Aizu Sazaedo temple

. The first place I visited was a small temple perched in the foothills of the mountains that surround Aizuwakamatsu. You may think I’d have had enough of temples by now but this one, Aizu-Sazaedo, the turban shaped temple, had a unique claim to fame. It was built in a spiral form, which I was curious to see. It also turned out to be in a lovely setting, with what I took to be a rippling brook, towering trees and of course a bridge. In fact it was an irrigation canal whose total length is apparently about 31 km. In 1623, a local leader named Hatta Kuranosuke invested his own money to begin the project. Water reached Hattano Village in 1641. Later, in 1832, the Aizu Domain appointed the samurai Satō Toyosuke to oversee a major restoration. About 55,000 labourers were mobilized, and during this work the Benten Tunnel (about 150 m long) was excavated. The project was completed in 1835. Having seen so many incredibly long tunnels through the mountains in Japan clearly their skill dates back centuries. The Temple of Aizu-Sazaedo was perched above the canal and some very steep steps led up to it. To my relief I spotted an alternative route, a path that wound its way rather more gently to the upper level. I explored the Temple Precinct, which didn’t take long as it was so small, and then, having paid the modest entrance fee, dutifully climbed the stairs to the inside of the temple and trudged up the spiral slope that eventually brought me to the top floor. I then equally dutifully trudged down a different spiral slope. Rather a clever design, I thought, but wouldn’t it have been enhanced by providing mats at the top so that we could slide down like on a helter skelter?