Turns out that Aimi insulted her more than we first thought…
Junko, the lovely lady in the coffee house, gave us some tips on what to see next and, as payment, I regaled her with the story of calling a random Japanese lady small. Well, it turns out it’s worse than that. She didn’t just say “small Japanese” when she meant to be talking about her ability to speak the language. There is another suffix to the word for Japan that means “language”, not “people”. She called her a “small Japanese person”. It’s hard to be any more accidentally insulting!
Anyway, before I get told off for telling that story too many times, I should say we ended up in this coffee house because we had just returned from the temple of 1,000 steps. It’s actually called Risshaku-ji Temple and was founded in approximately 860 AD by Ennin (Jikaku Daishi). The temple complex is built high up on the cliffs overlooking Yamadera. It’s the most stunning view, and everything just looks like it’s been there hundreds of years, which turns out it has been (apart from a few war fires). The only slightly unsightly intrusion into the illusion of time travel is the obvious electricity pylon and the occasional satellite dish. But really, you can understand belief in the divine with views like this.
All the way up the 1,000+ steps, there are stone lanterns, headstones, and carvings in the many rock formations. Arriving early because we have a car, we were almost alone climbing the steps. It was so beautiful and tranquil amongst the trees, birds, and cherry blossoms. I just loved seeing the moss growing up the sides of the steps and stone walls, only worn bare by the passage of thousands of feet over thousands of years.
Speaking of things thousands of years old, my knee was a bit wobbly by the time we reached the coffee house. But a coffee and a carrot cake fixed me back up before we were off again. This time, we took a trail up into the mountains in search of the Tarumizu remains, as Junko recommended.
This is said to be where Ennin first started practising Tendai after his training in China. The strange and beautiful shapes of the rock are caused by weathering alone. It houses a torii gate and a shrine to Inari, which we recognised from our last trip.
Junko also gave us the location of four authentic samurai houses and a good restaurant. Unfortunately, we were too late for food, now past 3pm, but one of the houses was still open. I persuaded Aimi to suck up her hunger and see the house with me. This was something special, as it was all wooden and paper screens and tatami mats, apart from the entrance area of stone slabs. The woodwork was beautiful, but from a practical point of view this time, rather than decorative. And while the garden was beautifully tranquil and well kept, the pond was equally practical, kept mainly for the prevention of fire. For these houses were primarily used as military lookouts/small castles, keeping watch over the community. The master’s study is walled on three sides by glass and screens to allow good views over the area.
Thatched and made from wood, it’s too much to expect this to be thousands of years old, but the one we visited was said to have been reconstructed over 200 years ago after a war fire. I felt like a bull in a china shop and tried to do my best to tiptoe around, but the whole house still creaked and groaned with my passing. I must have added another 30 years of wear in my 30-minute visit.
Unfortunately, it seems that most of rural Japan closes its restaurant doors at 3pm, and a lot don’t re-open for dinner, so we were still without lunch. I think because it’s just before the mass holiday season of Golden Week, the whole city of Kaminoyama Onsen is basically deserted. But also, it seems the onsen hotels and castle dominate the local area, meaning everything else has a distinct feel of shabbiness and abandonment, which is a shame because it was clearly once a nice place.
In other news, it turns out I really enjoy scrapbooking! What started out as a book to collect the train stamps has morphed into a collection of stamps, tickets, sketches, stickers, and leaflet cuttings. It’s great fun!