I know it might be hard to believe from this blog, but I did do more than eat in Japan. It was a little rough getting to any of the major sites scattered throughout the city, as I was located on a far, far outskirt (practically a suburb) — so any trip downtown was a considerable enterprise.
M. and I got lucky one day, though, when I — sick of walking — suggested we spend a relaxing sunday taking the suburban train as far as it would go, just to see. Little did I know that the last stop on the nearby line is the famed Kurama-dera — a gorgeous temple located most of the way up a steep, forested mountain, known as the point where Mao-son stepped onto the earth from Venus 6.5 million years ago. It’s also the birthplace of reiki.
Of course, we didn’t know this when we got off the train. We saw a gate a the foot of the mountain and figured the temple must be a few yards inside. So we start off on foot and pretty soon we’re climbing a steep hillside covered in lush green forest and dotted with tiny shrines, statues, and pagodas.
It was cold, too! There are icicles dripping from that water spout.
A rare bit of sky visible around this giant cedar. (A lot of the particularly magnificent trees were wearing these little belts, though I think the most sacred was near the top of the mountain.)
That’s the mountain peak, just behind the roof of the main building. It’s actually farther then it looks… or maybe I was just really tired. Inside, there were a few other pilgrims and tourists praying or walking around, but this one woman was making really intense hissing noises, like an angry cat. Then she started… yowling I guess. I think it was Japanese words, but it sounded a lot like cat yowling and shrieking. I got nervous and left, but everyone else acted like this was no big deal. Never heard anything like it in the downtown temples.
The view from the temple porch. That visible building is a restaurant/refreshment point a few feet below the temple. Oh yeah, and see? Japan is wall-to-wall people. ;)
We did make it all the way to the top of the mountain (huff, puff) to see these exposed roots (kinone michi)… Very cool, but I admit that my calves were aching for about a week afterward every time I went down stairs. I joked that the little ballet flats I was wearing were totally inappropriate to the hike, and all the gaijin we saw were wearing big hiking boots. But on my way down I saw a Japanese girl wearing thigh-high boots with spiked heels (these are quasi-ubiquitous among young Japanese women this season) and I thought, now that’s a real challenge.
And hey, I couldn’t go a whole post with no food at all! We needed a rest at the bottom of the mountain (and to warm up!), so we stopped in a little tea house for hot tea and dango, dipped in mitarashi, with red bean paste and crumbled peanuts.
All in all, I think Kurama might be the most incredible place I’ve seen in Japan. Of course it’s not a contest, and I saw many amazing things, but this was a truly awesome experience.
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