It had been raining since the morning of April 13th, but we headed to Century Miki Golf Club, located at 135 degrees north-south, in our friend Minami’s car.

At our first stop, we prayed to Gyouja and fudo-myoo, a shrine that stands by the roadside at the entrance to the golf course. Like the villagers that have been praying here for over 1000 years, we were rewarded with purification from the gods.

We were surprised at the size of the golf course! The clubhouse looks like a restaurant in a luxury hotel.

Afterwards, the staff took us in a cart to the waterfall where Fudomyoo stands, and to the prayer hall of En no Gyoja, both of which reside on the golf course premises.

As we lit some incense and said a prayer, and the rain suddenly stopped.

This prayer hall has an underground passageway designed to allow people to come and pray without having to go through the golf course. This is a a very impressive and thoughtful consideration.

At the kind invitation of Yoko Tatematsu, the golf course’s director, we were treated to an exquisite kaiseki meal, and had lively conversations about Kukai, En no Gyoja, Japanese gods, and mysterious Japan.

The golf course director, Yoko Tatematsu invited us to dinner at the high end club restaurant where we enjoyed an exquisite Japanese kaiseki style meal. Over dinner we enjoyed a spirited discussion about Kukai, En no Goja, Japanese mythology and other Japanese cultural mysteries.

With a beautiful view of the rain drenched mountains from the large window, we talked about Kukai’s achievements as Shiozawa introduced his work, “Kukai Loves and Dragon” to Tatematsu-san. What a wonderful way to end a very meaningful day.