Saihō-ji

Gaining entry to Kokedera can be complex. You need to send a request in Japanese and have a Japanese address to receive your appointment card. To get around this we used the fabulous Akie W. from ToursByLocals. Upon our arrival we paid the temple entrance fee and then took a seat before a writing desk. The priests chant the The Heart of the Perfection of Understanding sutra which was provided in written form before us. Ideally you should copy this sutra and materials are provided, however in our case it was sufficient to write ours names and a wish on a wooden charm. Akie had kindly translated our names into kanji. We then took our charms to the altar, made an offering and received a blessing from the priests.