Some Neighbors Nearby

These photos are from a two block stretch of street a few blocks away. A beautiful Temple.





Temples like these are really all over the place. Can I count how many temples and shrines are around here? At least ten.






They all really are awesome. Maybe that's why I didn't care about traveling all the distances to see famous ones.
These "little" ones are beautiful in their own right.





However, with the reversed Nazi sign. I heard something about not using it much anymore because everyone thinks it's associated to Nazi's.





Next to the Temple, is likely the very nice home of the family who are the Temple Priest's family? Shinto and Buddhist Temples are in charge of the wedding business', funeral business, praying over the construction of new buildings, and the Priests are paid to come pray at the alters/shrines inside individual homes.


Usually on the date every month of the most recently deceased family memebers. Oh, and New Year's, and Obon- summer "hosting back the ancestor spirits". The graveyards are always visited, and cleaned up at least those times a year? Usually more often than just those two occasions I believe.



There's a style of home I much prefer just down half a block. The old wooden style.






What's interesting, and amazing really, is how well used the space is. Well, true, it's out of necessity. Across the road from the beautiful wooden home is the home, and construction company of my old students. The Ogasawaras. Now those sons are taking over their father's business. I often see them driving, and we still wave to each other. Nice!




From where I shot that photo, turn around and there's this shack.





Two places of residence. One has housed many cats...
The narrow TWO LANE road alongside this place (it's really one lane but we can drive both ways, with nice enough manners!)
But this "road" is the very popluar "Cherry Blossom Road" in Spring. You can see the "waterway" I call it. You could call it a stream in the old days I think. I've referred to it as a sewage way. You can see the pipes where water flows from people's sinks and washing machines. Not all, but some still do. You can also see rats running from those gutters, if you're so unlucky. And you couldn't imagine, but fish do live in there, and people even FISH in places like this!





There you go- a typical couple of blocks in Japan!