Japan Day 6, Part 4: The Towering Red and White Structures of Yakusiu-ji

The shade-less walk between Toshodai-ji and Yakushi-ji is only 600 meters, but it felt much longer in the afternoon sun. At least I got to see this amusing sign that clearly illustrates that there are incautious children at play in the area. 

Once in the shade of the temple's eaves, I drank most of the water I'd carried with me and I enjoyed looking at a two story round pagoda. After spending a year in Korea and almost a week in Japan, the temples - though still interesting - were starting to look awfully similar. Variation in architectural styles was a breath of fresh air, as was the change in color scheme. 

I was already impressed with the temple from the round pagoda alone. Then I entered the main courtyard. 

The East pagoda is the oldest of the three structures, built almost 1300 years ago. The layers vary in width, which gives the building complexity and character greater than pagodas that simply get smaller and smaller on each higher layer.

The West pagoda is much more modern, but also had varied widths. It also was very red, which became all the more apparent when looking up into its eaves. 

Even the main hall looked like a stack of different sized blocks, and from the side almost looked like a pagoda as well. 

After admiring the architecturally interesting trio during a couple circuits of the courtyard, I exited and took a bus back to Nara.