A clone of Bambi
The shrine was at the top of a long flight of stone steps, and its vermilion lacquered fence was brilliant in the morning sunlight. How wonderful it is in this land of ours, I thought, that even in remote and unfrequented places such as this, the divine power of the gods is omnipresent. Basho, TNRttDN 石の階九仞に重り、朝日朱の玉垣をかかやかす。 かかる道の果、塵士の 境まで、神霊あらたにましますこそ吾国の風俗なれと、いと貴けれ。 芭蕉「奥の細道」 Basho was actually talking about the Shiogama Shrine, but he might as well have meant my destination, the Koganeyama Shrine of Kinkazan Island. I fled Matsushima early in the morning, first catching a train to Ishinomaki, where I ran into James & Chris, two English teachers from Sendai heading my way as well. We took a scenic 90-minute bus trip down the Oshika Peninsula, up and down twisty little mountain roads winding their way around the bays and valleys of this remote fishing area, all the way to the whaling port Ayukawa. Japan is notorious for its whaling, and even these days it catches some 300 whales a year for "research purposes", one of which ended up as my lunch. Not bad at all, really, a strong meaty flavor, albeit one slightly too disguised by spicy marinade. <META environmentalist_flame_mode=ON> Some treehugger-types will likely object to me eating an endangered species, saying that whales should be protected from all hunting. That, in my arrogant opinion, would be the worst possible thing for the whale population. As long as whales have commercial value -- that is, tourists like me willing to fork out 1500 yen per slice -- fishermen and politicians have an interest in maintaining the whale population. If whales were entirely protected, their legal value would drop to zero (meaning that fishermen would start to kill them just to eliminate the competition) and their illegal value would skyrocket (meaning that poachers would ensure the decimation of the rest). So eat some whale today! <META environmentalist_flame_mode=OFF> Anyway, after eating Willy, it was time to proceed to Kinkazan Island itself, a 25-minute hop by ferry. It had been drizzling all morning and Kinkazan was shrouded by mist, but when we landed the sun came out and it instantly turned into a beautiful summer day. Upon disembarking we were greeted by some deer, the first of many to come. The island is full of the critters, totally tame and always waiting for goodies. The island's other major inhabitant group, wild monkeys, were nowhere to be seen.
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A clone of Bambi |
The "-zan" of Kinkazan means mountain, so after checking in to my lodgings it was time to hit the trails. The peak is at a height of precisely 444.9 meters, some 2.5 km away from the dock on foot, along some occasionally very dodgy trails going through and within streams, forests, fields, swamps... It was a very hot, sunny day, but the top was shrouded with clouds, wisps of mist wafting through the gigantic hulks of trees, steep drops on all sides. Getting to the top took only an hour, but just the same I was exhausted -- I honestly wonder if my health is up to tackling the considerably higher mountains of Dewa Sanzan. The scene at the top was a bit of an anticlimax, the usual great views (or so they say) were entirely obscured by the thick blanket of fog. I managed a few shots before my camera's batteries died completely, paid my respects to the gods at the shrine, and then started on my way down. I had just had enough time to wonder why there were so few biting insects around, when I felt a tingle in my left leg. I took a peek and found not a mosquito, but a big fat leech sucking my blood. I instinctively grabbed the slimy vampire, yanked it off and chucked it into the forest. I promptly stuffed my pant legs into my boots (I still don't know how the slug managed to navigate its way up my 20-cm combat boots and onto my leg), only to find another leech just starting its meal on my right leg. Yank, schlup, whee, splat. Later, I remembered that you're supposed to burn leeches to get them to leave gracefully without leaving body parts behind, but I didn't have much choice in the matter and they seemed to give up without much of a fight.
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Shrouded by mist |
My accommodations deserve a few words. I'm staying at Koganeyama Shrine, a large and functioning Shinto complex with a sideline in accommodating pilgrims and curious gaijin. At 9000 yen/night, it's not exactly cheap, even if the price does include two meals. The lodgings themselves are in a modern and rather ugly concrete building, and while the rooms are Japanese-style and nicely/minimally decorated as always, the place has seen better days. The ofuro is quite nice though, a gigantic steel(!) pool with a great view of the shoreline, the bay and the mainland. The water was nice and warm too, although I would still have liked it to be just a tiny bit hotter. Next time... Yesterday the shrine held a festival and the place was packed, but today the only visitors in the entire place were me and another gaijin, whom I had already met at the Matsushima youth hostel. (My earlier acquaintances, James and Chris, selected a cheaper option and camped out in the woods.) The food was good but not extraordinary, and in all there might be better deals to be had elsewhere if not for one catch: Koganeyama Jinja offers all guests a special Shinto service for pilgrims in the morning. OK, I may not be a pilgrim but I play one on J2J, so I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6 AM in time for the 6:30 service. Since the other gaijin chickened out, I was the only one! So for some 15 minutes the priests waved paper pom-poms and sakaki branches while chanting in that peculiar Shinto-priest style of theirs, impossible to follow even with the little transcription booklet. I sat seiza and bowed along with them, the fun part came when I was supposed to sanctify a branch of my own. The priest gave me an instruction booklet (in incomprehensible Japanese) and I had seen the rite before, so I muddled along following the priest's cues and managed to complete it without getting struck down by lightning. A final ceremonial cup of sake and it was over. The biggest ordeal came afterward when it was time to face a Japanese breakfast of raw egg, cold fish cake and seaweed... And now it's time to return from this little deviation to the Basho Mainline. Up next, Hiraizumi. Cheers, -j.