Hiking and Buddhism

During the weekend, I was invited to a Halloween party by one of the teachers. The food was great - loadsa homemade titbits, donuts in a chocolate fondue and takoyaki just to name a few ;) - and the company was fantastic. Everyone there was actually a member of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International), an organisation that practices Buddhism. They did try to persuade me to join, and demonstrated chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, and I came away from the party with a couple of SGI books. Not that I'm thinking of turning to Buddhism, but it was my first time hearing about the SGI, so I thought it'd be interesting to know more about it.

The next day, I did a little hike in Saitama. We did a 3-hour circuit from Shoumaru station 正丸駅 and back via Shoumaru Touge 正丸峠, Odaka 小高山 and Izugatake 伊豆ヶ岳 (851m).

[The other route to Izugatake.]

[View from Shoumaru Touge]