345 Diana holding the candle stick at the Taya Cave entrance. No pictures allowed inside.
363 D performing the Buddhist cleansing ritual using the long handled ladle.
376 Me at the Diabutsu of Kamakura Buddha. I’ve got my hand on the incense burner.
383 Cleansing are at the Hase-Dera Temple. Diana’s about to get re-baptized.
398 Kannon-do Hall, the largest wooden structure in Japan.
446 Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shinto Shrine built by our old buddy, Minamoto, Japan’s First Shogun
Oct 4 – Yokohama, Japan. One hundred years ago Yokohama was a tiny fishing village. The fact that it was officially opened to foreign vessels in 1854 after Commodore Perry persuaded the Japanese to engage in trade with the West accounts for the sudden explosion of growth. At that time it was more the cultural center of Japan than Tokyo.
We are heading to the city of Kamakura and surroundings to visit some religious sights. The movie Shogun was set at the beginning of the last Shogun’s rise to power, Tokugawa (in the movie he’s called Toranaga). Prior to his time as Shogun there were two others, Ashikaga and the first Shogun, Minimoto Yoritomo. It was during this first Shogunate that Kamakura came to prominence as Japan’s capital in 1185 and it remained so until 1333.
Our first stop was at the Taya Cave Temple. For about 500 years this cave temple was used as a training and meditation site for monks of the Shingon branch of Buddhism. It was gradually enlarged until it reached 1500 meters in length in 1720. Only about 400 meters of that is open to the public. The entire thing was dug by hand and the chisel marks are clearly visible on the walls and ceiling. I’m 5’8” and most of the time I had to walk in the passages bent over. There are 17 ‘exercise halls’ in the cave most of which are tall, cylindrical rooms with a domed ceiling. They range in diameter from just over 5 feet to about 12. One of the rooms is long and rectangular. A slab of stone was left down the center of the room to be used as a bench. I’d guess that about 20 monks could squeeze onto this bench for training. Much like the tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, some shafts go deeper while others climb. The tunnels are not linear but are laid out in a semi-spider web design, often branching out and then connecting with another passage. The stone is soft and carves nicely. Most of the rooms have Buddhas, plants and animals carved into the walls. For example, one of the rooms has Buddhas from 23 of the 88 holy sites of Shikoku on the wall. In fact, by touring the cave you have performed all the pilgrimage rituals available in the area.
When you arrive they give you a small candle and at the entrance to the cave there’s a box of 2 foot long wooden slats with perpendicular nail at one end. The candle has a hole in the base that you slide onto the nail and you’re ready to go. There’s some lighting inside the cave but not enough to actually see the carvings. Diana had brought her flashlight and that helped because the candle did not give enough light to see detail.
The temperature inside the cave is cool, about 61 degrees year round. However, like all caves with running water in them, the humidity is usually 95% plus. I didn’t feel cool at all. It took about 30 minutes to go through the cave. A unique experience.
Our second stop was in Kamakura proper at the Kotoku-In Monastery, home of the Daibutsu of Kamakura. Daibutsu is Japanese for ‘Great Buddha’ and this one is pretty big, the second biggest bronze Buddha in Japan. That’s pretty impressive as the largest bronze Buddha in Japan is also the largest bronze Buddha in the world. This one was constructed in 1252 and weighs 121 tons. It’s a seated figure over 44 feet tall. To give you a sense of how large it is, the thumb has a circumference of almost 3 feet. At one point the statue was indoors but after a series of storms and earthquakes continually knocked the buildings down, he’s now out of doors and has been for a long time. Every Buddhist temple has a cleansing area before you enter. The have a vat of water and some long handled scoops to get the water. You pour water on each hand and then put some water in your right hand to wash your lips. We spent some time examining the Buddha and walking through the gardens.
Our next stop was at the Hade-Dera Temple. From the lower level you ascend staris to two more levels before reaching the top. The Kannon-do Hall is Japan’s largest wooden structure. The Hase Kannon inside is 30 feet tall and has 11 heads in addition to the normal one. It has three smaller heads facing front, three facing right and three facing left. It has one on top of the normal head and one facing back. Each has a different style and expression. Most English scholars describe Kannon as ‘the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy’. This is not precisely correct. Technically Kannon is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and is neither masculine nor feminine. A Bodhisattva is a future avatar of Buddha, destined for enlightenment. Since Buddhism came to Japan from India by way of China and Korea it has much in common with Hinduism. While Hindus do have a lot of gods it’s somewhat overstated as the same god can have a series of avatars that have other names. They are not separate gods but different beings which are the same god. Sorry, that last discussion should probably have been in italics.
In the much smaller Amida-do Hall right next door is a seated golden statue of Yakuyoke (Protector from Evil Spirits) Amida Buddha. What makes it special is that it was commissioned by our old pal Minamoto Yoritomo the first shogun of Japan.
Back down on the second level is the Jizo-do Hall, a very small building enshrining Fukuju “Happy’ Jizo. Surrounding the hall are thousands of Jizo statues of various sizes.
On the bottom level is the Benten-dutsu Cave where there’s a small statue of Benzaiten with eight arms. She’s a sea goddess and the only female among Japan’s Lucky Seven gods. She’s the goddess of music, the fine arts and good fortune in general.
Our next stop was lunch at a nice little hotel. This time the lunch was authentically Japanese, a bento. Bento is a lunch consisting of many small portions of various foods presented in a partitioned, lacquered wooden box. Ours had small pieces of salmon and mackerel, with pickled vegetables, taro, eggplant, ginger and Japanese spinach. One partition held various items of tempura, jam, green beans, and a shrimp. All this was served with miso, rice and tea. The only flop was the grapefruit jello for desert. Japanese sweets are very mild and this was no exception.
Our last stop was at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shinto Shrine, founded at its present location by our old buddy Yoritomo Minamoto in 1180. This shrine is one of the most popular in the Kanto region. The grounds were home to a 700 year old ginkgo tree but a strong storm split it open last year. Everyone was very sad when it was cut off about 7 feet above the ground. However, this year sprouts can be seen at the base of the tree and they hope that it will continue to grow.
It was a day rich in the culture and tradition of Japan. They easily accept Shino and Buddha side by side. Shinto was Japan’s traditional religion before Buddhism arrived. It’s an animistic system that believes everything is god, water, wind, rocks, all gods. They view it as the religion of the present. Buddhism heavily emphasizes ancestor adoration. They view it as the religion of the afterlife. That’s a gross oversimplification but as with anything religious the subtleties can get messy..
After visiting the shrine we had some free time to wonder down a local shopping street. The only thing we found that interested us both was a soft ice cream show where they had some unique flavors on sale. We were intrigued by green tea and sweet potato. They swirled them together and the result was a very attractive and absolutely fantastic, refreshing treat after a warm day of tromping around Japan.
After that it was back to the ship, just in time for dinner in the dining room. No show tonight as many people will be off the ship as we spend overnight in Yokohama. They’re showing a ‘Big Screen Movie’ (That’s what they call it when they have a movie in the main showroom, the Queen’s Lounge.) It’s Paradise Road with Glenn Close, Cate Blanchette and Juliana Margulies. Even though I find Juliana very attractive it’s not enough to overcome my reluctance to spend 2 hours watching Glenn Close. Ever since she funded and starred in the absolutely awful remake of South Pacific, I just can’t watch her. Too bad, she’s done some good work over the years.
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