Temple light up and Turkey Syria Earthquake fundraising / solidarity at Saimyoji, March 2023. This post was updated on March 16th with even more new information for Saimyouji.
I serendipitously came across a Facebook post by Saimyoji Temple this afternoon announcing a new light up event that started tonight. The post also had information about their fundraising efforts for the (Japanese Red Cross) Turkey Syria Earthquake Relief Fun. To date I have shared Saimyoji’s light up events in the main post about the temple, but I think sometimes event information gets lost when its just added to a post. Especially because if I just add to a post, there is no notification and the post doesn’t get sent out to subscribers.
Saimyoji Temple Light Up
From tonight March 11th 2023 to the end of the month, March 31st, the temple will be lit up in red every night, between 6 and 9 pm. However, contrary to what I had believed, there is no-one at the temple at night. I had hoped to donate to the fund, but I couldn’t find a donation box. And actually, the main way to donate to the fund is purchasing one of the charity items:
Goshuin
A percentage of the sales of the Goshuin, which is a temple seal or stamp, go to the Turkey Syria Earthquake Relief Fund. They are only available to purchase during office hours. They cost 1000 yen.
Balloon Art
Another way you can support the fund at Saimyouji is purchasing one of the balloon art – a balloon with flowers in it.
Pair Hanachozu
Saimyoji have hanachozu (water fonts with floating flowers) all year round. There are at least four at any one given time, of which two are a “pair” set – two hanachozu side by side. Each week the theme normally changes for the pair hanachozu. However, in support of the Turkish and Syrian people, the pair hanachozu has and will be the Turkish and Syrian flag for an indefinite period of time. The Turkish hanachozu includes tulips as it is the national flower of Turkey ♡. The pair hanachozu are also lit up at night.
Other events / news March 2023
Since the start of the year Saimyoji has a pink ribbon day every month on the 19th. In February of this year they introduced a new hanachozu ‘gacha’ capsule machine in collaboration with a local support facility for people with special needs. Each capsule contains a hanachozu badge, made by members of the support facility. One capsule costs 200 yen. There are six different types, one of which is a surprise!
Since March 15th 2023 there is a new flower arrangement at the temple, as pictured above. Flowers hang from the temple gate by the pair hanachozu. Saimyoji is also currently participating in a hanachozu stamp rally and is running a hanachozu photo contest too:
Information
Event: Temple Light up
Date: from Saturday March 11th to Friday March 31st 2023
Time: from 6 pm to 9 pm
Cost: a donation
Venue: Saimyoji Temple¹, 61 Ogaya, Kawagoe, Saitama 350-1104. View on Google Maps.
¹I actually normally write the temple name as Saimyouji, but it is often searched for as “Saimyoji” so I have used that spelling mainly in this post. In addition, Saimyouji / Saimyoji is also written as Yokoyamasaimyo Temple (on Google Maps) as well as Saimyouzi (on the official website) and variations of Saimyouji or Saimyo / Saimyou Temple! In Japanese its 瑶光山最明寺 or 最明寺.
Access
The temple is about an 11 minute walk from Nishi-Kawagoe station on the Kawagoe Line. From either Kawagoe, Hon-Kawagoe or Kawagoeshi stations you can get any bus bound for Kawagoe Suijo Koen – 川越水上公園. The temple is within walking distance; located on the east side of Kawagoe Park. There is a car park for the temple, but please note you have to use very narrow residential roads to get to it.
heading to istanbul in a few hours….