article 24

Mainichi Daily News / December 15, 2000
By Richard Humphries

Behind Yoshino's Nyoirin-ji temple lies a glade of peaceful evergreens. Within that glade is a small mound whose stone-gated protective entrance faces north towards Kyoto. The mound is the final resting place of the Emperor Go-Daigo, who died in 1339, and the orientation towards the ancient imperial capital is emblematic of both the emperor's aesthetic sense and of his profound political failure.

Go-Daigo was the last emperor in Japan to attempt with some results the direct exercise of imperial prerogatives. He achieved a temporary success in that endeavor when loyal forces overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333. The chance at direct rule was squandered through misrule, as important allies like Ashikaga Takauji soon became bitter enemies. The Emperor's allies, and in particular Kusonoki Masashige, were directed by Go-Daigo to fight a clearly unequal battle in 1336 and it was one upon which the imperial cause depended. They lost, though were later to find apotheosis in the ethos of noble failure. After many vicissitudes and even a period of imprisonment, Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino, and intransigent to the end, set up a rival Southern Court. For 50 years the Southern Court continued, eventually giving way to its more powerful Northern rival.

In a small way, Yoshino's history offers a counterpart to France's Avignon, a divisive, if small and temporary, center of spiritual and temporal assertion. To visit in the spring and summer months, when white-frocked yamabushi (mountain monks) and other pilgrims in their thousands pass through the small settlement, is perhaps best for imagining the scale of the ex-emperor's attempt. And there are the famous cherry trees, thousands of them, in magnificent full bloom in April. The quieter off-months, however, may be more suitable for seeing Yoshino as it really is and appreciating its history, legends, and significance in a more subdued atmosphere.

Yoshino town has 700 permanent residents and the surrounding hills a few thousand more. The town center consists of essentially one main street, lined with a mix of Edo-era and more modern structures. Kuromon, a wooden gate, signals your entrance to the town proper. A more impressive entranceway, in the form of a large bronze torii, 7.6 meters high, is a few hundred meters further on. When the sun is high, townsfolk hang white shades across the main street from the tops of buildings, giving it the feel of a covered market. Items on display in shops lack that "Hello Kitty" tawdriness and serve to highlight local specialties. On particular treat is green yomogi, a tasty dango made from rice bean paste and crushed kome leaves. At a shop by the name of Manchudo, you can see it being prepared.

Yoshino has been a center of worship since antiquity, as mountains believed sacred surround it. Dominating the town is the Kimpusenji temple complex. This temple was founded, or so legends say, by En-no-Gyoja, a 7th century figure revered for his asceticism, and himself semi-legendary. Kimpusenji was the center for the Shugendo sect, a syncretic blend of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs based on mountain asceticism. Most of the other shrines in Yoshino once belonged to that sect but they suffered suppression by the early Meiji rulers who favored State Shinto. The main hall in Kimpusenji, Zao-do, is at 34 meters of height, the second largest wooden structure in the country. Only Nara's Todaiji is larger.

To the west of Kimpusenji there is a flight of several hundred steps that leads downward into a small secluded valley. There, at a small shrine called Noten-o-kami, one can drink from the small spring, said to promote health, that emerges from a carved serpent's mouth. Pilgrims come to offer eggs to the shrine's deity. Inside the shrine, the custom is to do clockwise prayer circuits, dropping wooden sticks one by one into a large bowl. One wall of the shrine's exterior is colorfully decorated with origami strips.

Go-Daigo is not the only tragic figure associated with Yoshino. Two shrines are connected with the tragic tale of Yoshitsune, who was pursued to his death by his jealous brother Yoritomo, a 12th century Kamakura Shogun. Yoshitsune, whose life is now the staple of Noh dramas, eventually met his end in northern Japan at Hiraizumi, but hid in Yoshino for a time at the Yoshimizu shrine with his lover Shizuka Gozen. One of the buildings there seems to hang, at least in part, precipitously off the side of a cliff.

After Yoshitsune was found out, he fled leaving his mistress behind. She, legend has it, was forced to dance for her captor's pleasure at another small shrine on Yoshino's main street, Katte-jinja.

Pilgrims to Yoshino will generally stop at Kimpusenji and pay their respects before continuing through the town and upwards through the countryside to the base of Mt. Omine, a peak considered by devotees since ancient times to be the adobe of gods. Depending on one's strength of purpose and belief, a simple walk or a series of austere physical trials awaits. In recent years there has been much controversy over the practice of forbidding women, here considered impure, to ascend beyond a certain point near the base. Whether this will be modified and brought into concurrence with modern opinion at some later date cannot be known at present.

In any event, the walk from Yoshino towards the base is very agreeable and not too steep. Thirty minutes walk after the town and past quiet farmhouses is Mikumari shrine. Mikumari, a picturesque and atmospheric structure with connecting rooms and an inner garden, is dedicated to the Ameno-mikumari, the water god. The present structure was built in the Momoyama style by Toyotomi Hideyori, the unifier of modern Japan, in 1604. Locally, the shrine is called Komori-san. The reason is that Mikumari became corrupted to mikomori (meaning care of a baby) and then was further reduced in the local dialect.

Further on from Mikumari the houses stop and one enters an enchanting forest of tall cryptomeria. In the summer months the noise along this route must be palpable, but in the off-season it is still and the air is unmistakably fresh. The last shrine before you, if you are male, begin the climb is Kimpu-jinja, a small wooden building and a place for ascetic exercises.

About 15 minutes walk from Yoshimizu Shrine is the aforementioned Nyoirinji temple. This was built in the early 10th century and is famous for its statue of Zao Gongen, an avatar of Yoshino (and protector of one's head) who, it has been claimed, En-no-Gyoja was first able to perceive. Go-Daigo later gave the temple a more political function as a center for people to pray for the guardianship of the nation, presumably under Go-Daigo.

One unique town event deserves mention, although it takes place during the busy season. Every July 7, Kaeru-tobi, or frog hopping takes place. A man dresses like a frog and capers about the village. This symbolizes a story that there was once an ascetic who made the mistake of mocking a local deity. The deity was clearly not amused, but the by now chastened man's life was saved by the Shugendo priests at Kimpusenji, who used their skills to change the man, first into the shape of frog, and finally back to his original human shape once it was safe to do so. (RH)


	Yoshino-center of spiritual assertion Mainichi Daily News / December 15, 2000 By Richard Humphries Behind Yoshino's Nyoirin-ji temple lies a glade of peaceful evergreens. Within that glade is a small mound whose stone-gated protective entrance faces north towards Kyoto. The mound is the final resting place of the Emperor Go-Daigo, who died in 1339, and the orientation towards the ancient imperial capital is emblematic of both the emperor's aesthetic sense and of his profound political failure. Go-Daigo was the last emperor in Japan to attempt with some results the direct exercise of imperial prerogatives. He achieved a temporary success in that endeavor when loyal forces overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333. The chance at direct rule was squandered through misrule, as important allies like Ashikaga Takauji soon became bitter enemies. The Emperor's allies, and in particular Kusonoki Masashige, were directed by Go-Daigo to fight a clearly unequal battle in 1336 and it was one upon which the imperial cause depended. They lost, though were later to find apotheosis in the ethos of noble failure. After many vicissitudes and even a period of imprisonment, Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino, and intransigent to the end, set up a rival Southern Court. For 50 years the Southern Court continued, eventually giving way to its more powerful Northern rival. In a small way, Yoshino's history offers a counterpart to France's Avignon, a divisive, if small and temporary, center of spiritual and temporal assertion. To visit in the spring and summer months, when white-frocked yamabushi (mountain monks) and other pilgrims in their thousands pass through the small settlement, is perhaps best for imagining the scale of the ex-emperor's attempt. And there are the famous cherry trees, thousands of them, in magnificent full bloom in April. The quieter off-months, however, may be more suitable for seeing Yoshino as it really is and appreciating its history, legends, and significance in a more subdued atmosphere. Yoshino town has 700 permanent residents and the surrounding hills a few thousand more. The town center consists of essentially one main street, lined with a mix of Edo-era and more modern structures. Kuromon, a wooden gate, signals your entrance to the town proper. A more impressive entranceway, in the form of a large bronze torii, 7.6 meters high, is a few hundred meters further on. When the sun is high, townsfolk hang white shades across the main street from the tops of buildings, giving it the feel of a covered market. Items on display in shops lack that "Hello Kitty" tawdriness and serve to highlight local specialties. On particular treat is green yomogi, a tasty dango made from rice bean paste and crushed kome leaves. At a shop by the name of Manchudo, you can see it being prepared. Yoshino has been a center of worship since antiquity, as mountains believed sacred surround it. Dominating the town is the Kimpusenji temple complex. This temple was founded, or so legends say, by En-no-Gyoja, a 7th century figure revered for his asceticism, and himself semi-legendary. Kimpusenji was the center for the Shugendo sect, a syncretic blend of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs based on mountain asceticism. Most of the other shrines in Yoshino once belonged to that sect but they suffered suppression by the early Meiji rulers who favored State Shinto. The main hall in Kimpusenji, Zao-do, is at 34 meters of height, the second largest wooden structure in the country. Only Nara's Todaiji is larger. To the west of Kimpusenji there is a flight of several hundred steps that leads downward into a small secluded valley. There, at a small shrine called Noten-o-kami, one can drink from the small spring, said to promote health, that emerges from a carved serpent's mouth. Pilgrims come to offer eggs to the shrine's deity. Inside the shrine, the custom is to do clockwise prayer circuits, dropping wooden sticks one by one into a large bowl. One wall of the shrine's exterior is colorfully decorated with origami strips. Go-Daigo is not the only tragic figure associated with Yoshino. Two shrines are connected with the tragic tale of Yoshitsune, who was pursued to his death by his jealous brother Yoritomo, a 12th century Kamakura Shogun. Yoshitsune, whose life is now the staple of Noh dramas, eventually met his end in northern Japan at Hiraizumi, but hid in Yoshino for a time at the Yoshimizu shrine with his lover Shizuka Gozen. One of the buildings there seems to hang, at least in part, precipitously off the side of a cliff. After Yoshitsune was found out, he fled leaving his mistress behind. She, legend has it, was forced to dance for her captor's pleasure at another small shrine on Yoshino's main street, Katte-jinja. Pilgrims to Yoshino will generally stop at Kimpusenji and pay their respects before continuing through the town and upwards through the countryside to the base of Mt. Omine, a peak considered by devotees since ancient times to be the adobe of gods. Depending on one's strength of purpose and belief, a simple walk or a series of austere physical trials awaits. In recent years there has been much controversy over the practice of forbidding women, here considered impure, to ascend beyond a certain point near the base. Whether this will be modified and brought into concurrence with modern opinion at some later date cannot be known at present. In any event, the walk from Yoshino towards the base is very agreeable and not too steep. Thirty minutes walk after the town and past quiet farmhouses is Mikumari shrine. Mikumari, a picturesque and atmospheric structure with connecting rooms and an inner garden, is dedicated to the Ameno-mikumari, the water god. The present structure was built in the Momoyama style by Toyotomi Hideyori, the unifier of modern Japan, in 1604. Locally, the shrine is called Komori-san. The reason is that Mikumari became corrupted to mikomori (meaning care of a baby) and then was further reduced in the local dialect. Further on from Mikumari the houses stop and one enters an enchanting forest of tall cryptomeria. In the summer months the noise along this route must be palpable, but in the off-season it is still and the air is unmistakably fresh. The last shrine before you, if you are male, begin the climb is Kimpu-jinja, a small wooden building and a place for ascetic exercises. About 15 minutes walk from Yoshimizu Shrine is the aforementioned Nyoirinji temple. This was built in the early 10th century and is famous for its statue of Zao Gongen, an avatar of Yoshino (and protector of one's head) who, it has been claimed, En-no-Gyoja was first able to perceive. Go-Daigo later gave the temple a more political function as a center for people to pray for the guardianship of the nation, presumably under Go-Daigo. One unique town event deserves mention, although it takes place during the busy season. Every July 7, Kaeru-tobi, or frog hopping takes place. A man dresses like a frog and capers about the village. This symbolizes a story that there was once an ascetic who made the mistake of mocking a local deity. The deity was clearly not amused, but the by now chastened man's life was saved by the Shugendo priests at Kimpusenji, who used their skills to change the man, first into the shape of frog, and finally back to his original human shape once it was safe to do so. (RH)