This also gives me the chance to change my web address to one which better covers the contents of the site: Japan Navigator.

I have copied the whole site including all comments. I will also merge another of my websites, about temples and haiku, to the new address.

At the same time, I will start writing new articles again, something I have not been able to do for a few months due to a busy schedule.

Please change your bookmarks to www.japannavigator.com!

I hope you keep reading my blog,

Ad Blankestijn

But Shinkobe also demonstrates the maxim that you can’t be closer to nature in any other big city in Japan than here in Kobe. From the center of Kobe, Sannomiya or Motomachi, it is only a fifteen min walk to the entrance of one of the many trails that lead up Mt Rokko. Once you are on the mountain, the city falls away and you are enveloped in green.

[Path to the Nunobiki Falls behind Shinkobe Station. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

One of the best places to experience this is behind Shinkobe station. The trail starts here with a road leading under the station to its back (on the right hand side of the station when you stand in front of it), but after a few houses and a bridge the mountain path starts in earnest. The path leads all the way up the mountain, but many people only go halfway to see the splendor of the famous Nunobiki Falls.

There are two falls, the Medaki, or Female Falls, near Nunobiki Park just under the main path before it gets really steep (you get there via a branch path that actually leads down), and the Odaki or larger and more impressive Male Falls higher up the mountain. The Odaki roars and tumbles down a sheer wall of rock for 43 metres and splashes into a rocky basin. And that only half an hour from a major city center!

[Odaki Falls, Nunobiki, Kobe. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The Nunobiki Falls used to be counted among the three most famous falls in Japan, with the Kegon Falls in Nikko and the Nachi Falls in southern Wakayama. Certainly in the premodern period they were the subject of legends and tales (they were considered as a male and female deity with all the ensuing romance), as well as poetry.

In fact, throughout the ages, Nunobiki figured in a great number of waka poems, 36 of which were inscribed on monuments along the path at the initiative of a group of literature-minded citizens. That was already in 1872, but those stones withered and decayed, and were replaced in 1934 by 18 new ones. Recent additions have brought the total number to 31.

[The rocky basin of the Odaki Falls, Nunobiki, Kobe. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

This information about the kahi or “waka stones” stems from a nice booklet called The Poems of the Nunobiki Falls, written by (Kobe resident) David Farrah with Michio Nakano (2003). The author translates all Nunobiki poems (he finds 43 in all) and even adds two of his own, one in Japanese and one in English.

Reading the poems one after another is a nice exercise in poetical conventions, especially thematically. “Nunobiki” means “cloth-pulling” and not surprisingly the white stripe of water reminds the poets of cloth being stretched to bleach, cloth that of course is the dress of the mountain goddess. This is the major association, upon which many small variations are played out - for example: how can the cloth be bleached in rainy weather? Another poet comes in autumn and to him the scarlet of the maple trees forms Nunobiki’s dress, rather than the white cloth of the Falls.

[Medaki Falls, Nunobiki, Kobe. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Other poets write they saw a cloud on the mountain slope which on closer inspection proved to be the thundering waterfall. In fog the falls cannot be seen, but their roaring sound all the more fills the ears. Again other poets compare the falls to a necklace of pearls, or, more sentimentally, see an association between the countless waterdrops and their own tears.

The Nunobiki Falls also figure in the Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari) where a famous poem by the 9th c. legendary poet Ariwara no Narihira is quoted - the monument of this poem stands near the Odaki Falls. In my own free translation:

the white gems
scatter down
as from a broken necklace
I want to catch them
but find my sleeves too narrow

[nuki midaru / hito koso aru rashi / shiratama no / ma naku mo chiru ka / sode no semaki ni]

My favorite poem is written on a stone halfway up the 160 rocksteps with which the ascent starts. It is by the 12th c. priest-poet Jakuren and thundering in its Zenlike stillness - here is my own (rather free) translation:

the roar of the Falls
encased
in mute ice
now you hear
the wind in the pine trees

[iwabashiru / oto wa kori ni / tozasarete / matsukaze otsuru / Nunobiki no Taki]

(In other words, thanks to the fact that the famous big roaring sound has been stopped because the Falls are frozen - a cold stilness like that of meditation -, can the much subtler sound of the wind in the pine trees be heard - an experience that is close to satori).

Access: 15 min walk (or rather, a stiff climb) from Shinkobe Station
P.S.: The fotos accompanying this article were taken in February, which accounts for the lack of green!

[Shiobune Temple fire festival. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Late April - Early May, Nara: Opening of Hokuendo Hall of Kofukuji　(2007: 4/27-5/6).

May 1- 4, Kyoto: Nenbutsu Kyogen at Senbonshakado Temple.
One of the three greatest kyogen performances of Kyoto. On 5/1 and 5/2 at 19:00, 5/3 and 5/4 at 13:00 and 18:00.

May 2, Nara: Emperor Shomu festival, Todaiji Temple.
In commemoration of Emperor Shomu, the imperial patron behind the founding of Todaiji. In the morning (from 11:30.) a Buddhist ceremony is performed in the Tenno-den Hall dedicated to the spirit of Emperor Shomu (E of the Nandaimon); in the afternoon, a costume procession of people representing the Tempyo to Muromachi periods takes place. Noh performances are held on stages set up on Kagami-ike in front of the Great Buddha Hall.

[Todaiji Temple, Nara. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

May 3, Tokyo: Fire festival and unveiling of the Thousand-armed Kannon in Shiobune Kannonji (also azalea festival).

May 3, Kyoto: yabusame shinji at Shimogamo Shrine.

May 3-4, Fukuoka: Hakata Dontaku Festival.
Two days long more than 400 groups from all Kyushu take part in festive parades. The word Dontaku comes from the Dutch “Zondag,” meaning Sunday. This festival, for which the whole city turns out, is indeed characterized by a great holiday atmosphere.

May 5, nationwide: Tango no Sekku (Boys Festival) Warrior figures in armor are set up in the house during this festival - sometimes symbolically only the helmet -, iris leaves are placed under the eaves to fend off evil (and because they are thought to resemble the blade of a sword), and huge carp streamers are fastened to poles. The carp is connected with marital happiness and many offspring.

May 5, Kyoto: Horse-Riding Ceremony (kurabeumae shinji), Kamigamo Shrine
Festival originating in 1039, when this ceremony was first performed to obtain a good harvest.

May 5-6, Fuchu (Tokyo): Kurayami Matsuri, Okunitama Shrine
Mysterious night festival in old shrine in Tokyo’s suburbs.

May 11-12, Nara: Takigi No at Kofukuji.
The oldest torchlight No performances in Japan, already enjoyed by Basho. At the site of the Great South Gate.

May 13, Kyoto: Kanko Festival at Matsuo Shrine
Another, lesser-known hollyhock festival

May 15: Aoi Matsuri, Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines
The leaves of the hollyhock (aoi) are offered at both shrines. Originated in ancient custom to propitiate the shrine deities, who brought storm over the land. Re-enacts an Imperial procession to the shrines with nobles in court dress and a chariot drawn by an ox. Leaves in the morning from the Kyoto Imperial Palace, visits the Shimogamo Shrine and finally in the afternoon the Kamigamo Shrine.

Third Sunday of May Kyoto: Mifune Matsuri (Boat festival), Kurumazaki Shrine
Gaily decorated boats float down the Oi River in Arashiyama, recalling the atmosphere of the Heian period

May 12-15 (odd-numbered years) Tokyo: Kanda Matsuri, Kanda Shrine
Two huge palanquins are paraded through Kanda and Nihonbashi in one of Tokyo’s greatest festivals.

May 15, Tokyo Unveiling of the Amida statue in Zojoji

[Fudarakusanji Temple, Nachi. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

May 17, Nachi (Wakayama Pref.) Unveiling of the Thousand-armed Kannon statue in Fudarakusanji
5 min on foot from Nachi St on the Kisei main line (0735-52-2523)

May 17-18, Nikko: Spring Festival, Toshogu Shrine
Sennin Gyoretsu, procession of 1,000 persons in historical costume. Sacred music and dances on the morning of the 18th. Also Yabusame, archery on horseback, on May 18.

May 17, Nikko: Ennen-no-Mai (Longevity Dance), Rinnoji Temple
Two priests dance in beautiful silk robes. 8:00 in the morning.

May 17-19, Tokyo: Sanja Matsuri, Asakusa Shrine
Parade of great number of mikoshi on 18th and 19th. Performances of dengaku and binzasara.

May 18, Nishinomiya (Hyogo Pref.) Unveiling of the Nyoirin Kannon statue in Kannoji
Bus or taxi from Koyoen st on the Hankyu Koyo line (0798-72-1172)

May 19, Nara: Uchiwamaki (Fan Scattering Ceremony) at Toshodaiji
Buddhist memorial ceremony. Heart-shaped paper fans are scattered together with mochi or rice cakes, bringing good luck for the year to come.

May 21, Kyoto: Shinran-Shonin Gotan-e (Birthday of Priest Shinran), Nishi-Honganji
Service to celebrate the birthday of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism

[Two of the three boatsmen of the Hozugawa-kudari trip. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The Hozu River is about 16 kilometres long and snakes its way through the highland between Mt Atago and Oinosaka, at an elevation of 400 meters. It has carved out a deep gorge with sharp V-curves, strange rocks and fantastic cliffs. Although it was already used for the transport of goods to the capital in the Heian period, concentrated shipping only became possible in 1606, after engineering work under the direction of Suminokura Ryoi.

[Shooting into the canyon. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Swift, flat-bottomed wooden boats would transport rice, vegetables and firewood from the regions north of Kyoto to the capital. The boats were brought back by towing them, a laborious process taking five hours. Some parts of the tow path laid out by Suminokura are still visible, as are the rearrangements of rocks to make the river passable. One huge rock was even split apart by heating it and then pouring water on it.

[On the riverbank are still parts of the old tow path for pulling the boats back to Kameoka. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The transport boats lost their job when the railroad between Kyoto and Kameoka was built around 1900, but about fifteen years later they had transformed themselves into a flourishing tourist industry - which today is going stronger than ever. “Shooting the rapids,” the Hozugawa-kudari as it is called in Japanese, takes between 75 and 120 minutes, depending on the force of the stream and the season.

[Steering the boat. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The flat-bottomed boats are operated by three people, two with a long bamboo pole in the front and back to push off against the rocks, a third one to row when the stream is not forceful enough to carry the boat along. The ride is beautiful for its scenery, especially in sunny weather, from springtime with cherryblossoms along the banks, through autumn with its red maple leaves. For an extra thrill, the boatsmen steer the small craft on purpose at a short distance of the sharp rocks, but the only real danger are falling stones and the splashing waves.

[Gliding through the fresh green of late April. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

As usually in such situations, the human imagination has worked its Rorschach fantasy on the rocks along the way, and so we have frog and lion rocks, a mirror rock and a screen rock. You will also see the Lord’s Fishing Spot, where Akechi Mitsuhide used to angle. In one spot stripes on the rocks are pointed out as being the traces of the tow ropes. In other places, where the boats are regularly pushed off with the bamboo sticks, indents are visible in the rocks, and it is the pride of the “pusher” to hit the exact spot. There are several bridges over the river, for the present railroad to Kameoka and beyond, and for a touristic trainride (Torokko Resha) with open cars that runs between Sagano and Kameoka over the old railroad.

[The Torokko open train and carp streamers. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Suminokura Ryoi (1554-1614) was a wealthy merchant from Kyoto. In the 1590s Hideyoshi granted him a license for overseas trade with what is now Vietnam. This endeavor brought in huge profits for Suminokura and his son Soan - until the Tokugawas closed the country in 1635. Suminokura Ryoi used his fortune to open various rivers around Kyoto for commercial navigation (and new profits), the most important ones being the present Hozu River and the Takasegawa Canal he had dug along the Kamo River (which was too erratic in its water levels to use for regular transport services) south to the Yodo River.

[Statue of Suminokura Ryoi in Kameyama Park. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

A statue of Suminokura stands in the Kameyama Park along the Hozu River. It is in a rather heavy, almost Socialist-Realist style - as a Chinese “hero of the people.” On the opposite bank stands the Daihikaku temple, built by Suminokura Ryoi as a monument to the workers who lost their lives during the sometimes dangerous labor of improving the Hozu River.

[A serious job. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Address: 1 Shimonakajima, Hozu-cho, Kameoka City (Hozugawa Pleasure Boat Association)

Tel: 0771-22-5846

Hours: 9:00-15.30 (Mon-Fri), indeterminate (Sat, Sun, NH); from Dec. 1 to March 9 only 10:00-14.30. CL Dec 29-Jan 4. Check in advance to reserve and see if there are no cancellations.

Cost (2007): 3,900 yen.

That was already so in the past. In the last 30 years of the 19th century, after the capital was transferred to Tokyo, the city was indeed in danger of becoming an oddity for tourists. But despite the loss of economic power and status, Kyoto’s citizens fought back and realized a stunning number of modern “firsts.” Kyoto became the first city to found a system of modern elementary schools, already in 1869, at the initiative of its citizens (the bangumi schools). In 1891, it realized the first hydroelectric power generation project (remember, the 90s of the 19th c. were still an age of gas lights and candles!) and in 1895 the first electric streetcar of Japan started to run in Kyoto. The first Japanese Nobel Prize was won in 1949 by Yugara Hideki, a physicist of Kyoto University.

[The Biwa Lake Canal coming out of the last tunnel at Keage. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The hydroelectric power project mentioned above is linked to the construction of a canal between Kyoto and Lake Biwa, seven kilometres to the east, to provide waterpower to modernise the city’s textile industry, supply drinking water, provide water for fire fighting and irrigation, and, finally, make transport between Lake Biwa and Kyoto easier (mainly for the transport of rice from Shiga and Fukui Prefectures to Kyoto).

Such a canal had already been the dream of leaders as Hideyoshi, but it would take modern technology to realize it in the Meiji-period, on the strong promotion by the then Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, Kitagaki Kunimichi. The canal starts from Lake Biwa and runs through Yamashina and Keage before reaching the eastern part of Kyoto. The most difficult part of the construction was building three tunnels through the mountains - the longest measures 2.4 kilometres. Engineer of this difficult project was the Tanabe Sakuro, a “young genius” who had just graduated in 1883. Starting in 1885, it took five years to complete the whole canal. A second, almost parallel canal purely for drinking water was added in 1912.

[The boat cradle at the place where the boats were loaded unto it. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

One problem was how to bring the flat-bottomed wooden canal boats down the sharp drop of 36 meters at the pass of Keage (near the Westin Miyako Hotel), leading from central Kyoto to the suburb of Yamashina. Finally, an inclined slope with rails was laid out here, over which flat railroad cars moved onto which the boats were hoisted out of the water (and in it again at the other end). These “boat cradles” moved down the slope of half a kilometre in about 15 minutes - one up and one down at the same time, connected by a steel cable.

[The Incline at Keage. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Interestingly, these railway carts were moved by electric power - the other innovation introduced by Tanabe Sakuro was building a hydroelectric plant at Keage which could use the same steep drop of 36 metres to direct the canal water through steel pipes and have it drive the wheels of two turbines. Tanabe Sakuro traveled expressly to the United States to see the first hydroelectric power plant built there, in Aspen, Colorado. Later, the electricity generated by the Keage plant was used for Kyoto’s first streetcars as well as for streetlamps.

[The “boat cradle” on the Incline at Keage. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

It is - by the way - surprising that there was still the need for such a canal for shipping, considering the fact that the first railway line between Kyoto and Otsu had already been opened in 1880!

I do not know when shipping through the canal stopped, but the incline is still there with a boat cradle and model of a flat bottomed boat - and what is more, the canal still brings drinking water to Kyoto and the power plant is also still in operation. It has been joined at Keage by a water purification plant.

The Lake Biwa Canal Museum of Kyoto is a free facility set up to commemorate the canal, the Incline and hydroelectric power plant. You will find ample photo’s and materials here on the large project, as well as a power generator.

[Lake Biwa Canal Museum, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

From the courtyard of the museum there is a good view of the Incline, which is now a popular cherry blossom viewing spot (as are parts along the canal in Yamashina). When you follow the incline east from the museum, you come to a small park graced by a statue of Tanabe Sakuro and a memorial to workers who lost there lives when building the canal.

[Statue of Tanabe Sakuro at Keage. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

A branch of the canal goes east and north for irrigation purposes and passes through the grounds of Nanzenji temple via a redbrick aquaduct - a modern piece of architecture that blends remarkably well into the temple grounds and is now a popular landmark.

[The aquaduct in the grounds of Nanzenji. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Museum Tel: 075-752-2530
Museum Hrs: 9:00-17:00 (Dec-Feb: 16:30); CL Mon (next day if NH), NY
Free
Access (both to museum and incline): 5 min walk from Keage St on the Tozai subway line
Materials: There are several interesting articles on the Lake Biwa Canal project on the web:

• East Meets West: Lake Biwa Canal, Kyoto, Japan, by Louis A. van Gasteren
• Technology Transfer during the Construction of the Lake Biwa Canal, by Naoto Tanaka.
• How Colorado brought Electric Power to Japan, by Eiichi Yamada.

[Bell tower and Saigyo sakura (already without blossoms) in Shojiji. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Officially, there is only one “Saigyo sakura” - a tree planted by the medieval priest and poet Saigyo after he shaved his head to become a priest here in Shojiji. It is a third-generation tree, it is said, but it was already covered in fresh green leaves. Fortunately, around it there were still some other trees in bloom, and the best ones were the magnificent shidare-zakura at the back of the temple. These were just in full bloom!

[Shidare-zakura in Shojiji. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The same is true for this cherrytree blossoming outside the gate…

[Old sakura tree in front of Shojiji’s gate. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Besides the cherry trees, the temple also has a great collection of Buddhist statues, beautiful in all seasons: a Kamakura-period Yakushi statue not only carrying the usual medicine pot in his right hand (he is after all the Buddha of Healing), but with his other hand making a gesture as if to take some pills from that pot! The temple also has a full set of the Yakushi’s attendants, the Bodhisattva’s Nikko and Gekko (symbolizing the Sun and the Moon) and the Twelve Generals in comical poses. Saigyo was also present, in a Kamakura-period statue showing him as a lean and ascetic priest. All these statues stand in the temple’s Treasure House, to which also the Rikishi deities from the temple gate have been moved for protection.

[Carpet of fallen blossoms. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

After Shojiji, I decided to visit nearby Shoboji, a temple new to me, and to my surprise, here, too, the cherry trees were in full bloom…

The Main Hall of this little known and quiet Shingon temple featured some interesting statues, such as the main image on the altar, a Thousand-armed Kannon with three faces - besides the central countenance, two extra faces look over the Kannon’s shoulders in an original configuration. This statue is from the early Kamakura period. From the temple’s founding (in the late Nara period, by a disciple of the Chinese priest Ganjin) dates a large Yakushi statue. Finally, I also encountered an interesting “running Daikoku” image.

[Modern guardian statue under blossom canopy in Shoboji. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The garden of Shoboji is modern and characterized by the various large rocks which are meant to represent all kinds of animals. Such almost childish figurative thinking is far from traditional garden art, but happily you can see the rocks as just abstract elements - the resemblances with elephants and tigers are rather forced, anyway.

[Blossoming sakura tree and shakkei garden, Shoboji. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

What makes the garden interesting is the shakkei, the “borrowed scenery” of the far-away Eastern Hills (Higashiyama - we are to the south here, so you can mainly see the low hills on which the Fushimi Inari Shrine stands) and, on the horizon, the imposing mountains that form the border between Kyoto and Shiga. On one of these stands the great Daigoji Temple.

It was masterful of the garden designer to　plant just one slender cherry tree right in the middle of this scenery, as a foreground to the borrowed landscape. The rocks then form a sort of intermediaries that lift the eyes above the low garden wall towards the distant mountain scenery. Both Shojiji and Shoboji were very quiet, making this the ideal place to enjoy cherryblossoms. In the end, it was difficult to tear myself away…

[Other corner of Shoboji’s garden. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Access: From JR Mukomachi or Hankyu Higashi-Muko Station, take a bus to Minami-Kasugamachi and then walk 15 min. Or take a bus to Rakusaikokomae and walk 20 min. There is about one bus per hour.

Note: Shojiji is also known for its maple leaves. In the immediate vicinity are two more places of interest, Gantokuji (Hobodaiin) which displays a national treasure Bodhisattva image of almost sensual beauty, and Oharano Jinja, a shrine set up as a local branch of the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, when the capital was transferred to Nagaokakyo in the late 8th c.

Businessweek.com carries an interesting report on Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, which until its demise last year, was probably the world’s oldest continuously operating family business - since 578! Building temples, apparently, has been a very stable sector of Japanese industry through the ages. Why the company went under? Greed - the company invested heavily in real estate during the bubble years and was brought down by its accumulated debts.

While Nagoya is transforming its cityscape with the proliferation of new highrises around the central station, the old shopping arcades (shotengai) in the city hope to keep afloat on the broad back of nostalgia, as Asahi.com reports.

[Gate of Honenin Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Tanizaki had started his writing career with sensual short stories as Shisei (The Tattooer) in which a tattoo artist inscribes a giant, evil spider on the back of a beautiful woman - this gives her a demonic power of which the artist becomes the first victim, something he masochistically accepts. Other novels, as Naomi, reflect the rapid modernization of Japanese society in the tale of a dandy who tries to groom a cafe girl with English and music lessons and in his obsession puts up with all her whims and even infidelities.

[Stone pagoda in the center of Honenin’s graveyard. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Tanizaki moved from the Kanto to the Kansai after the great earthquake of 1923. After relocating to Western Japan, his dandyism and fascination with the West were replaced with a renewed appreciation of classical Japanese culture, as is evidenced by In Praise of Shadows. He first lived in (still rather Western) Ashiya, where he wrote masterworks as Arrowroot, The Reed Cutter and A Portrait of Shunkin - all stories of men who find happiness in absolute devotion to haughty or unapproachable women. He also started on what would become his most famous novel, The Makioka Sisters, a realistic tale about the decline of a proud Kansai family, which he completed five years later after moving to Kyoto in 1948.

[Grave of Tanizaki Junichiro in Honenin Temple. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Tanizaki had of course often visited Kyoto even when he lived in the Kanto and he was already familiar with the Philosopher’s Path. In Kyoto, Tanizaki lived in three places: first in Teramachi Imadegawa Agaru, then in Nanzenji Shimokawara, and finally in Shimogawa Izumigawacho. The Shimogamo of his last Kyoto address returns in the beautiful novella As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams - but Tanizaki wrote it three years after he had already exchanged the cold Kyoto winters for the warmer climes of Atami. He had lived in total between seven and eight years in the old capital - from 1948 to 1956.

[Grave of Tanizaki Junichiro in Honenin Temple. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Tanizaki’s grave is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is situated on a high ridge, at the eastern backline of the graveyard, close to the forest. A simple natural stone - not a typical gravestone, but one used for poem inscriptions as kuhi - with the inscription (by Tanizaki himself) of just one character: Jaku, or ‘Tranquility.’ There is one more stone with the character Ie, ‘Family,’ also in the hand of Tanizaki. The low stones lie under a small cherrytree and just at the time of my visit that was in full bloom. The shidare-zakura was planted by Tanizaki himself.

[Grave of Tanizaki Junichiro in Honenin Temple. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Access: 10-min. walk from Ginkakuji-mae bus stop (bus 5 from Kyoto St). Grounds free. The graveyard is on your right, before entering the thatched temple gate. Tanizaki’s grave lies on the high ridge at the back, next to that of nihonga painter Fukuda Heihachiro.

[The Main Hall of Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

A Portrait of Sakyamuni
The legend is told in the Agama Sutra as follows. When the Buddha was 37 years of age, so just two years after his Enlightenment, he temporarily left the earth to go to the Toriten Heaven where his mother Maya resided, to preach her the Buddhist Law. King Udayana (Uten-o in Japanese) of Kausambi missed the presence of the Buddha so much that he fell ill. His household hit upon the idea to send the best sculptor in the land after the Buddha. The resulting statue could then be used to pay homage to as a substitute for the Buddha.

Maudgalayana, the Buddha’s disciple who was foremost in supernatural powers, transported the sculptor to heaven and the result was a five-foot tall likeness of the Buddha made out of sandalwood. The king was happy beyond words and immediately felt cured. When three months later the Buddha himself came down from heaven, the statue arose and paid homage to him. The Buddha said: “Return to your seat. After my Nirvana, you will serve as a model to my followers.”

This statue, together with its accompanying legend, was discovered in India by adventurous, traveling monks from China in the Six Dynasties and Tang period. It must have been a new type of statue, which happened to be popular in India just at that time. Those monks, such as Faxian (early 5th c.) and Xuanzang (7th c.), then brought copies of the statue, together with many other images and sutras, back to China. In fact, the image Xuanzang brought back in 645 seems to have been made of precious sandalwood, like the one in the legend.

[The impressive gate of Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

A Chinese-Indian statue travels to Japan
History again shifts a few centuries. When in the late tenth century Chonen (938-1016), a priest from Nara’s Todaiji, visited China, he happened to come across a copy of this ‘Udayana statue’ (as it was called after the Indian king who commissioned it) in a temple called Kaiyuansi in Daizhou. Impressed, presumably both by the legend and the in Japanese eyes exotic statue, he asked two prominent Chinese sculptors to make a copy for him. He brought this back to Japan in 985, where finally in 1018 it was installed by his disciple Josan (Chonen had died already) in a Shaka Hall at the foot of Mt. Atago, in the western outskirts of Kyoto.

It took again two more centuries before the image breakthrough to popularity in Japan. That happened at the end of the 12th century, when such prominent figures as the priest Myoe (1173-1232) expressed their devotion. But it was Eison (1201-1290) who made the Udayana icon (now more properly called Seiryoji Shaka) into a cult. Eison, the founder of the Shingon Ritsu school based at Saidaiji, was deeply devoted to the historical Buddha, and in 1249 he ordered a copy of the Seiryoji Shaka. This is now still the main image of Saidaiji. It was repeatedly copied over the following decades - in all more than one hundred copies were made, which can still be found all over Japan. The statue of the Living Shaka had become a craze in Japan.

[The Flower festival of Buddha’s Birthday in Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The Shaka Hall of Saga
To see the living Shaka, make your way to Seiryoji, a temple more familiar among residents by its popular name Saga Shaka-do, the Sakyamuni Hall of Saga. Saga, of course, refers to Sagano, the area around Arashiyama in the north-western outskirts of Kyoto. Seiryoji stands somewhat apart from the rest of Sagano and Arashiyama, an area that is nowadays overrun by hordes of tourists. Some parts of this formerly quiet and even slightly forlorn locale now remind one of Tokyo’s Harajuku, with a proliferation of junk shops for the young. Seiryoji’s strong Niomon gate seems to act as a protection and its wide grounds are peaceful and serve to induce a serene mood.

Seiryoji was founded in 945 on the estate of Minamoto no Toru, a son of the Emperor Saga (and the person who served as the model for the “shining prince” from the Genji Monogatari). It was then called Seikaji. The original statues, a splendid Amida Trinity, are now housed in the temple museum. Chonen had studied in China at a temple called Qingliangsi (Seiryoji in Japanese) at Mt. Wutai. He saw in Mt. Atago a substitute for Mt. Wutai and wanted to set up his own temple at the foot of that mountain. He died before he could gather the funds to realize this wish and as a compromise his disciple Jozan then built a Shaka Hall in the grounds of Seikaji. The complete edition of the sutras Chonen had brought from China, the Issaikyo, was also stored here.

Due to the popularity of its statue, the Shaka Hall gradually became more important than the original temple and the name was finally changed into Seiryoji. The Hondo (a beautiful Edo-period hall dating from 1701) housing the Shaka statue stands in a straight line from the Nio Gate (1776). There are various other buildings surrounding it, such as a Tahoto pagoda (1703), an Amida Hall (1863), and a sutra library (mid-Edo period).

[The Pagoda of Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

The Living Buddha
The altar of Shaka stands right in the middle of the spacious hall, so that one can walk around it. On the walls are paintings of the Seiryoji Engi, the legendary history of the temple. One can not come very close to the statue, but through the wide open doors of the cabinet the view is good even from a distance. Shaka, slim and erect in a standing pose, made from dark-brown wood and carved in a symmetrical style with deep folds of his gown, seems to hover in front of a golden background. It is a rather austere wooden statue, very different from the gilded Buddha images current in the period when it was made. The hands are in the usual semui and yogan mudras.

But everything else is odd about this Chinese statue. The 163 cm tall Shaka is clad in a long robe, falling down from both shoulders to the ankles, and fitting close around the body. Instead of the usual curls the hair has been made up in a wavy pattern. Both the drapery style and hairdo became associated with this type of ‘Living Shaka.’ As 10th c. Chinese statues were very different, too, there may indeed be Indian or central-Asian stylistic elements in this statue, although in that case rather 4th century CE than BCE. As it was supposed to be a portrait of the Buddha, the copies that were made through the ages must have been very faithful and precise. As material Chinese cherry-wood was used. Originally the image was colored.

In the back of Shaka, unseen by visitors, is a sort of lid, giving access to a part hollowed out in the wood, that when opened during restoration work in 1953, rendered colorful silk objects shaped like human internal organs, apparently made in China and put into the original statue at its creation. The names of the Chinese sculptors were also inscribed here (‘Zhang Yanjiao and Zhang Yanxi of Taizhou in the Great Song’). The internal organs consist of heart, liver, gall bladder, stomach, kidneys, throat, intestines, and lungs. It was so to speak a magically animated icon. There were other items inside as well, such as parts of sutras, block-printed effigies, beads, coins, etc. These and the statue itself have been declared national treasures.

[Sakura and pagoda, Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Also in the Edo-period the Living Buddha of Seiryoji was very popular and the statue was carried in a richly decorated litter (on view in the temple’s main hall) to Edo and other cities for a Dekaicho, a special unveiling of the statue meant to spread the cult and strengthen the temple’s finances. Keishoin, the mother of the Shogun Tsunayoshi favored the temple with many treasures, from lacquered utensils to the altar cabinet now still in use and a large canopy with the Tokugawa emblem.

Interestingly, although the temple’s main image is a Shaka statue, Seiryoji belongs to the Jodo denomination that usually has a Amida Buddha as the central object of veneration. The Seiryoji Shaka must have been too powerful to replace. The association with Pure Land Buddhism already dates to the times of the sect’s founder, Honen, who in 1156 stayed in Seiryoji for a special prayer session and deeply honered the Shaka statue. After that, in the late thirteenth century, the temple became a place where Yuzu Nembutsu, a Jodo sect, found its home, and it was formally made into a Jodo temple in 1530. The Jodo heritage is also reflected in the Nembutsu Kyogen morality plays still performed in Seiryoji on certain festival days.

[Nembutsu Kyogen play, Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Temple Treasures
If you now proceed to the temple museum, standing to the right of the Shaka Hall, somewhat behind the Amida Hall, you will find these silk organs exhibited on the second floor. They look very realistic in their subdued colors and prove that the science of anatomy had reached a high level in 10th c. China. Many of the other votive objects are also shown. The same museum has more things related to Shaka. Upstairs you may see a set of hanging scrolls of the Sixteen Arhats (disciples of the Buddha, see below), also brought back from China by Chonen. They are among the oldest arhat paintings left and the only ones that have come down to us from the Song dynasty. On the ground floor you will find a nice set of the Ten Great Disciples of Shaka, all realistic images from the early 11th c. To make the groups of Shaka attendants complete, there are also impressive statues of Monju and Fugen (late 10th c.). In other words, Seiryoji provides a complete Shaka universe: the Ten great Disciples, the Bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen, and arhats.

This does not exhaust the riches of this small museum. Immediately at the entrance you will see the large and serene Amida Trinity, dated 896, and part of the original temple. The aristocratic-looking Amida statue is flanked by the attendants Seishi and Kannon. They impress with the delicacy of the carving, especially of the intricate halo of the Amida. Compared with the Amida statues of Sanzenin in Ohara or Byodoin-in in Uji, however, the Saga statues exude a certain aloofness and they lack the human warmth of these other representations. There is also a great Tobatsu Bishamonten statue, as well as images of the Four Deva Kings (Shitenno). In other words, this small and almost unknown museum contains one of the best collections of Heian sculpture in Kyoto.

Finally, we return once more to the Shaka Hall to pay our respects to the small dark statue. Called a statue of the ‘living Buddha,’ it was made into a living statue itself by the internal organs placed inside. The fervent belief of the faithful gave it breath of its own. Seiryoji’s Shaka is not just a statue of the living Buddha, to the faithful it is the living Buddha in person and as such it has been deeply venerated for many centuries.

[Flowering trees in the grounds of Seiryoji Temple, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Address: Fujinoki-cho, Saga Shakado, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto.

Hours: 9:00-16:00. Principal Shaka image only completely unveiled on special days, as April 8 (Buddha’s Birthday). Normally, the interior of the Main Hall and the moss garden in front of the Shoin can be viewed. Temple Museum (Reihokan) only open in April-May and October-November from 9:30-16:30.

Access: 15 min on foot from Saga-Arashiyama St on the JR Sagano line.

Denomination: Jodo Buddhism

Foundation: By Chonen in 986

Festivals: Sagano Taimatsu on March 15. To commemorate the death of Sakyamuni, Nembutsu Kyogen from 14:00. At 19:30 three huge torches are set ablaze to divine the coming harvest. Hana Matsuri (Kanbutsu-e) on April 8. Nembutsu Kyogen between 13:00 and 16:00. A statue of a white elephant is set up in front of the hall with a Tanjobutsu on its head; sweet tea is offered to visitors; and inside, in front of the main Shaka statue that this day is completely unveiled, visitors can douse another Tanjobutsu with sweet tea.

1. Daisetsuzan National Park:

The largest national park in Japan, more or less in the center of Hokkaido, near Asahikawa. Called the “Roof of Japan” for its large volcanoes as Mt Asahidake (2290 meters high), Mt Tomuraushi and Mt Tokachi. There are extensive fir and spruce forests on the slopes, and higher up the area is known for its alpine flora. Picturesque gorges are the Sounkyo Gorge and Tenninkyo Gorge, which feature hot springs.

2. Akan National Park:

A dramatic landscape with large volcanoes and caldera lakes. The lakes are Lake Akan, Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu (known as a “mysterious lake” for its particular water clarity). In Lake Akan a rare plant, the mashimo, is found. The lakes are hemmed in by the volcanoes Mt Meakan, Mt Oakan and Mt Kamuinupuri, their flanks covered with spruce and fir forests. There are splendid views from the Bihoro Pass and Lake Mashu. Hot spring resorts can be found on the shores of Lake Akan and in Kawayu and Teshikaga.

3. Shiretoko National Park:

A 65 km long peninsula on the NE side of Hokkaido, protruding into the Sea of Ochotsk. The backbone of the peninsula is formed by a series of volcanoes as Mt Rausu, Mt Iwo and Mt Shiretoko. There are also primeval fir and spruce forests and beautifully dramatic cliffs, from which waterfalls drop directly into the sea. Ezo brown bears live in the interior, as well as deer and foxes, a wide variety of while seafowls breed on the coast. Shiretoko (”the end of the earth” in the Ainu langauge) is the most unspoiled of all national parks in Japan. Roads only lead partly into the peninsula. In 2005 Shiretoko was put on the Unesco World heritage list for its biodiversity and valuable ecosystem.

4. The Kushiro Shitsugen National Park:

The Kushiro marsh is the largest wetland in Japan. It consists of a vast reed plain, alder forests, and the meandering Kushiro River, all hemmed in on the far horizon by the Akan mountains. It is known for its sacred cranes, but also dragonflies and salamanders. It is the first registered Ramsar Convention site in Japan.

5. Reshiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park:

The most northern one, consisting of the coastal area of Wakkanai, the Sarobetsu Plain and the islands Rishiri and Rebun. Rishiri is a large volcano (called Rishiri-Fuji), 20 km off the coast, and almost round in form, 15 kilometers in diameter. It stands 1721 meters high and is a hard climb. Rebun is 10 kilometers NW of Rishiri and is flatter (though hilly) and known for its wildflowers. It is 25 kilometers long and the west coast is beautifully eroded by the sea. Sarobetsu is a large wetland, as well as a series of sand dunes.

6. Shikotsu-Toya National Park:

Located in SW Hokkaido, the park in fact consists of three separate areas, Mt Yotei (also called Ezo-Fuji), Lake Toya and Lake Shikotsu. Lake Shikotsu is encircled by active volcanoes as Mt Eniwa and Mt Tarumae. South of the lake are the popular Jozankei and Noboribetsu spas. Lake Toya is a caldera lake with new volcanoes as Mt Usu and Mt Showa-Shinzan - that last one rose from the plain in 1944. On the lakeside lies Toyako spa. In 2000 Mt Usu again erupted; since then, the spa town has recovered from the damage.

[for Japan’s National Parks, see also the homepage of the Ministry of the Environment]