My new neighborhood friend Nikki and I went to Gomataki fire Celemony in Jingoji Temple.It was very interesting trip!
■ Jingo Ji temple
Jingo ji temple was a branch temple of Koyasan temple, a headquator of Shingon Budhist temple.So it is very good opportunity to experience authentic Buddhist rituals.
Goma meant "homa" in sanskrit.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AD%B7%E6%91%A9
Jingoji temple ＨＰ http://www8.plala.or.jp/zingozi/
They provide all kinds of Shingon Buddhist training including Takigyou, that is, standing in a water fall.
They gave us a souvenir, even though we had only spent 10 yen for a candle and 50 yen for incense.
Somebody must have told about us beforehand since they seem to know we ware coming...
The ceremony was very interesting to me too, and I was surprised that still local people keep their religious habit.
The crag in the Mt. Hachimen
Afterward, we had a lunch at nearby Soba noodle place in front of the Jingo ji, them met with a local and we all headed for the cragging area.
The trail entrance to cragging area is usually hid so normal hikers does not stray into the crag. Most regular hikers have no map reading skills and they know any better than just following the other people... which often end up with accident.
So usually climbers do not make our trails obvious. This time, I was with them so I can tell what is climber's trail is like. You should be able to walk a vague trace , road-less road by finding a route by yourself, if you are a climber, because that is climber's responsibility to come back from wilderness without any other's assistance.
So I took two of them to get down to climbing area and it seemed like it was a bit adventure for them! Good thing!
The topo guide is here.
https://www.climbing-net.com/general/%e5%85%ab%e9%9d%a2%e5%b1%b1/
So now, I am a one step forward connecting the locals and climbers.
■ Sleeping in a templeOne of my friend who are doing free-school, offered us to sleep in a temple. I kind of expected it is just a roof over our head... we have a lot of temples that are more
or less abandoned... spooky places.
But it was actually a large old Japanese house, with Buddhist shrine, so it was much better than I expected. I deeply appreciated that.
My friend who are new to Japan was so excited too. It was a very rare experience even for me who live in Japan for more than 40 years!!
■ Mt. Hossyou in Kuju Mountain Range and Ukenokuchi Onsen(hot spring)
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| From the top of Mt. Hossyo |
So we just grabbed out stuff, headed for the mountain and it was just in time, to start and finish the hiking! Very right amount of walk of 3 hours, hike up and down and appreciating the views...
Hossyo, means "star" and "birth". The trails starts from Makinoto Touge pass and I recommend this trail because it can give you a big picture of what is like Kujyu mountain range. You can also view Aso mountain range in far distance.
Guiding this mountain was my assignment when I took a qualification on snow mountain guide from Japanese mountain associations, which I passed, even thought I decided not to take the licence.
After that, we headed for hot spring, and I was a bit worried for my new friend who have never done Japanese style bathing before, might have a difficulty but the choice of the spa was so good, that the water hid our body so we don't need to feel awkward at all, it was soooo peaceful and serene... I was so glad I could show my new friend what authentic Onsen is like.This spa stared at 1728!!!
https://www.town.kokonoe.oita.jp/docs/2018020100011/#kannojigoku
https://onsen.unknownjapan.co.jp/article/2016/10/28/123
■ No traffic jam! Miracle!
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| Taiyaki |
So I wanted to get out and go back quickly. But actually it was OK, miraculously, there were no traffic jam!! Took us much shorter than usual. Usually it takes much longer to get back to Fukuoka city, but this day, not at all.
We stopped at the parking lot and had a curry filled Taiyaki, which my friend treated for me!
■ These are other guests from abroad I took
Stephan
Jiro and Adrian
A young men from Russia
My first time in Mt. Hachimen
Climbing in Laos
My friends report on this trip
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This weekend was filled with adventure, traditions, history, and some great hiking.
Kinny and I took a road trip to a Jingo ji Buddhist Temple in the food of Mt.Hachimen (about 2 hours drive away) to watch a Gomataki fire ceremony. The ceremony involves burning wooden sticks with prayers written on them. The fire symbolizes the wisdom of Buddha, burning away the roots of suffering. There was a lot of chanting, and it was very meditative.
Then we hiked a bit around a small mountain called Mt. Hachimen, with some very steep descent into a valley, which required using ropes to climb down the hill.
We spent the night "camping" in an ancient temple that is currently being renovated, in the nearby town of Yabakei (thanks to a friend of Kinny's who is over seeing the temple). This was by far the most amazing part of the weekend. The temple was almost completely empty, expect for a shrine set up in the main room. I couldn't stop marveling at the architecture, and the vastness of the open space of the main rooms. It was also set among beautiful countryside farms, so the sounds of a nearby water fall and nighttime wildlife filled the house. I haven't felt that at peace in a long time.
In the morning we headed out to the Kuju mountain range, which is located in the central part of Kyushu, to hike Mt. Hosshosan. The views were stunning and it took us around 3 hours. We rewarded ourselves afterwards by visiting a natural hot spring Onsen, in which we happened to be the only people there, and got the whole baths to ourselves!
Tl;dr it was a great weekend.