Saturday 20 September 2025

Although we had allowed ourselves two full days to recover from our flight, I think we could have started cycling today. We had booked the hotel for three nights and we had to make good use of the time. I had no idea what we were going to do today until I did a bit of research and found a Buddhist temple and gardens nearby. I suggested to Ralf that we could walk the 3+ kms to the temple and take the train back to the Central Rail Station which is only a 5-minute walk from our hotel.

After breakfast and to start our morning, we did a little load of laundry so that everything is clean when we start riding tomorrow. The hotel has washing machines for guests to use, it was cheap and convenient.

The population of Kawasaki is 1,538,262 people (2020), it is the 8^th most populated city in Japan. Kawasaki was a very industrial City with major manufacturers such as Hitachi, Kawasaki and steel manufacturers. Although it still has a lot of industry near the port area it has reinvented itself and has art galleries and a symphony.

As we walked towards the area of the Daishi Temple and gardens, I found it really interesting to see the different neighbourhoods and the density of the areas. This three-level parking structure was near a small apartment block.

They also used the same idea for bike storage.

There were a quite a few cyclists, most of them older people although there were a few younger ones on commuter bikes. Moms used these bikes to transport their children, baby in the front, toddler or young child in the back, mom in the middle and a basket on the front to carry the groceries. Who needs a car when you have this type of transportation to get around?

Within the area of the Buddhist temple is Daishi Park and Gardens. We spent about an hour wandering through the gardens, it was very peaceful.

Ralf called to me to tell me he had a hitch-hiker.

Kawasaki Daishi was founded in 1128 and is the headquarters of the Chizan School of Shingon Buddhism.  The temple’s original structures were destroyed during the war, and its current buildings are modern reconstructions of Heian Period architecture. The main hall (Dai-Hondo), constructed of steel and concrete, was built in 1958 and houses a statue of Kobo Daishi, the founder of Japanese Shingon Buddhism. Several of the temple’s other large structures, such as the main Dai-Sanmon Gate and an octagonal, five story pagoda, were built in the 1970s and 80s to commemorate various anniversaries.

The street leading away from the temple had a lot of knick knack shops. Mostly food related with candies being the most popular store. As you came into the street there was a rhythmic banging. The candy makers used their chopping knives to bang on their table to attract attention, they then took the warm candy mixture and cut it into small cubes.

The most interesting store was a chop-stick store. I know that sounds ridiculous, but they had such a variety of chop sticks and sizes. Who knew that chop sticks came in different sizes? There was even a measure so that you could get the right size. At the end of this trip, we will be buying chop sticks as our souvenir.

We walked about 5 kms to the temple and decided to take the train back to the Central Station. Very adventurous, no English instructions on how to buy tickets. The only instructions were to go to station staff. We managed to get two tickets and instructions as to which platform to wait for the train. We got on the next train that arrived and hoped it would take us to the Central Station. Fortunately, the announcements on the train were in English and the last stop was the Central Station.

Tomorrow, we head out on our bicycles to Hakone area.