Recently I wrote about a beautiful hike up Mount Takao in Tokyo. Two of the amazing features of the hike are the Buddhist temple and Shinto shrines along the way. In fact one of the wonderful things about Japan in general is the large number of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines that dot the country along with the hundreds of thousands of statues that live along road sides, in little houses, and in just about every nook and cranny you can think of.
The hike up to Mt. Takao is filled with religious and everyday statues. The forest is packed with them, either reminding you of Buddhist precepts, celebrating a piece of nature like a waterfall or a large tree, or just being cute and adding to the neighborhood character. A lot of people have written to me since my last post asking for more pictures of the hike. As I like to make people happy, here is a slideshow of the Statues of Mt. Takao. I hope you enjoy.
If you liked the video, let us know below in the comments, or feel free to share it with a friend.
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Truly amazing. I can imagine how peaceful and serene it must be in person.
Mike Collins´s recent [type] ..Mdina Malta- Timeless Beauty
Wow, Beautiful! Thanks for the amazing photos, enjoyed a lot
Creative, clever and informative. Thanks!
Glad you liked it Maria
Amazing video, I was into it all the way! Many thanks for this:)
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Thanks Arti, glad you liked it
Great pics Todd.
I especially love the Tengu. Although I’m confused, you describe them as very enlightened and wise people. I always assumed that they were mean bad-asses.
Maybe they’re both.
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Hey David, thanks. Well I didn’t say they where enlightened, just that they had gained powers to become gods
Supposedly they are yamabushi who have succeeded in transforming themselves. As you know, in Japan, kami are not all nice and pretty.
You’re right “enlightened” was my word, not yours. And yeah, I tend to forget that not all Kami are nice (I guess I only hang out with the nice ones and tend to forget about the other ones)
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Well at 4 million Kami there are bound to be nice ones and bad asses
beautiful todd! and it’s refreshing to view photos like this instead of scrolling down a page. feels more dynamic! what a gorgeous place too. the buddha statues has such a calming effect on me
Lorna – the roamantics´s recent [type] ..Donating My Hair in Honor of a Friend on Earth Day
Thanks Lorna. I’m glad you enjoyed the slide show as I’m playing with different ways to get a lot of images across that is more enjoyable to the reader (er viewer?).
Beautiful slideshow. I have hiked Mt. Takao myself and these images remind me of the serenity that could be found in Japan. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos.
Thanks Julie. When were you on Takaosan? There is certainly a lot of peace to be found in Japan, especially in the country side.
Some really beautiful images here Todd. Can’t wait to here more about your up coming book as well
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Hi Anthony. Thanks and I’m finally steaming ahead on the book. Next step is looking for an agent to help get it published.