Gessho-ji Temple

One of my trainer's friends, Keiko-san, lives in Matsue, and was looking for someone to teach her kids English. I offered my services, and she took me to her house to get acquainted and discuss details. On the way to her house, we stopped at a Temple close by. Gessho-ji temple is the family temple of the people who were the rulers of Matsue back in the day, and contains 9 generations of graves. It was built in 1664. It's very peaceful and pretty. The graves and monuments marking them are separated into different areas, with stone pathways connecting them. Many have wooden entrance gates. The woodwork is pretty spectacular.

Entrance gate carvings.

One of the grave sites. Each of the monuments are unique, with different set ups, sizes, and surroundings.

The stone pathways had interesting spacing. It was a bit of a challenge not to step into the cracks and twist an ankle. Miki-chan, Keiko-san's 1 year old seemed to especially enjoy walking on the pathways, even though they gave her a lot of trouble. adorable.

Miki-chan insisted on climbing the stairs herself. 

Beautiful carvings in the roof of one of the entrance gates.

Miki-chan!

Giant stone turtle carving. His head was higher than mine. The legend is he used to wander around the city at night causing havoc, so the residents put the giant stone pillar on his back to hold him in place.

 

 After viewing all the different graves, we stopped at the last building and lit some incense. After lighting the incense, you clap your hands together and pray for whatever you need to pray for. After that, we went next door to the tea house for green tea.

 The incense stick I lit.

 Inside the tea house. No shoes allowed on tatami (the straw mat flooring)

Miki-chan was very excited. She kept running around and opening doors. Here she is trying to make a cabinet her new home.

 The small garden the tea room looked out on. It was very pretty.

 Green tea and wagashi. yum.

Miki-chan was all about the wagashi. 

Afterwards, we went to Keiko-san's house to talk, and she served me yakisoba. Ah, delicious. Her 3 children are adorable. I look forward to teaching them :)