The mysterious Taya Caves near Yokohama, south of Tokyo
Yesterday a friend took me to the Taya caves near Ofuna, south of Yokohama. It was quite an experience, to say the least. Although Taya Caves are formally safeguarded as Japanese Cultural Property, they are not well known in Japan, let alone overseas. They are a long way off the traditional tourist circuit, but they make for a fascinating day trip from Tokyo (or even half-day trip from Yokohama).
When you arrive at Josen-ji, you will be given a candle, which you light from the candle inside the entrance to the caves. Don’t worry if yours goes out – there is backup lighting in the passageways. All the same, it’s a good idea to bring a small flashlight so you can see the carvings properly.
The caves are made up of 17 chambers of various sizes, spread out over three storeys and connected by a network of passageways that span almost 600 meters. The countless chisel marks still visible in the interior are evidence of long and strenuous manual work.
As you make your way along the silent, damp passageways between the meditation chambers, you’ll notice candles and offerings placed in wall recesses. The walls and ceilings of each small, domed meditation chamber are decorated with carvings of fantastic creatures and Buddhist images.
In total, there are about 300 rock-cut high and low reliefs on the caves’ walls and ceilings, and many of them are of fine artistic quality. The great turtle and birds carved on the walls of the spring room are particularly impressive. You can see them on the short video of this post.
For those who want to read more about the history of Taya caves I am attaching a link the full article here.
https://japantoday.com/…/taya-caves-an-underground…