Quietly tucked away near Jūrinji Temple is the “Cistercian Our Lady of Nishinomiya Monastery.” 
and 
went to visit.
If you go up Kannon Road from the Jūrinjicho intersection toward the Banzaki Tunnel, it’s on the left on the way to Jūrinji Temple.
“It looks like they sell cookies and jam.” “It says to go to the reception desk.” “Should we take a look?” … With that little conversation, we went through the gate…
Reception hours were listed as 9:00–11:45 and 13:45–16:30, and the reception desk was on the left side of the entrance with the latticework.
When we called out, “We’d like to buy some cookies,” a solemn nun unlocked the door and assisted us.
She said, “Please come this way,” and in the room she showed us to, the cookies were lined up in a wooden cupboard(^^)
Besides the cookies, there were also knitted items on display, but there was no jam that day.
When we asked about taking photos, they gently declined with a “Please don’t take any,” so we don’t have any photos^^;
So we couldn’t really tell what the inside looked like or what the building felt like, but when you zoom in on Google Maps, it seems to be quite an impressive building.
Here’s the location↓
The cookies we bought looked like this↓
According to former pastry chef 
-san, handmade cookies use a lot of butter, so they’re delicious! We tried them right away.
The long, narrow ones had coconut in them, the round ones were galettes, and the brown ones were cocoa-flavored. Just as Dā-san said, they were all really delicious!! It wasn’t a flashy kind of deliciousness, but the kind that really makes sense once you taste it.
About Trappist Monasteries
★ “Trappist” is the common name for the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. The Cistercians are a Catholic monastic order that originated in Cîteaux, France.
★ In Japan, there are Trappist monasteries for men in Hokkaido and Oita Prefecture, and Trappistine monasteries for women in Hokkaido, Tochigi, Hyogo, and Saga. There are only six in total, and Nishinomiya is one of them.
The nuns are said to live a life centered on prayer, making sweets and farming in between their prayers.
In Closing
It was my first time speaking directly with a nun living under such strict rules. As someone living in the secular world, following my desires as I please, she felt so pure and transparent that it was hard to believe we were the same kind of human being.
How about going for a hike in search of some delicious cookies?(^^♪
