On the next morning we took JR Kaisoku (rapid) commuter train to Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture (in about 20 min direct). Picked up a rental car and headed to Oike-ji, Koka in about 45 min (< 25km away), due to busy traffic on national roads.

It was quiet and the head monk received and briefed us with a video. The landscape garden is serene. We stayed for less than 1 hour.

 

Oike-ji (大池寺)

 

Lunch in Morishima Honten (毛利志満 近江八幡本店)

drove to this 100+ year old shop whose beef cattle are raised in its own farm. The grilled Omi-gyu (近江牛)  was delicious. The restaurant was quite full and thus we had to wait for a while w/o reservation.

 

 

Kyorinbo (教林坊)

Next we drove to Kyorinbo, which was the most brilliant koyo spot in this visit !!  Re its website it was founded by Prince Shotoku (聖德太子) in early 7th century AD.

There were more visitors though not crowded. 

 

 

The more brilliant spots were around Hondo (main hall) and opposite Shuin (library). 

Out of the blue, it suddenly rained. Thus, almost all visitors sought for shelter in Shuin. After 10 min or so, it was getting heavier and even small round white pellets rained down – our first experience !  Luckily it wasn’t those large hailstone and no one seemed to be hurt.

 

 

Omihachiman (近江八幡)

Next we drove to the canal area of Omihachiman.  Dropped by the Hakuunkan (literally white cloud hall) – in European architecture which now serves as the tourist information centre.  As traffic was fairly heavy along the way, we did not stay for long and returned to Kusatsu. 

 

 

 

=====>   Kyoto (Part 4)   =====>