At nearby Oyaji Temple, set at the entrance to Oya Cave, we saw the mystical 9th century Senjyu Kannon Bosatsu carved into the stone. This Buddha image has hands clasped in prayer, but many more arms radiate from the body. It is quite sobering to gaze at this 1200-year-old carving! A series of nine additional Buddha images are carved in relief on the cave walls. They are the oldest Buddhist reliefs in Japan.
In the prefectural museum, we were excited to see a Hamada pottery collection. Hamada, Shoji is a National Treasure in Japan, and we imagine our master potter friend Gerry Williams must have met him at some point. Hamada believes in the functionality of pots, as Gerry does. We saw some lovely glazes and designs.
Last Saturday we left ARI and entered Japan on our own. We took the train to Utsunomiya and mastered the bus system. The local information booth was a great help, and once again, we experienced the kindness of the Japanese people. Concentrating on gathering correct change for our bus stop, we left the backpack on the bus! After the bus drove away, we stood on the sidewalk checking the map. Suddenly, a woman came running toward us pointing to a backpack in her hand. She had noticed it on the seat and told the driver to stop the bus so she could deliver it to us! 
At Futaarayama Shrine, several young couples arrived with babies and were escorted into the shrine, even though a sign read no admittance. We guessed that the babies were being brought for a blessing.
