Saga-Toriimoto: the thatched lane and the stone buddhas
The preserved old street, a field of stone buddhas, and a moss garden in the upper Sagano. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Gioji
A tiny *-ji* (temple) under a thick carpet of moss and maple, named for a dancer who took the veil here. Small, hushed, and at its greenest after rain — the *teien* (garden) is the whole visit, which takes ten minutes and stays with you longer.

2. Saga-Toriimoto preserved street
The protected lane of thatched farmhouses and *machiya* townhouses climbing toward the hills. There are no cars and almost no signs; walk up one side and down the other, and the upper, thatched end is the older, quieter half.

3. Adashino Nenbutsu-ji
A field of some eight thousand weathered stone buddhas and pagodas, gathered from forgotten graves across the centuries. Sombre rather than grim; the bamboo grove behind the stones is the gentlest part. Quiet at any hour, quietest early.

4. Atago Torii
The stone *torii* at the top of the street marks the old pilgrim road up Mt Atago. You needn't climb; the gate, framing the lane back down toward the city, is the picture worth stopping for.

5. Nenbutsu-ji to Seiryo-ji lane
Wind back down through the upper Sagano — rice plots, persimmon trees, the odd farm stall. This is the stretch where you'll have the place to yourself; take it slowly.

6. Seiryo-ji (Saga Shakado)
A broad, open temple courtyard near the foot of the hill, free to wander and rarely busy. A good place to sit before the short walk to the JR station and the train back.

Saga-Toriimoto: the thatched lane and the stone buddhas