Sean > In My Own Backyard

Hello everyone!

That's right, today is about "My Own Backyard". This is a phrase that means "The area near my home". This week, I took a day trip around Matsuyama. I was surprised- there are so many things to see and do!

I decided that I wanted to go out and see Ishite River Park and enjoy the warm sunny day. After riding my bicycle east (東) I found a red bridge and a small park with many carp (鯉). I continued east until I saw a large statue (像) on a hill (丘). I have been living in Matsuyama for over 2 years and it was my first time to see it! I had to find out what it was!

I rode my bike north (北) and found that the statue was near Ishite Temple (寺), "Ishiteji" in Japanese. It had been a long time since I visited, so I decided to take a look.

Ishiteji has a small cave (洞) with many statues inside. It was very dark and quiet inside- I felt like there might be ghosts! I decided I had enough of the cave and wanted to look around the temple area more.

I learned about the big statue by asking people in the area: it is a statue of the man who made the 88 Temples, or the "Hachijuchachi" temples in Japanese. These temples are all over Shikoku and are part of a pilgrimage (巡礼). I want to try it when I have some time! Did you see any of the 88 temples? Leave a comment for me about them!


The last thing I decided to do was to climb the mountain near Ishiteji and take a good look around the city. You would be surprised how much you can enjoy your own home if you'd only go out and take a look.



So, go and take a look in "your own backyard"!

Vocabulary: East (東), Temple (寺), Carp (鯉), Statue (像), Hill (丘), North (北), Cave (洞), Pilgrimage (巡礼)