Day 7 & 8 Koyasan

Koyasan is the center of the Shingon Buddhist sect, and is their most holy place.

We started our trip in a train station...as usual.  The train system is really very easy to use, but does require some planning ahead of time. Fortunately we have always managed to find someone who speaks English to ask if we are in the right spot.  We do not yet trust our instincts or our reading of signs...

The Namba station for the Nankai line

The trip was direct, but we had to make sure to be in one of the first four cars, because somewhere along the way we dropped the back four cars.  The track up to Koya was high up, and very winding.  The scenery was beautiful - lots of mountains, greenery and picturesque little towns.

 At times as the train went around corners we could see the cars in front twisting and turning,

After our train ride we climbed aboard a cable car.  It was really cool because it was built in the shape of the side of the mountain.  We had to climb up stairs to reach the cars, and the inside had steep steps.  This took us up the mountain - 837 meters in 5 minutes. (It wasn't clear from the information given if the 837 meters was distance or elevation.)

 Going up...we sat somewhere in the middle.

When we reached the top we caught a bus which took us further up the mountain to the village.  The road was twisting and winding hair pin curves...apparently it is a road for buses only. At the tight corners there were mirrors and space to pull over for one bus, should a bus going down marry a bus going up.

The village if Koyasan exists because it is the head of the Shingon Buddhist sect.  The town is full of monasteries, and a "temple stay" is big business...(my opinion). 

A map of town reveals many many monasteries to choose from.  Our place was called Ekoin.

 Front gates.

Our room was similar to that in the Ryokan in Takayama, except there was no bathroom attached to our room, and no air conditioning.  It was a bit cooler in Koyasan than in Osaka, but the young monk who showed us our room said it was unusually hot.  He said that the normal temperature was about 24 degrees, and the actual temperature was around 30 that day.

 The room set up for our arrival.

 The room set up for sleeping.

Since I was tired and achy from castle day, I opted to nap on the tatami mats while the others went on a walk around town.

At 4:30 we went for a "meditation" lesson and learned how to do the "counting" meditation, which is the first level of meditation.  We were actually at it for about 30 minutes, though it didn't really seem that long.  I was not able to maintain the prescribed posture for the whole time. :(

At 5:30 it was time for dinner, and of course we dressed in our yukata. We were told that the word for dinner and bath is similar because they happen at the same time of day.  The monk told us that when the man comes home from work, his wife will ask him if he wants dinner or a bath first.

The dinner was served in a special room and like the Ryokan, it was all ready laid out in special dishes. The fare was vegetarian, so there were several different iterations of tofu in our dinner.

 The room laid our for our dinner.

 Dressed in our yukata.

 Our dinner.

After dinner there was a tour if the graveyard, but I opted for the bath and an early bed.  

Morning started with a service in the temple at 6:30.  It involved chanting by the two monks, and the participants making an "offering". It was interesting, but again I was unable to maintain the proper posture for the whole time.  When we asked a young monk later how he managed to kneel for so long, he said that it took time to get used to it....

 Up at the temple.

 Inside the temple.

After the service we went to a "fire service" which included more chanting, drum beating and bell ringing and lots if fire..."wishes" were offered up in the form of sticks which we could write on.  These were prepared ahead of time.  It was very interesting, even if loud and smoky.

After the two services it was time for breakfast.  Again there was a lot of tofu to choose from.  At the Ryokan they had included a croissant and yogurt to "westernize" the breakfast, but this was definitely a non-western breakfast.

 Soup, tofu, rice, seaweed vegetables, pickles and tea...

After breakfast we went back to look through the graveyard.

This is one of the most holy places for this sect of Buddhism. It has been used since the 900s.  It is believed that the founder of this sect of Buddhism, Kobo Daishi, lives in a state of meditation.  It is said that he went to meditate and has never stopped.  The monks bring food to him every day.

The graveyard is extremely interesting, mostly because it is so old.  I found the trees to be as interesting as the monuments.  On the graveyard tour they were told that some of the trees are 700 years old.  It was like bring in an old growth forest in Vancouver Island.  We noticed that many of the biggest trees were numbered, and that they had a second number which we decided was the age of the tree.  It seemed logical because of the number of similar-sized trees that had similar numbers.  On a few trees was a four digit number which we took to be the date the tree was planted..again because the size of the trees made sense with the date posted.  As well, there were many trees which were "tied" together with cable, we guessed in an effort to keep them from falling over, though I did wonder how there was really any way to prevent a tree that size from falling if gravity makes it so....

 This is just to prove that I really was there :)

 This tree and the one beside it were held using an complicated system of heavy cable attached to other trees. Note how they have protected the trees from the cable.  I didn't actually see if they had done the same at the top of the other trees.

A massive root system.

 The large number is the tree number.  We arrived at this conclusion since the number on consecutive trees increased.  Trees in this particular grouping of trees were all about the same size and all had small number plates in the 300s.

 We decided this must be the year the tree was planted.  Since there are records for this graveyard dating back to 900 something AD, it seemed a reasonable conclusion.  Also, this tree was similar in size to the trees with the 300s on them.  No idea why there might be two systems...

 A beautiful tree root mass...

 The tree in the background is completely rotted, but isn't supported in any way.

Okunoin views...

 There is actually a guide map for this cemetery, but it's all in Japanese.  It is a place where many pilgrims come, so having a map would be important to help find things.

 Just before this bridge entering the cemetery there was a small fountain.  All visitors to the graveyard are supposed to purify themselves before entering.  Using the dipper provided, a person pours water first on the left hand, then on the right, takes a mouthful of water and spits it out. Then pours water over the hand holding the dipper and then finally pours water on the place where they spit.

 The graves and monuments are very close together, and some are  very old.

 Many of the monuments have the same 5 stones on top.  The bottom "cube" stands for earth, the the next block represents water, the next fire, the next air and the top one represents the void or sky.

 This is a monument put up to commemorate the Korean soldiers who died in wars with Japan.

 This is the goddess of beauty.  As you can see, many people have come to leave gifts.  I thought it was an interesting statement that the goddess of beauty needed makeup to make her more beautiful.

 This section of the cemetary is very close to the Kongobuji (shrine), and it is next to the river where the faithful can go to purify themselves.  Alternatively, these statues can be used for purification.  A person need only splash water on the Buddha figure to be purified.

 This "pyramid" of small monuments was in a different part of the cemetary.  There was no explanation as to why they are piled in this manner, though it is obvious that people have been leaving gifts at some of them.

 The are some newer and more modern monuments in the cemetary, but I was most intrigue by this one....it appears to be a monument to the Apollo program...

After the cemetary walk it was time to head back down the mountain and back to Osaka.

 In the cable car ready to go...

 Looking down...

 We meet the cable car going up...

 And we arrive at the station...

On to Osaka...

Day 9 - Hiroshima

We left Osaka early and jumped in the bullet train to Hiroshima.  Well, actually, we jumped on one train, got off that train, got on another train, got off that train....then got on the bullet train.  The bullet train is amazing.  I found my ears popping from the speed.  I had to check out the facilities...just like the plane :)

Hiroshima is a really pretty city, we came right to the main station, so we were pretty much downtown. The city is built on a river delta, so there are many rivers through the city.  We crossed this bride on the way to our hotel.

Of course the first order of the day was lunch :). We started on our way to the memorial museum, and found this little restaurant.  We liked the look of the menu outside - that is, the 3D models of the various menu items looked appealing. Inside the door was a machine with all the menu items.  We put our money in the slot, chose our items and received slips showing our choices.  We gave these to the waitress, who brought us our drinks and soon after our meal.  We decided that the meal order was sent from the machine to the kitchen because the food arrived so fast,

 Menu machine...a very practical ordering system.

We continued on our way to the memorial.  We learned that Hiroshima is a "peace" city...wishing for world peace and the end to all nuclear weapons.

 Sidewalk on the way to the memorial.

The memorial museum and gardens cover the area in the center of the city between two rivers, the area below the hypocenter of the atomic bomb which exploded on August 6, 1945.

The museum houses not only displays about Hiroshima and the bomb, but also about the development of nuclear weapons, and how a nuclear weapon works.  The displays showing the devastation of the bomb, and the stories of the people who survived, and who died are sobering, to say the least.  Completely absent are any words of blame, or hatred...facts are simply stated.  Hiroshima was chosen as the bomb site for a number of strategic reasons.  Included in the call for world peace is the recognition that as a world and colonizing power, Japan has (historically) treated other nations badly.  Their search for understanding includes recognizing how others may see them, given their own colonizing history.  We found this interesting, because of living in Korea this last year, we have heard the Korean view of Japan, and especially of the hardships under the Japanese occupation.  

 This is a scale model of Hiroshima before the bomb.

 This is the same area after the bomb.  Few  buildings are left standing.  This whole triangular area is now the memorial museum and garden.

 The city of Hiroshima wishes for an end to nuclear weapons.  To this end, whenever a country tests a nuclear weapon, the mayor of Hiroshima sends a letter of protest.  There are 604 letters on display, and they are all different.

 This display shows the position and size of the bomb as it detonated above the city.  (Red ball). Many of the victims were "mobilized children" who were middle and high school students who had left their studies to help with the war effort.  On the day of the bomb, many of the were demolishing buildings to create fire breaks throughout the town to stop the spread of fire in the event of bombing.

In fact, Hiroshima was not bombed by conventional bombs at all, because the US wanted to accurately evaluate the destructive force of the A bomb.  While other Japanese targets were being bombed using conventional weapons, Hiroshima and the other cities which were being considered as targets were spared.

Outside the museum is the memorial gardens and park. 

 The memorial cenotaph for A bomb victims.  It contains the names of all the victims, and a prayer for everlasting peace.  Through the centre, the eternal flame can be seen.

 The eternal flame.

Further on in the park is the Children's Peace Monument.  It is dedicated to all the children who lost their lives in the bombing of Hiroshima.  It was inspired by the death of Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old at the time of the bombing, and lived for 10 years before she developed leukemia.  She folded 1000 paper cranes in the hopes that it would make her better.  Sadly, she died.  It was interesting to me to find out that Sadako was a real person, since I have read her story in "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes".  Next to the Children's Peace Monument are kiosks filled with paper cranes which have been folded and sent to Hiroshima.  They have a data base of people who have sent cranes in Sadako's memory.

 Children's Peace Monument

 This is the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, which was constructed in 1955, and holds the ashes of tens of thousands of victims from the bombing.  Memorial services are held at this location every August 6th.

 This is a monument to Korean victims and survivors of the bomb. Because at the time of the bombing of Hiroshima, Korea was under Japanese occupation, there were many Koreans living in Hiroshima.  It is estimated that 20 000 Koreans lost their lives in Hiroshima that day.

 This is the gravestone of Kunai Okamoto, who was an elder councillor to the Asano house of the Hiroshima fief.  The gravestone has been in this spot, which was once the Jisenji temple, since Okamoto's death in 1689. The atomic blast caused the capstone to fall off.

 Bell of Peace

 Memorial clock tower.  The clock chimes at 8:15 every morning.

 The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall was the only building left standing in this area, and was less than 200 m from the hypocenter of the blast.  Only part of the wall remained and the metal frame of the dome.   At first people wanted it removed, but it was finally decided that it should stay as a reminder, but also as a symbol of hope.  Currently the structure is undergoing seismic testing, so scaffolding is covering much of the walls.

The final monument in the park is one to the "mobilized children" who gave up their education, and in many cases their lives to help with the war effort.  On the day of the bomb, many were working very close to the hypocenter.

This picture on a street sign show a stark scene in October of 1945, just 3 months after the blast.

After this powerful experience of history, we went in search of sustenance.

Ray's book suggested a little place which served okanomiyaki....a type of Japanese pancake.  We were in for a treat.  The restaurant was no more than a kiosk really, with about 10 chairs. The cook made our meal right in front of us while we enjoyed a frosty beer. 

 The bottom is a thin pancake like a crepe, then cabbage is added, followed by green onions and special sauce.  This is flipped and cooked.  Then this is placed on some cooked noodles and fried.

 Barbecue sauce and some green spice is added.  An egg with ginger is fried up and placed on top.  The whole thing is cut up and then it is ready to eat!

 Yummy!

Another jam-packed, interesting and sometimes delicious day.