Myōryū-ji Temple ((Ninja Temple))

   This morning, my host sister Saki had a very large English test to take in Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken. Ishigawa prefecture is the next prefecture over, west of Toyama prefecture. So, we all got in the car early this morning, picked Josh up, and headed for Kanazawa city! (: 
    First, my host mother took us to the Higashi district (金沢のひがし地方), which is the traditional district in Kanazawa. The traditional district still has many Geisha (芸者), Tea houses (おちゃや), and Temples (お寺) located within heart of the city. My host mother knows how much I love Matcha, so she took Josh and I to a traditional tea house. We took a tour of the beautiful tea house, which was made up of wall-to-wall tatami flooring and had special tea rooms for the Geisha. After the tour, we sat down for sweets and our matcha.     After tea, we spent quite some time walking up and down the streets, entering and shopping at many shops. (: Soon after, we headed to a small restaurant where we ate an early lunch of local Ishikawa specialties. Our meal included miso soup, fresh sashimi, rice, three types of tea, and more~!  

       After lunch, we headed over to Myōryū-ji temple (妙立寺) which was the most amazing temple/building I have ever been to in my life!!! Myoryu-ji's nickname is "Ninja temple" because it is made up of secret staircases, pitfalls, secret doors, and wells with tunnels that connect to the closest castle.... :O The tour was incredible-- each corner we turned revealed a new hidden trap designed to protect the lord and samurai from an oncoming attacker. There is always one scene in any Scooby-Doo episode that shows exactly how this temple is set up.... In Scooby-Doo, there is that scene where the Mystery Inc. gang is running through a halls way of door with the bad guy, and each time they go into one door, they come out a different door.... Do you know what scene I am talking about?? (: haha anyway, that is how this temple was amazingly set up(:

  During the Edo Period, the Tokugawa shogunate prohibited the construction of buildings higher than three stories. Myoryu-ji looks like a two story temple from the outside, but really it is made up of seven layers ((4 hidden layers inside, 3 layers as a labyrinth of corridors in the basement)). The staircases on the main floor were made of see through white rice paper. If an enemy was entering the temple and using the staircases, the samurai below could see where their shadow was and could stab the enemies' feet with their spears... Also, literally every floorboard piece could be lifted up to reveal a secret staircase into the basement labyrinth. Myoryu-ji has only 25 rooms but 29 staircases in total!! :) 
    Oh my gosh what else? Everything about this temple was so amazing~! Oh yeah, like I said, the top 2 stories of the temple were prohibited and therefore hidden, so the staircases leading to them were hidden in closets behind latched doors. Also, the well in the middle of the temple did have a tunnel leading to the near by Kanazawa castle. Because the well was located in the middle of the temple, is was at convenient access for a quick escape when needed.
    So, even though this temple was built early in the 1500's, it is still full of many tricks and traps that are really amazing even today-- Ninja temple was definitely the most amazing temple I have ever visited!! (: Like always, if you have any questions or want to post a subject for me to address, please leave that in the comment sections below. Sorry for the long post....but it was worth it for Myoryu-ji (:

~Jane Claire (o^^o)