The Narita temple, introduced in the "Holy Smokes" entry, was built in 940 AD.  The temple grounds occupy at least 10 acres with many more buildings besides the temple, itself.  

Here, for example, is a Pagoda built just to the right of the main temple.

The grounds are beautifully manicured.  I couldn't resist taking a shot of this creative use of bamboo:

On the backside of the temple was this small, neat altar which was open to the elements:

While we were there, we heard a bell being rung:

It was a call to begin this colorful procession through the courtyard area in front of the temple:

The fashion rage in the U.S. is high heels and/or very colorful tennis shoes, but I think these monks could start a slightly different shoe trend if only they would paint those wooden clogs bright yellow or maybe a matching red!

Of course, I don't know what the meaning is of the last monk being sheltered by this bright red umbrella, but it certainly attracted my attention:

Up they go into the temple for some chanting ...

I spotted this ornament atop one of the buildings.  Detail like this is everywhere!

These next shots were taken while exploring the temple grounds.  The first image, were it located in the U.S., would be of headstones ... but I'm not sure that's the case here.  The range of light was quite large so this is a 5 shot HDR composite

Fabulous colorful tree canopy ...

More ...

And, I'll end this post with a quiet little scene:

My first day's introduction to Japan was this temple covered in Holy Smokes! and Holy Smokes! II.  I was hooked!

As always, I hope you enjoyed this little peak into my travels in Japan.

Bye for now,

Adam