Yoshino Mountain

Yesterday we travelled to Yoshino mountain which is outside of Nara. We left Osaka late to avoid the rush hour therefore most of the day was spent on the train. I enjoyed the train journey as it is wonderful too engage with the local people. This provides me with many opportunities to practise may language skills. The town of Yoshino is a popular place for Japanese people to visit in the Spring time as the mountain sides are covered with cherry trees? These trees were planted in the 7th century by the founder of the Buddhist temple and over the centuries people planted cherry trees all over the surrounding mountains. We were staying at a tradition Japanese inn called a ryokan and there we ate the local cuisine which consisted of sweet fish, goma dofu a tofu made from sesame seeds and sweet river fish. We visited the Kinpusenji Temple which was built in the Asuka period as a training centre for ascetic monks. The main hall has been reconstructed and is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. From there we walked to Yoshimizu Jinji which is a Shinto shrine. It was a palace for a member of the Genji family. It is a very example of a ancient style of Japanese palace and it looks over to the Kinpusenji Temple.