Chou Sen Ji in Shibuya I

This weekend I went for a walk in Yoyogi Park, one of Tokyo's largest public parks. Along the way, I stumbled across this gem on Meiji Dori (明治通り). The street is packed with Tokyo's hippest shops. Mostly "select" shops where merchandise from a variety of domestic and overseas designers is gathered according to specific theme: skateboarding, hip-hop, punk, etc.

A pale yellow wall proceeded the entrance, buffeted only by the main road. Two elephants carved from granite greeted visitors from atop posts. I was the only person inside the temple. (This is common in the lesser-known ones.) Usually temples are guarded by two lions: one has its mouth open and the other closed. A long driveway paved with pebbles led from the main street to the temple's main building.

This picture is oddly cropped due to the ten story Brutalist apartment block seated to the right.

On either side of the driveway, parking spots have been sold or rented to luxury car owners. This is an oddity of Tokyo temples with land to spare. If they want to generate revenue without selling land, they pave, then rent. Still, this temple had the class to pave with a lighter colored, chunkier gravel. The offset was delicate.