William A bit more about springs and where to find them: if you’ve found Kakibaru (柿原), which we wrote about the other day, you’re in a good place for a walk. Leave your car and follow a small road up a gentle hill which is now, sadly, shadowed by the elevated four lanes of Ueki Bypass, to eventually connect via the Kumamoto Nishi Kanjyo Sen (熊本西環状線, a ring road to the west of Kumamoto and on to Amakusa). After a short, pleasant walk, you’ll come across Narudo-ji Temple (成道寺).
This temple has a very long history; the land is said to have been donated by Kikuchi Mochicho in 1426, though the temple declined along with the fortunes of the Kikuchi clan. However, Kiyomasa and Hosokawa made large donations which allowed the shrine to thrive again as the Bodhisattva temple of Kumamoto domain’s old Sawamura family, who were famous enough to deserve a temple but not so famous for me to write about them and not so famous that you’d care. Many bodhisattva statues and grave markers dot the overgrown grounds, making for interesting photography.
The temple has a gorgeous spring-fed pond surrounded by lush forest and numerous stone graves of the Sawamura family. Due to its religious nature, swimming is not recommended unless no one is around; however, you can cool your feet while admiring the scenery, and the temperature in summer is usually 5°C lower than the city.
A link to a Kumamoto City intro to the temple including a map: https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/kankyo/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&id=20587&e_id=50%2C51%2C52%2C53%2C54%2C55