GeoffreyGriggsPhotography

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Muryoji Temple 無量寺

On our way back from our day trip to Laguna Beach, we stopped on the way back at Muryoji Temple in the Gamagori area of Japan. People from all over Japan come to this temple to pray for recovery from cancer. At the temple, we listened to a priest chant and then talk about foods and combinations of foods that should and should not be eaten to help fight cancer. Visitors can write a wish on a wooden card indicating what part of their body is afflicted with cancer. The temple then hangs the cards around the temple grounds. We also entered a series of dark passageways inside the temple called, "Thousand Buddhas Cave," which was filled with Buddhist statues of varying shapes and sizes. Visitors light candles and incense and make wishes for the future. I took these photos with my little 40mm pancake lens, wide open at F 2.8, and without a flash. The lens does exhibit some vignetting at its widest aperture, but for these photos I think it works.