Japan Day 3, Part 6: Eikan-do

Eikan-Do temple was situated in forests and among gardens as beautiful as its neighbors. The buildings were connected with meandering wooden walkways around the gardens.

The temple's most striking feature, to my architecture obsessed eyes, was the delightful curve of an outdoor covered staircase ascending up to a small pagoda overlook.

Other parts of the building had decorative lions on the roof that were the opposite of rampant: rearing on their front legs and kicking the hind legs upward, making them look like circus performing dogs.

The elegant ponds and gardens had a touch of autumn in them, which only enriched the landscape's palette.