刹 means 'temple'

To represent certain sounds with kanji, ancient people had particular go-to characters. Thus, these four kanji contribute yomi (rather than meaning) to many place names (including Nara, Kanagawa, Naha, a term for "China," and some mythical locations) and to plenty of religious words transliterated from Sanskrit. Buddhism takes center stage in all four essays, two of which contrast massive statues of Vairocana Buddha and Amitabha Buddha in Nara and Kamakura respectively. Surprisingly, three kinds of noodles pop up along the way!