A 31-year-old monk walked into a mausoleum on Mount Hiei on September 11 and will not walk out until 2038. His name is Sogaku Taguchi, chief priest of Nanzan-bo, a temple in the Enryakuji complex above Kyoto. For 12 years he cannot leave the precinct and cannot contact the outside world. He will miss three US presidential elections and three Olympic Games. He will not know who wins the World Series for 12 years. His job is to serve Saicho, the founder of Tendai Buddhism, at his tomb as if he were still alive. Saicho died in 822. Every day, Taguchi prepares meals and offers them before the tomb, then sweeps the garden until not one fallen leaf is left. To qualify, he performed 3,000 prostrations a day for about a year, until he saw a vision of the Buddha on August 18. Enryakuji says he is the 118th monk to take the post since records began in 1699, and only the eighth since World War II. Temple records say some monks fell ill and did not complete the 12 years. Before going in, he told reporters he was "overflowing with joy to stand at its starting line." He is scheduled to come out on September 11, 2038.