The Yamanobe Road in Nara

I walked "the Yamanobe-no-michi (山の辺の道）" in Nara. They say it is one of the oldest national roads.

Its name is found in the oldest Japanese historical writing completed in the early 8th century.

Though the overall distance of the road that stretches from the heart of Nara to Sakurai is about 30 kilometers, I walked the southern half that is the most popular part.

(Above: Isonokami shrine)

The starting point of the road is "Isonokami shrine" in Tenri city. The shrine is one of the oldest shrines in Japan.

(Above: The southern Yamanobe-no-michi starts at Isonokami shrine)

In fact, there are a lot of "the oldest something" along the Yamanobe-no-michi.

 

(Above: Old "Yatogi shrine" with the straw-thatched roof"

The road, actually the path, runs down through agricultural scenery dotted with small hills covered with lush greenery, old shrines and reservoirs.

(Above: Reservoir at the remains of an old famous temple)

(Above: Old community surrounded by a moat)

(Above: Stone monument of an ancient tanka poet)

(Above: The Gate of Chogaku-ji temple. It is the oldest bell tower in Japan) 

(Above: The garden of Chogaku-ji)

At first sight, it looks like typical scenery of the countryside in Japan, however, the mounds aren't ordinary ones. They are the ancient tombs (including the first Emperor's tumulus built in the 4th century). Here is the cradle of the ancient Japanese dynasty.

 (Above: The Fusumada tumulus which is 140 meters long) 

(Above: One of the biggest tumulus built in the 4th century)

Passing through the groves of persimmon and mandarin orange, I saw an elegant mountain beyond the spacious field. It is "Mt. Miwa", the goal of this hike.

(Above: The View of Mt. Miwa)

The mountain has been the object of worship since ancient times. Ancient Japanese people used to have an intimacy with nature and believe that gods reside throughout all nature.

So the shrines at the foot of Mt. Miwa don't have the main sanctuary expressing such ideas: the sanctuary is the mountain itself.

(Above: Hibara shrine. There are only Torii gate at the foot of the mountain)

 

(Above: Omiwa shrine (大神神社), which is the goal of the Yamanobe-no-michi)

I love walking along ancient roads. I find there the memories of the land. At the end of today's hike, I ate "somen", one of the Japanese noodles. Somen is a speciality of this area.

※ From Tenri station (JR or Kintetsu line) to Isonokami shrine= 30 minutes on foot or 7 minutes by taxi

From Omiwa shrine to Sakurai station (JR or Kintetsu line)=10 minutes by bus

 

Walking in Sagano (Final part)---Daikaku-ji Temple

From Nembutsu-dera to Daikaku-ji (大覚寺), it takes about 15minutes on foot. It will be a pleasant walk in the rural scenery.  

Daikaku-ji temple was originally the detached palace of Emperor Saga in the Heian period (at the end of 9th century).

(Above: Shinden palace of Daikaku-ji=from the brochure of Daikaku-ji)

There are a lot of cultural assets: old palace-style architecture, paintings on "Fusuma" by great painters and forgeous furnishings.

(Above: a painting on Fusuma=from the brochure of Daikaku-ji)

And Daikaku-ji is said to be the birthplace of Japanese flower arrangement.

(Above: A part of the front garden)

There is a historic garden which was made at the same time when Daikaku-ji temple was built about 1,200 years ago.

The garden has a spacious pond (1 kilometers in circumference) named "Osawa pond". It is said to have imitated the famous lake "Dongting" in China.

(Above: Osawa pond)

This pond is the oldest existing garden-pond in Japan and it retains an elegant atmosphere of the Heian period.

 (Above: Stone arrangement in the pond which became a model for later garden composition)

Daikaku-ji is also well known as a location site of "Samurai movies".

For further information:  www.daikakuji.or.jp/

Walking in Sagano(6)---Nembutsu-dera in Adashino

"Sagano" area is located in the northwest of Kyoto. The area has known as a place of scenic beauty since the Heian period (794-1185).

The emperors and court aristocrats of that time built villas there and enjoyed rural life. That's why there remain a lot of tasteful places and historic temples.

On the other hand, the area in the north of Sagano, so-called "Adashino", was the place of ancient graveyard.

Nembutsu-dera temple (念仏寺） was first built about 1,100 years ago to hold memorial services to the souls of abandoned bodies.

Later, the graveyard was ruined with the passage of time and the tombstones such as stone images or stone pagodas were dispersed in the surrounding field.

In the mid Meiji era (at the end of the 19th century), people gathered them together and enshrined them again in the temple's precincts. (The photo below)

There are about 8,000 stone images and pagodas, which are placed as if they were listening to the Buddha's teachings.

(Above: The precincts filled with a sense of transience) 

The ritual of memorial service called "Sento-kuyo, or 千灯供養" are performed on August 23-24 every year and innumerable candles illuminate the stone images and stone pagodas.

(Above: The photo of Sento-kuyo=from the brochure of Nembutsu-dera)

※　For further information: www.nenbutsuji.jp
(Japanese only)