The lake at Mōtsū-ji Temple is always crystal clear!

Today, we are visiting Mōtsū-ji Temple and Chūson-ji Temple in Hiraizumi. Early in the morning, we headed to Sendai Station. Initially, we planned to have breakfast at Date Cafe O'rder and buy some rice balls. However, since it was my first time in Sendai, I didn’t know that the cafe was located on the second floor of Sendai Station, which is the JR local train level, while the JR Shinkansen platform is on the third floor. As a result, we couldn’t find the cafe. Later, as the departure time approached, we had no choice but to enter the platform and bought sandwiches and a yakisoba bento at the station to prepare for our Shinkansen ride. Since we had pre-purchased tickets online and linked them to our Suica card, there was no need to use cash or queue up to buy tickets on-site, making the process relatively convenient. Additionally, we could pre-select our seats to ensure we had a place to sit. On April 28, the start of Golden Week, we were worried about the crowds, so we booked tickets in advance. While there were still plenty of reserved seats available, the unreserved seats were already full, and some Japanese passengers were even standing in the aisles of the reserved carriages. After arriving at Ichinoseki Station, some people chose to exit the station and take a shuttle bus directly to Chūson-ji Temple. We opted to take the JR Tōhoku Main Line to Hiraizumi Station to first visit Mōtsū-ji Temple and the Kanjizaiō-in ruins. Mōtsū-ji Temple (もうつうじ) is an important Buddhist temple from Japan’s Heian period and belongs to the Tendai sect. It was founded in 850 AD by Ennin, a prominent Buddhist monk, and later rebuilt by Fujiwara no Kiyohira. During the Heian period, Hiraizumi was the political center of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan, and Mōtsū-ji Temple was one of the key representations of Buddhist culture at the time. Its garden design is considered to embody Pure Land Buddhist thought and has been designated as a Special Historic Site and Special Place of Scenic Beauty in Japan. As you stroll through the gardens of Mōtsū-ji Temple, you’ll encounter various ruins. All the wooden structures have been destroyed, leaving only the foundations and remnants. Although I don’t know much about feng shui, I could sense that the temple’s feng shui is excellent, with an atmosphere that brings a sense of peace. The Kanjizaiō-in ruins now consist of just a site with remnants, as all the buildings were lost in a devastating fire.