So, I finally figured out how to download photos from a disk at the internet cafe (no comment please). Taken around and in Nagoya as I have yet to get to another place, perhaps it will give you an idea of what Nagoya looks like in tiny chapters that are unlikely to do justice to the amount of concrete that has been poured here, interspersed by a few shrines, parks and the infamous TV tower that would make a spectacular skyline shot save for the surrounding buildings that choke it out of sight. So goes all the would be greats, "if only...".

Nagoya from my window:
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Looking from my balcony to the right Nagoya Betsuin (View image),
once known as Futuwari Castle, can be seen. Mostly destroyed in 1945, you guessed it, by World War II, the main hall was rebuilt by followers of Jodo Shinshu and is used in Buddist ceremonies and religious practices.

Nagoya Betsuin 1- View image

Nogoya Betsuin 2-View image

Nagoya Betsuin- park- View image

As I walked the grounds looking semi-lost a man walks up to me, handing me a pamphlet, and says, "Dozo." Please, come in. As I walk around the grounds and make my way in I read the first part. It seems a fitting eastern philosophical reflection:
"When did our lives begin? Was it when our mothers gave birth to us? I wouldn't have been born if my mother and father hadn't had the chance to meet. If either of my parents had not been born, I wouldn't be here. And if my grandparents had not been born...
I would not be here if any of those conditions had not met in the history of life from time immemorial. And all our lives, including those of my ancestors and myself, have been sustained by innumerable living things such as rice, vegatables and fish. In short, our life depends on the lives of others. We owe our life to innumerable beings in the past and present.
We hope that each of us become awakened to this solemn fact and realize the importance of reflecting upon how we should lead our lives."- From a pamphlet given to me outside Nagoya Betsuin.