Chuson-ji Temple, Leaving Hiraizumi

At Chuson-ji temple they have these places where you wash your left hand, then your right, and then drink with your hands. 

Just like in Nagano the statues all had pink hats and bibs.

Chuson-ji is a very big complex with all sorts of temples. This is the temple to the god of eyes.

This is a disused bell tower. They couldn't ring it anymore because the bell became cracked or hollow.

This tree is from 1600!

This is another temple...

For some reason rocks were all lined up on the railings.

This is another temple...

Apparently this is the zodiac sign for "dragon." Methinks not.

This is a arts area, I think.

From this "arts area" you can see the train tracks.

This is a freight train that I got to film at a nearby grade crossing.

On our walk back we spotted the remains of another shrine that was on an island.

Before:

After:

Since the main grade crossing was closed, we got to walk through a small grade crossing, one where cars were not allowed.

Hiraizumi has these two-seater cars that are really small that stay around the train station. Don't know what the deal is with these cars.

At Hiraizumi Station I saw yet another freight train!

Sadly this is our train, taking us away from the rural areas of Iwate.

We went to Ichinoseki Station to catch a Nasuno Shinkansen. Unbeknownst to me, there was a KiHa 100 storage yard there! I just really like KiHa 100s.

These are two KiHa 100s moving along on the side tracks below the shinkansen platforms.

This was our E5 Nasuno train that we took to Omiya.

Why were we going to Omiya again? To stay in Toyoko Inn 120.

See, on the inside, it appears pretty normal...

But once you open up the windows, it is a railfan's HEAVEN.

You can be sure of a train every two minutes on the near track, ten minutes on the farther tracks, and occasionally special trains. For example, that night I spotted a Super View Odoriko (rare), a Nikko express train that used the old Narita Express cars, and several freight trains.

If you like trains and are going to Japan, I HIGHLY recommend this place. Just ask for a trainview room.

Next post will be about the Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park.