Finding Sendai’s Rinnō-ji Temple | Japan 2016 | Episode 14 Pt 2

Part 2 of this episode finds us closing in on Rinnō-ji Temple, as we navigate through a residential area of Sendai. We pickup where part 1 left us, being tempted by a liquor grocery store we happened upon along the way. We made the correct decision and continued to the temple.

It was getting late in the day, we didn’t have much sunlight left, and as it would turn out we took a rather round about way to the temple. Instead of following Google Maps directly to the temple entrance, we decided to explore an area on the map which was conspicuously absent of buildings, but was dotted with other temples and shrines.
What we found was a vast complex of cemeteries and temples and followed a small path along a cemetery and small homes on the top of a large hill.

On this round about route we walked through the grounds of Shifuku-ji Temple, with it’s large main hall, smaller shrines and a small little bamboo forest.

By the time we reached our main destination for the day, Rinnō-ji Temple, we had just enough light left to explore it’s amazing gardens, with ponds, koi fish, beautifully manicured trees and a large pagoda. Other than some men tying up the trees, getting them ready for winter, we had the entire place to ourselves. It was a peaceful experience strolling through the gardens, taking in it’s beauty.

We took a slightly different route back to the hotel, but I strategically plotted our course so we would hit that large liquor store, which at this point we thought was more grocery store. But when we entered we quickly realized it was a massive liquor store, and we spent a good bit of time exploring all the interesting liquors, beers, sakes and snacks it had on offer.

By the time we reached the hotel we were wiped. We also wanted to get to sleep early so we would be well rested for our visit to Yamedera the next day, should the wind cooperate. We decided on a convenience store dinner in our room and hit up a Lawson right next door to our hotel to pick up a few items.

For more details about this episode visit our show notes page:

Locations seen in this episode
📍 Shifuku-ji Temple –
📍 Rinnō-ji Temple –
📍 Liquor “Grocery” Store –
📍 Kokubuncho Street –
📍 Lawson –
📍 The Westin Sendai –