Day 38

Today I went to Obuse in Nagano prefecture. It was very pretty! I went with a YFU volunteer because my host family was very busy and I wanted to sight-see more. We went to a couple of temples, and then to the museum of the famous artist Hokusai, who you might not know by name but you will definitely know by his most famous piece.

In Nagano city we went the the famous temple, Zenkyo-ji. Zenkyo-ji has this famous tunnel underneath it that is pitch black. It is so dark that you can't see anything! You aren't supposed to bring any light in, just walk in total darkness with your right hand on the wall. They say that the darkness is the closest we can get to death, and the tunnel is considered the holiest place in the temple. I went by myself and it was very scary! It was a really cool experience.

fancy train that lets you sit at the front and look out

Path made of blocks of chestnut tree

view of the temple from the top of the gate

the famous painting, in person! this is actually just one of 100 paintings of Mt. Fuji that Hokusai did. Some of them are even cooler than this one in my opinion, but I didn't take a lot of pics (I don't think I was supposed to)

you place a stone on top and pray

Ms. Nakayama, the YFU volunteer

The Shinkansen (bullet train) is so fast that this sign looks like its bent