“I love gooooooold” said one of Mike Myers’ many characters in ‘Austin Powers In Goldmember‘ (2002), and when it comes to statues I can only agree with the gold-obsessed Dutch super-villain. In search of seeing some fine examples of this strongly desired chemical element, I set off on an adventure deep in to Saitama to see a temple featuring a range of statues.

On the back of the festive season, and in need of some exercise (and adventure!) I decided to cycle from the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre in Itabashi-ku to Higashi-Kurume station in western Tokyo for lunch with my friend Marcus. That was a 70 minute bike ride and helped to brush off the cobwebs of excess and indulgence.

Once we’d polished off our meals at a Chinese restaurant chain we departed ways and I subsequently took the train on to Koma; a small shed-like station notable for the two giant red totem poles standing outside it akin to a duo of fox statues protecting a shrine.

From there it was a 20 minute walk to the Buddhist temple known as Takifudoson and the first sighting was not a golden one but impressive nevertheless. It was a statue of Fudō-Myōō (I think!); a Wisdom King prominent in East Asian Buddhism who I have encountered a fair few times over the years. The most notable time was probably at this quirky off-grid location in Hiroshima prefecture.

The grounds of this temple had something of an eerie atmosphere as the sound of the waterfalls echoed within the complex that also features ponds, stone lanterns, low bridges and carp. It was completely unstaffed which was perhaps a little surprising given the prominent time of year when I was it attendance.

The temple grounds were still in a state of disrepair but I believe it was far better when I was in town than previous times. The sight of a standing golden buddha statue is always pleasing on the eye whatever the surroundings!

Seeing the various Buddhist statues did remind me a bit of my seven gods tour of Saitama seven years ago. It may have been the same prefecture but the two areas are still over 40 kilometres apart.

In the other direction on top of a small grassy hill was the main sight I’d made such efforts to see. The seated golden buddha certainly couldn’t be said to be looming over the area, and was a bit smaller than I was expecting …… even when perched on a white table-of-sorts.

Before ascending to the peak there was one more golden statue to be seen halfway up the muddy mound.

Finally I stood on top of the mountain and could enjoy the impressive golden Buddha statue and the calm atmosphere of the surrounding area with nature trails aplenty which I’d like to explore one day. On this occasion I could just sooth my mind and cleanse my soul! That bit obviously isn’t true but I kind of wish it was.

My friend had recommended a vegan restaurant nearby so I went in search of that afterwards but it was sadly closed. There was still something of a bonus as just down the road from there I came across Enpukiji; a buddhist temple with a tall golden goddess statue.

That wasn’t the end of things though as I still had the small matter of the train journey and long bicycle ride home after that. Takifudoson is not exactly a sight that’ll get tourists flooding in to this part of Saitama but maybe of interest to anyone living in Tokyo wanting to easily escape the city on a half-day trip for a bit of nature mixed in with some culture. It probably wasn’t worth the effort I put in to getting there and back but it was an adventure of sorts and did provide some much needed exercise (as well as lunch with a friend) so it certainly wasn’t a bad day out!

• Takifudoson is located at 518 Dai, Hidaka, Saitama-ken.

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