We headed down the same road far enough to establish a total lack of temples within the designated distance, cast back to the signpost and had another go, heading the other way and crossing at a set of traffic lights to find another sign that pointed us in the right direction.
When we got to Hokokuji we found a quiet shrine with its own charm, particularly in the coloured leaves piled around the stonework. The temple, which dates back to 1334, is best known for the bamboo grove behind the main hall. The grove fills the space where temple founder Tengan Eko (posthumous Buddhist name - Butusjo Zenji) meditated and wrote poetry. The temple flourished as the family temple of the Ashikaga and Uesugi clans, but most of the temple structures were destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.
