By Jacob Way
Today we went to Odawara castle, the capital and main watchtower of the ancient Hojo and Odawara territory.
The castle is designed to be nearly impenetrable by enemy forces; the entrance leads to a winding path made to be hard to follow on horseback, the walls are surrounded by a moat and, in medieval times, was enclosed by two massive walls and protected by samurai.
This morning we visited a smaller, but much more ancient statue of Buddha. This Buddha has survived many earthquakes, but a summer typhoon washed over it and swept away its temple.
The Buddha is now outside. The closeness of this Buddha to the ground made it feel more personal to the group and its weathered state made it seem more real than the last one. The garden it sat in seemed to be made to radiate from the statue, with trees and boulders pointed towards its head.
Cardinals Take Flight! 