We also visited Confucius Shrine (Kyoushi-byo) – it is the only shrine dedicated to Confucius outside of China that was built by Chinese. The original shrine was built in 1893 but was destroyed by the bombings of the Second World War. The shrine was completed renovated in 1982.
Here is a view of the courtyard…
Originally, there were 72 statues in the courtyard. Each statue represents one of the 72 followers of Confucius.
A 73rd follower has appeared?
There is also a quite nice exhibit of old, expensive pottery. Like most museums, you can’t take photos – but the pottery was impressive (but what do I really know about antique Chinese pottery?) For your viewing pleasure, I borrowed a couple of photos from a pdf I downloaded for the shrine’s website (Japanese only).
Isn’t it lovely? (Note the peony-lotus-arabesque design)
Yet another exquisite piece… (the ever-popular dragon and phoenix design)
My favourite plate – the exotic yet somewhat familiar 9 peaches design.
