A relaxing Sunday, reading books about Sumo and practising Origami, with two quick visits to very impressive temples:
The first Sanjusangendo which has over a thousand ‘Kannon’ statues that stand around the buddha.
The second is a really nice 3 tiered temple that has relaxing ponds with Japanese Koi Carp to look at.
Randomly in the car park for the final temple was a boot sale, which I enjoyed look around to see the differences between the English and Japanese second hand goods.
The first thing I noticed was how much more stuff they had because lots of people in Japan have Kei Micro Vans which are little boxy vans and allow the back seats to come out for extra storage.
The story behind Kei vehicles in Japan is quite interesting:
They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is available for the vehicle. This especially advantaged class of cars was developed to promote popular motorization in the postwar era. While successful in Japan, the genre is generally too specialized and too small to be profitable in export markets.
Source – Wikipeadia
I really like the Kei Mirco Vans and would consider getting one when I return to the UK
