Menuma Shodenzan Temple

Menuma Shodenzan Temple in Kumagaya is regularly compared to Nikko Toshogu for the density of its carved decoration. The main hall, Shodendo, built in 1760 and designated a National Treasure, is covered in polychrome carvings of Buddhist allegories and classical Chinese subjects. The temple was founded in 1179 by the samurai Saito Sanemori, depicted in a statue on the grounds showing him in his seventies about to dye his gray hair black before battle. Behind the main buildings, a stroll garden winds past a stream, waterfall, Buddhist statuary, and a two-story peace pagoda built to mark the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty.