Okayama

We were up early for the 7 o’clock morning prayer ceremony in the temple shrine; the three resident monks chanted the prayers for about 30 minutes non-stop, changing the pace, pitch and tone in perfect unison and accompanying them with chimes of bells and clashes of cymbals. It was totally mesmerising and an experience we will never forget.

Afterwards one of the monks gave what was, judging by his tone of voice and gentle smile, a kindly sermon to the other 5 Japanese visitors before the oldest monk gave all of us a twinkly-eyed tour of the temple, using Google Translate on his phone for our benefit, to tell us about the history of the temple and some of the philosophy behind the ritual we had just witnessed.

We we served with a traditional breakfast before saying our farewells and heading back down the cable car (the extra gives some idea of the precipitous descent) to catch a series of trains, all perfectly coordinated with typical Japanese railway efficiency so that we never waited more than 10 minutes for any one train, that brought us to Okayama, where we are staying for four nights.

Even allowing for it being Sunday afternoon, the broad main avenue heading down from our hotel opposite the station was remarkably quiet when we strolled down to get our bearings and stop for a beer in a craft ale bar.

This evening we ate the Japanese take on tapas (they also offered pasta dishes and both Spanish and Italian dishes were really authentic ) in a restaurant in the side road opposite the hotel, while watching crazy Japanese game shows on big screens (one of which involved 4 middle-aged Japanese ladies undertaking a series of challenges in Finland which all resulted in them falling into icy water) before  taking in the bright lights of the area.

The crustacean in the main photo above a seafood restaurant is typical of the understated Japanese approach to advertising.