Rice ears

Rice ears - inaho 稲穂

Kaiji & Kyoho

Kaiji 甲斐路 & Kyohō 巨峰 grapes

A bunch of grapes

Bon Festival

お盆 (Bon Festival) which is celebrated around 15 August(or July) is a Buddhist custom in Japan.


Bon ornament - a cucumber horse & an eggplant cow with saddles of udon

Enkoin

Enkōin 円光院 was at first in Isawa and called "Seikōin 清光院", which was built in Hōgen era 保元年間 (1156-1159) . Then it was renamed "Jōjuin 成就院." In 1560, Takeda Shingen moved and reconstructed it in the current location. When his wife Sanjo-fujin 三条夫人 passed away in 1570, it was renamed "Zuiganzan 瑞巖山 Enkō-goji-zen-in 円光護持禅院" after her posthumous Buddhist name. Her grave is in it.




Hondō 本堂


A bell tower 鐘楼


Priest's quarters 庫裏


Kōfu basin 甲府盆地

Takeda Shingen's gravestone is in the vicinity of the temple. It is said that he passed away at Ina 伊那, Nagano in 1573 and he was cremated at the place near Enkōin. Then his cremains were buried at Erinji 恵林寺 in Kōshū city. Before his death, he had ordered his following to keep his death a secret for three years. Stories founded on it are played out in Kagemusha 影武者 by Akira Kurosawa 黒澤明.

■ Enkoin's Official Web Site (Japanese version only)

View Enkōin 円光院 & A gravestone of Shingen 信玄の墓所 on Google My Maps

■ Refer to Kofu-Gozan & Kai Zenkoji and Kai Pilgrimage

■ Reference Data
・Wikipedia
・Yamanashi Shinpō newspaper's site on Kai Hyakuhachi Reijō

Kobaiyaki

Kōbaiyaki 紅梅焼 which has rustic sweet taste is a Japanese traditional snack and something like a large soft biscuit, and appears in Botchan 坊っちゃん which was written by Natsume Sōseki.



At Takekawa Kashi-ten 竹川菓子店, you can buy fresh-baked Kōbaiyakis.

In the vicinity of the shop, there are some spots associated with Dazai Osamu.

■View Kōbaiyaki 紅梅焼 on Google My Maps

Chozenji, Shingen and Buddhism

Sanmon 山門 (temple gate)


'Chōzen-ankoku 長禅安国', set up on the gate


A stone monument in front of the gate, on which the following is written :
Zuiunzan 瑞雲山 Chōzenji 長禅寺
has the grave of Ōi-fujin 大井夫人 (1497-1552), the mother of Takeda Shingen,
and is the studying and training location of Shingen (Harunobu 晴信) in his childhood,
and the venerable location where Shingen (Kizankō 機山公) practiced Zen meditation and took the tonsure to enter Buddhist priesthood.


Sanmon from its back, with a train of Chūō line


Niōmon 仁王門 (deva gate) and a stone monument, written "Zuiunzan Chōzenji"



A big temple bell 梵鐘



Kuri 庫裏 (priest's quarters)


A garden


Hondō 本堂 (main hall) under restoration


Mausoleum of Ōi no Kata 大井の方 (Ōi-fujin 大井夫人)


Five-storied stupa


Three-storied stupa


Five-storied stupa and grape fields in Mt. Atago 愛宕山

View Chōzenji 長禅寺 on Google My Maps

■ Refer to Kofu-Gozan & Kai Zenkoji and Kai Pilgrimage

■ Reference Data
・Wikipedia
・Yamanashi Shinpō newspaper's site on Kai Hyakuhachi Reijō

PLUMS

In Yamanashi, plums (Sumomo すもも 李) can now be picked. The yield of plums in Yamanashi takes up 30% of that in Japan.

GRAPES IN THE RAIN