Melba and I were returning from Yokota a few weeks back and as we were pulling away from the station at Ofuna Melba happened to look back out the window and saw this enormous white monument of a female figure high on a hill above the city. "We have to come back and see that one day," I told her. That day was today, but I came alone. Melba's still away at that week-long workshop.
It was just as well that I came alone. Melba would not have cared for the countless steps zigzagging up to this ivory-white bust of a 75-foot tall reinforced concrete female Buddha. Melba doesn't like climbing stairs, indoor or out, and certainly not ones that are slick with drizzle.
The official name of this place is Muga sozan Ōfuna Kannonji. It's a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. Since I am presently not seeking this path to spiritual development or the practice thereof through Buddhism, the reader will have to research the details of this form of enlightenment on their own. I simply made the pilgrimage for the photo op.
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