The Weekend Review - Himeji, Part 2

Mt. Shosha and the Last Samurai Temple
On Sunday, Katie and I woke up to a green, gloomy sky, but we decided to stick with our travel plans and resume our adventure from the previous day. I made a quick breakfast and we headed back to Himeji on the Sanyo line, hiking shoes in toe. Katie is a true WA girl, and loves her Starbucks (but she lives about 2 hours from the closest one), so we made our second (or third?) pit-stop at the famous retailer to feed our caffeine addictions before catching a bus to Mt. Shosha Ropeway. Even with the bad weather, it turned out to be a good thing we didn't try to fit in the temple visit the day before... it really was a much longer trip than expected. Once the bus dropped us off, we scarfed down our 'konbini food' (onigiri - or rice balls, filled with salmon and wrapped in seaweed paper) and boarded the cable car to the top of the mountain. The mountains in this area seem to sporatically jut up in a heep of lucious green, but to me, they seem more like large hills (like in Minnesota) than sisters of the mighty Mt. Fuji. Then again, from the top, it didn't look like the easiest hike up, so I could be wrong.

When we reached the top of the ropeway, our guide motioned us in the right direction as we started our hike. There was a 300 Yen (about $2.50) entrance fee* and a shuttle option, but we decided to forego the shuttle cost and walk so we could catch some of the smaller sub-temples along the 30-minute walk through the forest.

As we started down the path, the first thing I noticed was the small Budha (or buhshiva?) statuettes lining the mountain trail. We were surrounded on two sides by tall, old and powerful deciduous trees, with our gravel path winding around corners and the heavy fog creating a sometimes eery atmosphere. Despite the fog, I was glad we decided to defy weather reports and head-up the mountain. Save for a group of pilgrims we passed (Japanese people visiting temples on their religious pilgrimmage - probably through Western Japan) and the monks in the temples, we really didn't encounter anyone else on the path. The air was thick and the birds sang loudly. You can almost hear the sound of the rain hitting the ground and the trees swaying in the wind. Unfortunately, the downside of a low tourist day is that most of the sub-temples we wanted to visit were closed. We peered over the sides of walls (some of them starting to crumble... but all hundreds of years old), but didn't dare venture further. After about a 20 minute walk on our winding and somwhat hilly path, we arrived at the Yuya Bridge, leading to the first big temple. The bridge was just a small, wooden bridge with metal peach decals on the four posts (significant in the Budhist religion - and in Japanese culture). Ironically, however, Katie's boyfriend (nikke nihonjin...they've been dating for 5 years) is named Yuya, so we sort of thought it was a sign it itself. I am still not sure what it was a sign of... maybe just that we were on the right path?... but it felt spiritual in some strange way.
We scowered the sub-temples for several minutes before beginning the ascent to the main hall, passing large beams resembling those that support Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. At the top, we were greeted by another small set of stairs, this time leading to a main entrance, halfway disguised by the low-set clouds. We climbed this final set of stairs, passed the dragon shaped fountains and entered the temple. A friendly monk, who was actually excellent at English, showed us several souvineers for sale as we made our way through the doorway and into the center of the large tatami room. On the right were the large Budhas, guarded by gates, to the right was the vast balcony, peering down on the area we had just come from below, and accross the room, through more sets of doors, was the lucious green and red canopy of the thick, forest trees. In the middle of the temple stood a large incense pot, giving off a sweet, yet musty fragrance. Apparently, this temple is on the western-Japan pilgrimmage and the incense burns continuously, supplied by the pilgrims who give it as gifts to the temple.
Both Katie and I could have spent more time in this peaceful, serene environment, but we were short on time and not yet to the final destination, so we took one minute to take in the scenery and look around before descending and making our way to the end of the hiking path... to the temple where the Last Samurai was filmed!

The Last Samuri Temple
After about another 10 minutes (less than expected), we walked up a hill and suddenly found ourselves in front of the main attraction: the three-sided temple used in the filming of Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai.** In the film, Cruise's character walks from a small village in the mountains to a nearby temple for his discussions with the Samurai. In reality, any such village would be hours away on foot; the only thing leading up to the temple were more mountain paths. But it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the large, heavy wooden doors, often used in the winter, were closed, so we couldn't see the inside of the temple itself. We still got a feel for it from walking on the 'balcony' area, however, and I could definately appreciate the architecture.

Back down the mountain and a final goodbye
Katie and I followed several mountain paths through the woods, leading to side temples and just basically explored for a bit, enjoying the nature. As we ventured further down the trail and onto the furthestmost loop on the mountain trail, we suddenly realized the time. With about 30 minutes before the last cable car down the mountain, Katie and I litereally ran back down the entire trail, retracing our steps (rather than risking getting lost or stuck in the dark on another trail) and sometimes holding hands so we didn't trip and fall down the rocky slope. Luckily, the trip back was shorter than the trip there, and we made it with time to spare. We took the ropeway down, rode the 25-minute bus ride back to Himeji station... and that was it! Katie and I started to say our final goodbyes, but then realized we'd probably see each other in a few weeks for the Gion Matsuri (and possibly a Fuji climb we're doing in July), anyways... so it really was a 'see you later'.

*I don't mind paying entrance fees at museums and cultural heritage sites, where the fee will go to restore and protect the area, but for how little they charge here, I sometimes wonder if it warrents even charging. The entire fee probably goes to paying the person handing out tickets!
**If you are familiar with the layout of traditional Scandinavian farms, it actually reminded me alot of that (lignet veldig - noyaktig, faktisk - pa moenstret som ble brukt eller er fant ved norske tun...til tross for at det var et tempel og midt i skogen...).