Day Six: The day I had been waiting for. On my last visit to Japan, we went to Miyajima Island, an Island famous for the floating torii gate and so sacred no one is allowed to be born or die there. It is also where the origin of the flame for the one in the peace park resides, and my favourite place in the whole wide world! I have been there a hundred times over in my memories but feared returning would break the magic that I had placed over it. It didn`t. It was as amazing a second time, as we wandered down the quiet streets and ate their infamous maple leaf shaped custard filled pastries and played with the very tame deer as we made our way to Itsukushima shrine. It was very busy that day as when night fell, the most famous fireworks display in Japan would take place and people wanted to secure an early seat. Nothing can take away from the beauty of the place though as the tide washed around the shrine and a brilliant red pagoda rises into the sky and the gate leads to the ocean and oh… perhaps, there are just not enough words…
We sat on the beach, and waded and played around the gate at the ocean`s edge. And watched a monkey performer as his master had him walk on stilts taller than me. We shopped and explored and adventure way up to which may unarguably be the best temple in Japan: Daishoin.
I`ve been too many temples and none is as pleasant. The temple offers freedom and peace at no cost. Literally no admission fee and all the buildings and rooms are open to the public. I spent the first half hour sitting on the tatami mats of the main hall just gazing at a little garden with a tiny shrine in the middle of a pond. Then I went and prayed before this magnificent statue with treasures lay around like moss around a tree. Downstairs, there is this special room that serves to be like a womb and is a crooked hallway that is entirely dark save these special back lit carvings on the wall. But they are lit in such a way that it is still dark beyond them, and I had to fumble to make it all the way around. It was really amazing! The next building held hundred of little statues of warriors surrounding one main one and I was captivated by a carving of two battling dragons. The third building held more mystery. In Japan, before entering anywhere you must take off your outdoor shoes, and lining the front hall was at least five pairs, with no sign of their owners! After careful exploration, I discovered that a red carpeted very narrow staircase led to an upper floor pavilion with tatami mats, a smell of bamboo, open windows to allow the breeze to fill the room and an awesome view of the island! I joined the others taking in the peace and perched on yet another sill and just let everything be. Sublime. And this was only halfway. As the temple grounds snaked further up the mountain, we enjoyed, more places of worship with gorgeous altars lit up by the late afternoon sun and an underground room featuring hundred of lanterns and more statues. Every turn held something lovely and I could have spent hours there, and practically did.
The next thing to do was to let the sun set as we ate festival food, and let the tide fill the little bay where the shrine rests on the water and the gate floats. We secured a special spot on some stairs that led right into the water with the quick rising surf. It was a very special spot for after what seemed like an eternity the sky grew black and anticipation dazzled the crowd. As the ocean lapped around our ankles on that perfect August night, an explosion of stars lit up the bay and gate as music timed the fireworks perfectly. It is strange to say, but the beauty of the view and the music and the waves and the silhouette of the gate moved me in a way that sent shivers all through my body and made me want to cry for joy. It was a truly impossible to replicate moment! Still shivering from excitement, I helped some precariously placed photographers wade back to shore with their precious cargo and we caught the ferry back to Hiroshima.
Day Six: [Hiroshima to Hagi] The day that marked halfway through our trip and the furthest south we reached was also the day not much happened which is good for me and the novel I have written here. We went to Iwakuni and saw the third of the eccentric bridges of Japan. (The other two being the one in Shikoku and the one five minutes from my house!) It was cool, with massive wooden rolls arching over the river and a castle on the hill, but it lacked atmosphere and after a few pictures we were on our way again; this time to the unexplored west coat of Japan.
It was along train ride to what was really in the middle of nowhere and nearly uncharted by gaijin tourists. We were off to Hagi. Hagi is special to me, and a place I`ve always wanted to go, for an old family friend, Tina, once gave me an amazing book that took place there. I was in fact, in the middle of rereading the third one in the series (for the third time) when we arrived. It was a very neat town because it was so far off the beaten track and we got to spend a night in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, with the comfiest futons and yukata all laid out on tatami mats with a sitting room for tea. This was of course after being lost for forty five minutes only to discover later, that we had been standing right in front of it at one point, when we were wondering what we should do.
Day Seven: [Hagi to Matsue] We had the morning to explore the old castle town district with its original walls and samurai houses before making our way to the castle ruins. Well I`m more a fan of castles, I am definitely also a fan of castle grounds, and I think this place was better for not having a reconstruction. The grounds were expansive and beautiful and laid out in a way that I could see what it all must have been. There was a garden and a shrine and several tea houses, and in a little grassy field I found a chunk of old tile from a roof top that still bore the crest of the Mori clan. The castle grounds were in a very scenic location too with the ocean to one side, to the one side, to help create part of the moat, and it backed up onto a mountain where more watchtowers once were built. By my expert opinion… I`d say it was very strategic and if not, then it combined my favourite aspects of nature: ocean and forest!
All too soon, it was time to catch the train to Matsue where we were destined to spend the evening on the banks of a river in another city known for its watery atmosphere. Matsue is in fact known as the city of water as many rivers cut through it and serve as a moat for the castle and it is surrounded by a lake to one side and a lagoon to the other. But more on that later for it would seem we arrived at the perfect time. It was Obon week, which is sort of like a festival for the dead in Japan, and relatives get together and ten to their ancestral graves. Also, in some place, hundreds of lanterns are set afloat with messages to the dead. We arrived just in time to hear Buddhist sutras and watch as the green, red and yellow lights were set loose to drift the river current. It was a stunning sight and a beautiful gesture. I had those my family and I have recently lost on my mind…
Day Eight: Matsue is a lovely little town and one I would recommend to any one able to get there as again, it`s not on the regular tourist route. As a result of not being well visited, all the attractions are half off for gaijin! Yokatta! We began the morning by crossing an ancient bridge (that was also mentioned in my book) whose creator was entombed alive within, and made our way through the small city to the castle. It was a cool day with a promise of rain hanging in the stormy clouds. Matsue castle may very well be one of my favourites! It has beautiful grounds and is dark and stormy against the sky and has a great museum within that actually offers explanations in English! We climbed through the keep and up to the top where we found a great window ledge to lunge in and enjoy the view. We faced the lake and resting like a lily pad near the shore is this island so flat that it`s a wonder it`s there at all. It looks perhaps, as if someone laid a coin on the water and from it grew trees and it is said to be created by the gods after a young bride drowned. There was a great breeze and as usually it was one of those places that I could have sat forever. Japan seems full of those. Well, no sooner had we left the castle when the clouds broke open! We went running for shelter but the damage was done. I was soaked for the rest of the day…
Leaving the castle behind we passed through some bamboo groves and little forest until we came across another extraordinary Inari shrine. This one, while far smaller, was unique for the outstanding number of little fox offerings worshippers had left. There must have been hundreds of porcelain and stone carvings, many very different, surrounding the little shrine. It was quite neat to visit each of them and offer up small coins and careful strokes to the ones that called out to me.
Then we went in search of the legendary turtle that wandered about at night and thus, a stone was speared through his back to keep him from leaving Gessho-ji Temple where the local lords are enshrined. Also at the temple was a peaceful little tea house where we were actually allowed to sit within and admire a little garden on the otherside. A sweet couple even gave us some bamboo and paper fans so we could fully enjoy ourselves.
After, we headed back to the train station, stopping along the way to rest our weary feet in a boiling hot foot onsen! But, on the topic of coins resting on water, we caught a bus to the outskirts of Matsue to go to Yaegaki shrine. I have said it once and I`ll say it a thousand times, every shrine has something unique and special and this was no exception. At Yaegaki shrine, you buy a little slip of paper for a donation of a hundred yen and take it to a little pond tucked in the woods behind. Then you kneel at the water`s edge and place the paper on the water`s surface with a coin on top to test your luck with love. Mine, looked like it wouldn`t last long for it took on water quickly but it persisted and didn`t get dragged down until it had its own little pond circling the coin. Rhee`s on the other hand, stayed afloat and dry until suddenly it just tucked under. She was very lucky, as while we watch two salamanders swam under to hold it up for her. It was a really fun experience after a really great day!
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