[Mini Historical Site Tour] Temples, Tunnels, and Sad Stories (1/3)
On Saturday night, my son said, "I'm going to hang out with my friends in Yamagata tomorrow." That was fine, but my wife asked, "What shall we do tomorrow?"
I would prefer to just lounge around at home on Sunday, but the intent behind this question was, "Since our son is away, let's go somewhere we can't go when he's around."
Giving the wrong answer would be disastrous, so I opened every drawer in my mind and remembered going to eat eel last spring. I decided we should go eat eel at a long-established restaurant near that one.
But if that's all we do, it feels a bit cost-ineffective to just drive back and forth to eat eel in a distant place. So, I decided to carry out my usual "pretend the main goal is to eat something delicious, but actually just go where I want to go" strategy.
The eel restaurant is in a town called Tome, about an hour away by car. In the past, it was a town that flourished due to water transport on the Kitakami River. Because eel can be caught here, there are still two eel restaurants even though it's a small town, and people visit from far away.
I came to Kiyokawa today. It's said to be a shop that has continued since the Kyoho era.
It opens at 11:00, but we arrived at 10:20. Since we didn't have a reservation, I was worried about what we would do if there were many people with reservations, but that wasn't the case, and we were able to enter at 11:00 without issue.
Thinking it would take time for the food to come out, I ordered a salad-style uzaku in addition to the unaju.
However, it was ready faster than expected, and the unaju and uzaku arrived at the same time.
Unaju is delicious whenever and wherever you eat it.
Compared to Tokaitei, which is nearby and where I ate last year, that one has more volume, a richer sauce, and is grilled more strongly. Kiyokawa has less rice than Tokaitei, a milder sauce, and is grilled less, giving it a fluffier texture.
It's a matter of personal preference, but I think I like Kiyokawa better.
This time, I could really taste the quality of the rice. This area is known for its rice, so I think the rice is delicious everywhere, but perhaps because the sauce wasn't too strong, I could appreciate the flavor of the rice even more.
We finished eating and left the restaurant at 11:40.
Next, we head to Yanaizu Kokuzoson, which is about 20 minutes from here.
As the name suggests, the principal image is the Kokuzo Bosatsu, and it began when the monk Gyoki carved and enshrined it here in 726.
In 818, Kukai also came here and left behind statues of Daikokuten and Bishamonten.
By the way, there is a temple with the exact same name in Yanaizu, Fukushima Prefecture.
At the time, Otomo no Yakamochi was in Taga Castle and suggested, "Why don't we open the temple to the public every 33 years?" and since then, it has been opened every 33 years.
The last time was in 2016, and as someone who loves the opening of secret Buddhas, I naturally visited, but I didn't have a goshuin stamp book at the time, so I came all the way here this time specifically for that.
It's a temple in the mountains with no houses around, but people come from goodness knows where. It seems to gather the faith of the people in this region.
There is a small river at the entrance to the temple grounds (though no water was flowing), and a small bridge is built over it.
It's a small, unremarkable bridge, but Otomo no Yakamochi actually wrote a poem here that is also in the Hyakunin Isshu:
Seeing the white frost on the bridge that the magpies have crossed, I realize how late the night has grown.
When I look at the bridge covered in white frost, it looks like the Milky Way.
I was so captivated that I didn't realize how late it had become.
That is the poem he composed. By the way, the current bridge was rebuilt after the Russo-Japanese War.
When I think about it, it's amazing. A poem from 1,300 years ago is still passed down today, and if I imagine whether the songs popular now will be listened to in the year 3300, I don't think they will be.
Moreover, a top-tier musician (if you can call him that) came to such a remote area (at the time, this was about as far as the Imperial Court's power reached) and held an impromptu live performance. Thinking about that gives me a strange feeling.
The temple grounds are lively, as it is an Esoteric Buddhist temple. After praying, I went around to see the "Seven Wonders" located on the grounds.
This one is the work of the monk Gyoki.
He couldn't afford to lose to Gyoki.
it appeared in the head priest's dream saying, "Please don't cut me down, I will make sure I'm not in the way,"
and when they looked the next morning, it had bent crookedly.
Since droplets would fall from the tips of the leaves even on sunny days,
it is said they were either tears of longing for her husband or tears of regret.
and it is said they looked as if they were bowing their heads toward the main hall.
They have apparently died out now.
and it was said to have miraculous powers for matchmaking, removing warts, and removing lumps.
It is charred, perhaps from a lightning strike.
A cedar tree grew between the trunks of a pine tree, making it look as if the pine was raising the cedar as its child.
The pine has since withered, and only the large cedar behind it remains.
There is an inner sanctuary if you climb the mountain behind, but I passed on it this time. I remember it being quite tough when I climbed it last time.
I received my temple seal, so I am heading to my next destination.
To be continued