Destination: Fukui. Not too far, not too close. In fact, only about an hour and a half and one straight shot on the JR train called The Thunderbird.
Mostly, I wanted to visit Eiheiji monastary. I really like this book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, which are recorded lectures by a man named Shunryu Suzuki, who trained at this monastary and later moved to the U.S. to share Zen Buddhism with Americans. He mentions Eiheiji a few times in the book, so I was quite curious and intrugued too have a look.
I also saw that Fukui is home to the most dinosaur remains in Japan, and had a dinosaur museum. Dinosaur Museum!!!
So reading material and camera in tow, off I went on the Thunderbird express.
The results?
At Eiheiji I walked over immaculately polished cool wooden floors, felt the solidness of the beams that held everything together high overhead and all around. I brushed by robed monks shuffling through on their way to lunch and heard the chanting of their practice. It really was as someone pointed out, a living "zen dojo".
Either the dino museum really wasn't all that tight or I'm just not as big a dinosaur enthusiast as I'd like to be. Or I just picked the worst day to go, Monday being a national holiday following the first weekend of summer break for the kids. Screaming children and their exhausted (looking?) parents flocked to the place like ants to a cookie crumb. One thing I have to give them credit for is the architecture. The building itself from a distance looks like a gigantic dinosaur egg jutting out of a green forest of trees. Once inside the egg, you descend down an escalator in the center of the dome which really makes you feel like you are going into the belly of the beast. But that's about it- exhibits, meh; interesting factor- 4.
All tings is what you make of it, seen? Pack light and choose your own adventure.
