Mitokusan Mountain Temple in Tottori Prefecture

This past weekend, I headed up to Tottori Prefecture with my friends Paul, Anthony and Mike. We stayed at Mike's vacation house in the onsen town of Misasa. The highlight of the trip was a visit to the mountainside temple complex of Mitoku-san, which is said to date back to the pre-Nara era. It's HIGHLY recommended for anyone heading to Western Honshu.

Here is a picture of the famous "Nage-ire-do" hall at the top of the complex. The name means something like: "They just threw that temple up onto the cliff." No one seems to be able to figure out how they built it up there.


Here's the strong hiking team that made the ascent:


Here I am at one of the temples midway up the mountain:


Here's Paul at a garden lower down on the mountain: