Travel2Japan Winter, 2015 Volume 3 | Page 6

The cemetery (Okuno-in): simple tombstones, elaborate corporate memorials (including one rocket ship) and hundreds of statues of Jizo, dressed in traditional red hats and capes. As this was autumn, brilliant red, orange and yellow leaves graced the pathways that led to The Great Forest of Japanese Cedar, a collection of towering trees, some 600 years old and 165 feet high, standing guard over the green moss-covered Japanese lanterns and headstones below. Below: the Banryutei Garden in Kongobuji Temple. Protective dragons emerge from a sea of clouds to protect Kobo Daishi on his ascent to eternal meditation.