.

(About sycamores and gardens to follow next time).

(Foreigners are also interested in the tasteful Japanese-style toilet between the ancestral hall and the main hall, and say they would like to use this Japanese-style toilet with a Japanese atmosphere.
This is certainly an experience that can only be had in Japan).