Memories of a visit to Hagi's Daishoin close to four years after the fact (Photo-essay)

Close to four years ago now, I went on a trip to Japan that would be my last one for far longer than I thought would be the case.  So much has happened in the intervening years (including more protests than I actually can remember and also a multi-year pandemic).  As a result, my chronicling of what actually was a pretty awesome trip (which included visits to a cool rabbit island, an island in Seto Inland Sea that's home to an unbelievable temple and an amazing underground cave along with a historic town along the Sea of Japan that attracts few foreign visitors) has been broken up... and not completed!

 

But I complete it I must and will; not least because I want to share how wonderful the places I visited on that October 2019 trip were.  So eight months after offering up a photo-essay of my visit to Mori clan temple of Tokoji in Hagi, here's sharing photos from my visit to the scond Mori clan temple that same autumn day: with Daisho-in being home to another atmospheric, lantern-filled graveyard -- this time the even-numbered generations of Mori lords (as opposed to Tokoji's odd-number generations of Mori lords!)...   

 

While Tokoji is located within walking distance of other historical  sites 

(including Shoin Jinja and the former home of Ito Hirobumi), Daishoin is 

literally on the other side of the train tracks from the more built up part of Hagi 

 

The walk from the nearest bus stop to the temple passes along 

citrus fruit orchards which are the dwelling places 

of critter like this cool looking spider :)

 

It's easy enough to figure out the path to Daishoin though

thanks to the way being lined by these stone lanterns

 

Daishoin's temple compound is quieter and more rustic than expected

 

There's a distinct air of age and neglect about the place

-- and I admit it, I thought it felt kind of eerie!

 

Nonetheless, through the gates of the graveyard I went!

 

Thank goodness for Puppet Ponyo being with me -- 

and she really did add some color to the place, at the very least! ;b

 

All joking aside, I found the graveyard of the Mori lords (and 

eight samurai who committed seppuku on the death of their lord) to be 

a thoroughly impressive place that I feel privileged to have got to visit