Touring the Five Togakushi Shrines. All that remains is a bookmark and too many photos of vermilion gates
I went on a tour of the five Togakushi Shrines.
Togakushi Shrine consists of five shrines: Hokosha, Hinomikosha, Chusha, Kuzuryusha, and Okusha.
Even though they are all part of the same shrine, the size of the shrine buildings and the appearance of the approach paths were quite different.
To put it nicely, it was a 'five-shrine tour rich in variety.' However, I, the one walking it, was not feeling quite so calm.
My legs immediately went weak at the 270-plus steps of Hokosha
At the first stop, Hokosha, a steep stone staircase stretched out behind a wooden torii gate.
There were large cedar trees on both sides. Beyond them, I could see the roof of the shrine building.
I heard that the stone steps at Hokosha number over 270. Even knowing the number, it doesn't convey the actual steepness.
It was a very steep incline, but I didn't mind while I was climbing; however, the moment I reached the top and looked back, my legs went weak.
I thought about how well I had climbed up here, and at the same time, I realized early on that the return trip would be impossible, so I decided to take the women's path down.
The shrine building standing at the top of the stone steps was large, and even though I knew it wasn't the main shrine, it had more than enough presence. Unlike when I was looking up at the roof from below, standing close to it, I could even feel the weight of the shrine building.
The cedar trees I saw from the women's path on the way down were also beautiful. At this point, my anticipation for the cedar-lined path of the inner shrine I would walk later was growing.
The next shrine, Hinomikosha, was a complete turnaround from Hokosha and was small.
Having just seen the stone steps and shrine building of Hokosha, I had assumed the shrine buildings would be large, so this was unexpectedly the opposite.
When I decided to visit all five shrines, I had thought that similar scenery would continue. At the second shrine, that expectation was already proven wrong.
Faced with a giant torii gate, the only thing I could say was 'big'
When I arrived at Chusha, the size of the wooden torii gate was the first thing that impressed me.
I had thought it was big when I drove past the mountain gate, but when I went under the torii gate, the pillars were thick. I wondered where on earth they brought such a large, straight tree from. I was thinking about things like that while looking at it.
When faced with something truly large, I can usually only come up with the word 'big'.
The shrine building was not outdone by the large torii gate, and it had a dignified atmosphere that was different from Hokosha.
When I went to the back on the right, there was a small waterfall.
The air coming from there was cool, and my body, which had been tense from constantly looking up at the large torii gate and shrine building, relaxed all of a sudden.
There is a popular soba noodle shop in front of the Chusha gate, and I am a fan of it too. It uses a system where you write your name on a waiting list before opening, and I learned that the first person had written their name at 4:00 AM.
I wanted to retort, '4:00 AM? That's too early!!', but I can sort of understand why someone would go that far for something truly delicious. Still, the dedication of people who write their names from early in the morning is amazing.
Just before opening time, the owner was talking in a lighthearted and funny way. This talk alone is worth listening to.
The 400-year-old cedar-lined path, meeting the scenery I knew from photos
After visiting Chusha (not the soba shop), I drove to the entrance of the Okusha approach path. From here to Okusha is about 2km, a walk of about 40 minutes.
If you only look at the numbers, it seems like an easy walk. In fact, on the path to the Zuishinmon gate, you have the leeway to look around at your surroundings.
Around 11:00 AM on this day, there were many people heading to the gate, and the path was full of people. It was like some kind of shopping street, and my expectations for a quiet, cedar-lined approach path crumbled in an instant.
However, the Zuishin-mon Gate that appeared amidst the greenery of the trees was a vivid vermilion.
Ferns grew on the thatched roof, and the building alone did not feel separated from nature. Despite being a vermilion gate, it did not stand out from its surroundings, but rather stood out just right within the greenery.
When I looked back at the photos later, I realized I had taken many pictures of just the Zuishin-mon Gate. My habit of taking the same thing over and over when I like it was still going strong this time.
And beyond the gate, a row of cedar trees continues.
The scenery of cedars over 400 years old standing in a row was supposed to be the symbol of Togakushi, a view I had already seen many times in travel magazine photos.
Even so, the real thing is different. The cedars, which are tall enough to make you look up even if you only see one, line up toward the back, and even when I raised my eyes, the tops of the trunks were far away. Looking ahead, I realized while walking that the cedars continued to the end of the path and that the same atmosphere extended beyond the frame of the photo.
When I stepped back a little and looked back, Togakushi Mountain and the Okusha Shrine connected.
As you pass through the quiet cedar avenue and continue further, the slope gradually becomes steeper in the second half.
From here on, the feeling of enjoying the scenery and the task of putting one foot in front of the other happen simultaneously.
The Kuzuryu-sha Shrine, which I reached after using up my physical strength, is located next to the Okusha Shrine. It is a shrine dedicated to the Kuzuryu-no-Okami, the local deity, and as it is said to best preserve the mountain and cave worship that is at the core of Togakushi faith, it left a more solemn impression than a flashy one.
The mysterious structure of the shrine, where the main hall is half-embedded in a cave at the end of a corridor that continues from behind the worship hall to the upper right, was impressive and remained in my memory.
The last one is the Okusha, the main shrine. The deity enshrined there is Amenotajikarao-no-Mikoto.
While I was praying, my consciousness was focused on the shrine building in front of me. When I stepped back a little and looked back, I saw that the Togakushi Mountain behind it and the shrine building were connected as one.
Mist covered half of the rocky mountain, and it felt as if the shrine building had not been placed in front of the mountain, but rather had continued from within the mountain.
While visiting the five shrines, I had been reacting to the stone steps, torii gates, and slopes in front of me the whole time. By stepping back a little at the end, I feel like I was finally able to see the whole picture.
I received the goshuin (shrine stamps) for the Okusha and Kuzuryu-sha, and I also received a bookmark commemorating the visit to the five shrines.
It is just a thin bookmark, but I am genuinely happy to hold it in my hands. The moments when my legs felt weak on the steep stone steps, when I stood silent under the giant torii gate, and when my steps became heavy beyond the cedar avenue, all connected to that one piece of paper.
I did not have any epiphany from visiting the five shrines in one day.
However, when I returned and looked back at the photos, there were many similar pictures of the Zuishin-mon Gate. The bookmark, my slightly heavy legs, and too many photos of the vermilion gate. That is, for now, my realization of my visit to the five Togakushi shrines.
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