Trip to Japan: Day 5 ６月２１日木曜日

One thing I love about Japan is its public transportation. For me, half the fun of traveling in Japan is the act of getting from one place to another. I often use sites like Yahoo Transit and Ekitan to plot the quickest and/or cheapest way to get from point A to point B. That was how I determined the least expensive route from Dorogawa 洞川 to my next destination, Koya-san 高野山.

I checked out of the Daitoyo-san Ryokan 大豊 around 7am, and made my way over to the bus stop, where I caught the 7:25 bus to Shimoichiguchi Station 下市口駅, and arrived before 8:45. At 9:25 I got on a Kintetsu Line express train 近鉄線急行, and rode to Yoshino-guchi Station 吉野口駅. There, I transferred to the Japan Railways Wakayama Line JR和歌山線, and took the train to Gojo Station 五条駅. At Gojo, I switched to the Nankai Koya-san Line 南海高野山線, and relaxed on the rapid express train 快速急行, enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery all the way to the terminus, Gokurakubashi 極楽橋. The last leg was a five-minute ride on a cable-car to Koya-san, and a short bus ride to my stop, Isshin-guchi 一心口バス停, where just before noon I deposited my bags at the temple where I was to spend the night, and went off to have some lunch and explore Koya-san. Some people might've been worn out from a journey like that, but I was pumped up and ready to go.

Compared to the relative peace and quiet of Yoshino 吉野 and Dorogawa, Koya-san was bustling, especially with foreign tourists. A UNESCO World Heritage 世界遺産 Site, the town of Koya-san is centered around Kongobu-ji Temple 金剛峰寺, a temple founded in 816 by one of the greatest names in Japanese religion, Kukai 空海 (aka Kobo Daishi 弘法大師), the founder of the Shingon 真言 sect of Buddhism. It didn't take long to understand why so many people come to this place.

Lunch was katsudon カツどん (breaded pork on rice) and a bottle of beer, because I knew the temple was going to be vegetarian food and green tea all the way. Afterwards, I visited Kongobu-ji, the headquarters of the Shingon sect. The temple site is 12 centuries old, but the main hall dates from the 19th century.

Nevertheless, it was well worth the ￥500 admission ($4 or NT130) to go inside and look at all the beautiful rooms and the ornate screen paintings. Photography, unfortunately, wasn't allowed inside, but I could take photos of the lovely rock garden in the back.

It just doesn't get more "Japanese" にっぽんぽい than that, wouldn't you agree?

Not far from Kongobu-ji is Garan 伽藍, a temple complex containing a number of halls and pagodas. Of the latter, the best by far is the Dai-to 大塔.

The inside contained awesome statues of the Dainichi-nyorai 大日如來, the Cosmic Buddha, and four attendant Buddhas. Alas, no photography permitted.

Other attractive buildings in the Garan complex are the Kondo 金堂, or Main Hall, and Sai-to 西塔, or Western Pagoda.

The last bit of sightseeing I did was to visit the Reihokan 霊宝館, or Treasure Museum, which had a great display of Buddhist art.

By this time it was becoming late in the afternoon, so I walked back through the central part of town...

...and headed for the temple where I was to spend the night.

In Koya-san, over 50 Buddhist temples offer rooms 宿坊 for visitors. I chose to stay at the Haryo-in 巴陵院.

At around ￥7500 ($60 or NT2000), including two meals, it was the cheapest of the temple lodgings, and the second-cheapest accommodation option in town after the local youth hostel. The ５畳部屋

was spare but comfortable, and the bath was hot but relaxing. But the best part about staying in a Koya-san shukubo was the shojin-ryori 精進料理 dinner. Shojin-ryori is a vegetarian cuisine originally derived from the dietary restrictions of monks. Despite its humble origins, it's actually quite delicious and filling. The other guests staying the night at Haryo-in - a Japanese couple from Sagamihara 相模原, an American couple from Philadelphia, a man from London and a woman from New Zealand - also seemed to enjoy the meal. This shukubo, with its English-speaking head priest, was definitely a 外人-friendly place to stay!

Next: Koya-san to Kyoto 京都

Trip to Japan: Day 4 ６月２０日水曜日

Today was the day I finally lived out my yamabushi 山伏 fantasies by climbing Mt. Omine 大峰山. A Yamabushi is a practitioner of Shugendo 修験道, which combines elements of Shinto 神道 and Buddhism 仏教 who undergoes ascetic training in mountainous regions. Omine-san is one of the most holiest peaks in Japan, and is famous (infamous?) for being the last mountain in Japan where women are not allowed to go. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage 世界遺産 Site (as is Yoshino 吉野). So at 8:15 on a beautiful sunny morning, I left my ryokan 旅館 and set out to conquer Omine-san.

The view from the Daitoyo-san Ryokan 大豊 as I set out.

It was a long walk from the ryokan to the start of the trail up Omine-san. On the way I passed a spring reputed to be one of the 100 best in Japan (according to the plaque on the rock), the Gorogorosui spring ごろごろ水. Having filled up my bottle on the way back, I can say it was pretty tasty.

I encountered this large snake sunning itself in the early morning sun.

Eventually I reached the Omine-san Ohashi 大峰山大橋, the start of the traditional path up the mountain. By this point, I had walked 3340 meters (2.08 miles) from Dorogawa 洞川, and was looking at a 5570-meter (3.5-mile) walk uphill to the summit of Mt. Omine 大峰山頂.

Soon after crossing the bridge, I came to the sign stating that this was as far as women could go. Up until 1872, women were not allowed to climb mountains considered to be sacred (including Mt. Fuji 富士山). There were various reasons for this ban - women were considered "impure" due to menstruation and childbirth, and were thought to be too much of a distraction (read temptation) for the ascetic monks. I've also heard that because the 神 of the mountains are goddesses, they are jealous of female intruders. Whatever the reason, only Omine-san still maintains this ban today. Needless to say, I didn't encounter any women on the hike up. In fact, I didn't see anyone until I was almost at the summit, and overall I counted just six other hikers (including two yamabushi) while I was there.

Despite some evidence of logging on the lower reaches of the trail (and the sound of a chainsaw in the distance), the scenery was fantastic. The path was a gradual one, so that while it took a long time to reach the top, it wasn't very strenuous, and was much easier than I had anticipated.

Another spring inviting hikers to help themselves to the water. The summit was still 2710 meters (1.7 miles) away.

There are three tests on Omine-san that a yamabushi has to undertake. The first is called the Kani-no-kabe 蟹の壁, or crab wall, which the yamabushi has to scale. I managed to climb about 3/4 of the way up, using my hands and feet, but the last leg could only be scaled by using a chain to pull yourself over a protruding rock to get to the top. Not having much confidence in my upper-body strength (and not wanting to leave Amber to grow up without a father), I worked my way back down. Fortunately, the top of Kani-no-kabe could be reached on the opposite side via a much easier set of chains. The view from the top of the outcropping was fantastic. The town in the far distance is Dorogawa. Had I really walked that far?

The second test is called the Nishi-no-nozoki. In this one, the pilgrim is hung by his heels over a cliff while he confesses his sins, and promises to live by Buddhist precepts. I looked around, but was unable to find the site. I guess on a weekday morning in mid-June there isn't much demand for tests of faith (not that I would've done it anyway as heights make me very anxious). The last test is called the Ura-no-gyoja 裏の行者, and involves climbing over the true summit of Sanjo-ga-take 山上が岳 using chains. I found the start of this trail, but it looked even more imposing than the Kani-no-kabe, and the sign in Japanese warning of the danger of attempting the route without a guide convinced me that an ascetic lifestyle is best to be seen and not practiced!

Getting closer to the top...

Finally, after 3 hours and 30 minutes, and 9010 meters (5.6 miles), I reached Omine-san-ji Temple 大峰山寺!

 

I ended up spending about 90 minutes wandering around the temple complex. From the summit of Sanjo-ga-take (1719 meters/5640 feet), the views of the surrounding mountains were spectacular.

At times the mist came rolling in...

A self-portrait at the top of Sanjo-ga-take...

A father-son pair of yamabushi on their way to one of the pilgrims' lodgings on the mountaintop. These two would later pass me on the way back down. They were unbelievably quick on the trail.

Finally, it was time to head back down. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had forgotten to take any food with me on the hike, and in fact I had only brought one bottle of green tea to drink, which I had finished by the time I'd reached Omine-san-ji. I was hoping there would be some teahouses open at the top, but being the middle of the week, everything was closed. The caretaker of Omine-san-ji took pity and gave me a couple of packets of sembei 煎餅 (rice crackers) to munch on. When I reached the spring I had passed earlier that day on the way up, I dropped everything to fill up the empty tea bottle and quench my thirst.

Almost to the bottom of the trail, near the Omine-san Ohashi...

...where soon after crossing the bridge, I stopped in at a teahouse and proceeded to drink a bottle of Kirin Beer and eat a plate of curry and rice カレーライス in Olympic-record time. The owner offered to drive me back to Dorogawa, but having walked this far, I was determined to go all the way on foot.

I must have been on some kind of high similar to the endorphin-rush that joggers get, because I felt like I could walk forever. Instead of taking the road back to the village, I detoured onto a longer nature path that eventually led me to a suspension bridge high over Dorogawa, and a lookout point on the small mountain beyond it.

The trail down from the bridge passed a spot where people can meditate under a waterfall, and onto the grounds of an attractive temple called Ryusen-ji 龍泉寺.

A final stroll along the main street through Dorogawa...

...and I was back at the Daitoyo-san Ryokan by 6pm. I thanked the Buddhist and Shinto deities for the day that I'd had, and for the bath, meal and beer that followed before going off to bed.

Next: Koyasan 高野山

Trip to Japan: Day 3 ６月１９日火曜日

I was very fortunate on this trip in that, while at times it was rainy, on those days when I planned to do some walking or hiking, I couldn't have asked for better weather. Perhaps the 神 decided to give me a break.

Tuesday was a case in point - the weather was gorgeous in the morning, when I took a long walk up the hill away from the village of Yoshino 吉野. After checking out of the youth hostel (here's a picture of the temple, Kizo-in 喜蔵院, that gives the hostel its name)...

...I set off on a 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) walk uphill to Kimpu-jinja 金峯神社. The humidity and resulting sweat generated by the strenuous walk were more than compensated by the beautiful scenery. As I climbed higher, I could see all of Yoshino below me. The large building at the top of this photo is Kimpusen-ji 金峯寺, which I would visit later in the day.

Kimpu-jinja itself was something of anti-climax after the long walk. There wasn't much to see of the shrine, but I did buy an amulet お守り from an old woman manning a small office next to the torii 鳥居

  

Kimpu-jinja is noted for being the start of a 24-kilometer (15-mile), 8-hour climb to Mt. Sanjogatake 山上ヶ岳. I would reach Mt. Sanjogatake the following day by a different route.

Back in Yoshino, I stopped to take a look at a Shinto shrine that wasn't listed in my guidebook, Yoshino Mikuwari-jinja 吉野水分神社, but which I thought was interesting, with its three halls linked together, plus some lovely flora. It dates from 1604, when it was rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyori 豊臣秀頼. I also took an interest in an old, abandoned Pepsi bottle vending machine. At that point, I really could've used with a 冷たいペプシ!

Next up was Chikurin-in 竹林院, a temple that also runs the Chikurin-in Gumpo en 竹林院群芳園, an expensive ryokan 旅館 that has seen both Emperor Hirohito 昭和天皇 and Emperor Akihito 天皇陛下 as guests in the past. Fortunately, for a mere ￥300 ($2.40 or NT80), a member of the proletarian class 無産階級 such as myself could visit the garden, designed in the 16th century by Sen no Rikyu 千利休, the originator of the tea ceremony.

By now it was lunch time, so I stopped off at Yakko Zushi やっこずし, where the set meal included the specialty of Yoshino, kaki-no-ha sushi 柿の葉寿司, or "persimmon leaf sushi".

   

One thing I always do well on my visits to Japan is eat. And drink. Beer. Lots and lots of beer.

The final place I visited in Yoshino was Kimpusen-ji Temple 金峯寺. The first thing you see as you approach the temple is the Ni-o-mon 仁王門, a temple gate guarded by the fierce Deva Kings, or Kongo Rikishi 金剛力士.

After passing through the gate it was on to the Zao-do Hall 蔵王堂. The Main Hall of Kimpusen-ji is 27.7 meters (91 feet) high, and is the second-largest wooden building in Japan (if not the world), after the Daibutsuden Hall 大仏殿 in Nara 奈良. For ￥400 ($3.25 or NT105) you can go inside this National Treasure 国宝.

Kimpusen-ji is one of the major centers of Shugendo 修験道, and pilgrims would stop there to pray for good fortune on their way to Omine-san 大峰山, which happened to be my destination for Wednesday.

I had some time to kill before leaving Yoshino after seeing Kimpusen-ji. The LP guide recommended having a cup of 抹茶 (powdered Japanese green tea) and a sweet at an atmospheric teahouse, with a nice view over the valley. I opted instead to have a draft beer 生ビール at the 食堂 next door.

A last look at Yoshino...

  

...before catching the cable car back down to Yoshino Station. From there, I took the Kintetsu Line 近鉄線 the short distance to Shimoichiguchi Station 下市口駅, where following a quick walk down the main shopping street... 

 

...I rode on a bus for 80 minutes to my final destination of the day, Dorogawa Onsen 洞川温泉, and checked into the Daitoyo-san Ryokan 大豊.

  

I stayed here for the next two nights. As in Yoshino, I was the only guest. At ￥9925 a night ($80 or NT2635), including two meals, it was certainly more expensive than a youth hostel, but the food was delicious, the bath was relaxing (once I got used to the extremely hot water temperature), and the owner, Toshiaki Ota 大田敏明, was very friendly. If you should ever visit the Dorogawa area (and it's very scenic), I recommend staying at Daitoyo-san.

乾杯！

Next: Climbing Omine-san