Kinomoto Jizoin

**Look for the frogs.** Hundreds of small statues around the standing Jizo, left by people praying for their sight, on the story that the frogs gave up an eye each. It is the detail that makes the temple rather than the buildings. **Late August for the fair.** Four days, about a hundred stalls down the old highway, and around a hundred thousand people through a small town. It is the region's biggest summer event and includes a fireworks night. **Walk the Hokkoku Kaido through the town.** A sake brewery, a soy sauce maker and a pharmacy that has been trading for 200 years, all still working, in about ten minutes of street. **The principal image is hidden.** The bronze figure outside is a copy at six metres; the original is not shown. This is normal for a hibutsu and worth knowing before you look for it. **Kinomoto is the gateway to the northern lake.** Yogo, Shizugatake and the Kohoku Buddhist statue villages are all within 20 minutes, and this is the natural base for a day among them.