The building which has the principal Buddha image at a Japanese temple usually has a circular dragon painting on the ceiling. I believe it’s there as a protector spirit.
That’s why there is sometimes a flashlight (torch) next to the altar. It’s not provided so you can check out how much money is in the collection box, it’s there so you can get a look at the ceiling dragon. Such buildings are typically quite dark, and you may not be able to see the ceiling at all without the flashlight.
I couldn’t even get a decent strobe-less photograph of this ceiling with an 8-second exposure.
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Wong PoKér Hu says:
Nov 9, 2005
I have seen quite a few of these circular dragon paintings on ceilings of some of the temples I’ve been to. It was explained to us that these represent the protector spirit, and that these paintings are important in the temples where they are found.