Noge: A Slice of Old Yokohama

Verbosity tends to be a natural by-product of any adventure with Ishii-san.  She chooses such interesting places with tantalizing histories that I never come home without a hundred photographs or a hankering to research the heck out of what she's shown me.  Right now I have no idea how many posts today's outing to Yokohama's Noge neighborhood will demand but I know it will be more than two.

Our adventure started out as a simple quest for pie. Ishii-san wanted to visit that pie shop adjacent to Sakuragicho station where the Ancient Mariner, College Boy, and I infamously sampled five different wedges a few months back.  But we couldn't just make a beeline for dessert.  Absolutely not.  We were going to earn our pie wedges.

Sometimes I think Ishii-san might be my mother reincarnated.  Maybe that's why I'm so fond of her.

She decided we would visit the pie shop via Yokohama's most famous temple and most famous shrine.  We hopped off the express train in Kamiooka and dashed across the platform to a local train going in the same direction, toward central Yokohama.  Disembarking at Hinedoche station, just a few stops up the line, we started walking toward Landmark Tower.

Just when things were starting to look familiar -- "This is the same route Kaji-san took to the Yokohama Quilt Show last November, when I first saw the pie shop!" -- we turned left into a narrow lane and then left again into a slightly less narrow lane.  Straight ahead of us was Enmei-in, also called Narita-san Yokohama Temple since it's a sister temple of Chiba Prefecture's Narita Shinsoji Temple which is a major temple of the Buddhist Shingon sect.  Local residents call it Nogeyama Fudoson which I'm betting loosely translates to "at the top of Heart Attack Hill in Noge".

Ishii-san ponders the fork in the road

We could have marched straight up those cement steps to the temple but chose the scenic route through the door on the left instead.  The scenic route offers a staged ascent past fascinating lava outcroppings and scores of very old statues and tablets.  A great deal of red paint is in evidence, probably to make the inscriptions easier to read (assuming, of course, that one can read Japanese). 

The temple was originally built in 1870 in Ota-mura and was moved to its present hilltop location in 1893.  According to every description in English I managed to find, people visit this temple to ward off evils and bad omens and bring about better fortune and career promotions. The torii near the pond at the base of the hill  and the statues, especially the main statue - Fudomyoo -- are thought to be the main attractions.

Yet it was the Jizo statues that captured my attention and heart.  How is no one has mentioned them?  This Bosatsu, known in Japan as as O-Jizo-Sama or Jizo-san, is the patron of children, expectant mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims and aborted or miscarried babies.  I never expected to see a Jizo display to rival the one at Hase-dera in Kamakura but Enmei-in absolutely takes the prize.

An elderly woman chanted a prayer while ladling water over the stone heads of three infants clambering up this statue in an alcove decorated with colorful pinwheels. Ishii-san supposes the lady lost a baby. I feel so sad but I can't stop watching the woman. I want to pray with her. I want to know if she's praying for her child, grandchild, or great-grandchild.

We move along to the other small shrines arranged along the sidewalk in front of the temple and the elderly woman seems to be following us. She tosses a coin in the money box at each altar and says another prayer. She does not seem the least bit bothered by our presence.

One of the small shrines holds a display of six Jizo. Ishii-san tells me that each of these is assigned to one of the six realms of existence.  Buddhists believe that all living beings are born into one of these six realms and are doomed to death and rebirth in a recurring cycle unless they can break free from desire and attain enlightenment.  Jizo vowed to relieve the suffering souls in each realm and this is why they are often shown in groups of six (Roku Jizo).


The six realms, from worst to best, are:  hell, hungry ghosts, animals, bellicose demons, humans,and heavenly beings.

Worship of the Six Jizō can be traced back to the 11th century in Japan, and specifically to the Shingon sect, but this grouping has no basis in Mahayana scripture or in the writings of Buddhist clergy.

Stay tuned for some of my favorite Jizo.

Shomyoji in January

A couple of Navy types flew in from Hawaii this weekend for the Fleet Surgeon's conference the Ancient Mariner is hosting. They spent Sunday recovering from jet lag. The man elected to do this by watching football on television but the woman wanted to do some exploring. Serving as tour guide was not how the Ancient Mariner had planned to spend one of his last days off work before abandoning his lovely bride for five months.

"That's okay," cooed Lovely Bride. "There's a couple of things I want to pick up in Kamiooka. She can come with us and I'll show her Shomyoji temple and my favorite bakery on the way back to Yokosuka." The Ancient Mariner perked up. "Can we visit the wine shop above the bakery?" "Sure, and we can pick up some strawberry cream puffs as a farewell gift for the Knit Wit who's leaving Japan tomorrow." "That's really swell of us." "Oh, rest assured that we'll be eating cream puffs for dinner tonight ourselves."

Shomyoji has not disappointed me yet. The cherry blossoms were glorious the first time I visited and yellow irises ringed the pond when I went back a few months later but it is an even more peaceful setting in January. This could have something to do with the fact that the dozens of turtles which call Shomyoji home are hibernating at this time of year. In their place were dozens of ducks, including a fun-loving pair who insisted on repeatedly mooning us.

After we tossed a coin, said a Hail Mary, and rang the bell in front of the temple, we wandered off to the left and noticed hundreds of angry red men about the size of my thumb lined up along the fence and stuck on every available twiglet. A young couple explained that the little slot in the bottom of the fudomyo-ou contained fortunes that were sold to temple visitors during the New Year's holiday. Fudomyo-ou is apparently one of Buddhism's Five Wisdom Kings.  He is the destroyer of delusions and leads us toward self-control.

Maybe I ought to get to know him better.

We noticed a steep flight of stone steps I had not seen on my previous visits. Hmmm. Up we went. Repeat five times. Huff, gasp, huff. At the summit we found this statue surrounded by tombstones. The base of the statue was thick with coins so we added a few of our own. We thought perhaps the statue represented the infant Buddha cradled by his mother but Dr. T thinks we saw a statue of one of Buddha's chief aides offering peace and security to mankind. Further research is required. (That might be my slogan for 2011.)


Further research is also required regarding a hiking trail I spotted through a gap in the bushes surrounding the cemetery. Based on the looks on my companions' faces, this particular research will be better shared with Ishii.

The Largest Wooden Structure in the World

Todaiji Temple is Nara's top tourist attraction, mainly because of its Daibutsu (Great Buddha), the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan.  The Daibutsu resides in the Daibutsuden.  You can see the Daibutsuden in the above picture.  It's the building that looks like a samurai's helmet, the one with horns on its roof.

Here is what the Daibutsuden looks like from inside the compound. This building dates from 1709.  Although it is only two-thirds the size of the original structure erected in the mid-700s, it is still the largest wooden structure in the world.  Emperor Shomu, who commissioned Todaiji Temple, wanted it to serve as the headquarters of all Buddhist temples in Japan.

We wanted to see the bronze Great Buddha and everything else inside the Daibutsuden so we scrounged up 500 yen each for the privilege.  "This is a lot cheaper than a taxi ride to Kinki Amibari," Mr. Keeper noted.

According to our guidebook, the Great Buddha, or Buddha Vairocana, is more than 50 feet tall and is made of 437 tons of bronze, 286 pounds of pure gold, 165 pounds of mercury, and 7 tons of vegetable wax.  That's a lot of bronze.  So much bronze, in fact, that completion of this statue in 751 left Japan nearly bankrupt.

This statue sits next to the Buddha. Please note the size of the wooden pillars. There is a hole in a pillar behind the Buddha which is said to be the size of Buddha's nostril. Legend has it that whoever manages to crawl through that opening will achieve enlightenment. Neither of us had a chance of squeezing through that hole but we had fun watching toddlers and infants attain instant wisdom.

These are two of the dozens of recently-enlightened little boys we met in Nara. One of us hopes Buddha happened to suggest they spend the rest of their childhoods running interference between wild deer and middle-aged gaijin women.

"What are you doing now, Ninja Lady?"

"I'm peeking through a stone lantern, making sure the coast is clear of deer before we head over to Kasuga Grand Shrine."

Taking Candy from Strangers in Ikegami

Once upon a time, four explorers went to Ikegami to see plum blossoms. When they had seen enough plum blossoms, Bossy Explorer - the one holding the map - told them to turn left at the first corner outside the garden to approach the famous Honmon-ji temple from the rear.

"This will allow us to visit Daibo Hongyo-ji temple which marks the place where the famous Buddhist saint Nichiren died" is what Bossy said in an annoyingly pedantic tone of voice. Meanwhile, what Bossy was thinking in an admittedly selfish tone of thought was "This will allow us to avoid climbing another three hundred and fifty-four slippery stone steps to reach the front gate of Honmon-ji."

"Okay," chirped Artistic Explorer, Weather Explorer, and Novice Explorer. "Okay" is music to Bossy's ears. Her children and siblings, commonly known as the Reluctant Explorers and Former Explorers respectively, have long since replaced "okay" with folded arms, firmly planted heels, stubborn facial expressions, and whiny questions like "Are you trying to trick us into a re-creation of the Bataan Death March again?" (To his credit, the Ancient Mariner has merely appended "as long as there's a meal involved" to "okay".)

Daibo Hongyo-ji was a much larger compound than the Explorers were expecting.

"What is that man doing in front of that little building over there?" (Novice Explorer has been in Japan less than two months.)

"Praying to St. Nichiren, perhaps," answered Bossy. (Bossy's middle name is Know-It-All.) "Let's go take a peek inside those buildings."

"That statue of St. Nichiren in his travel clothes is incredibly lifelike," noted Weather Explorer who then proceeded to murmur an Our Father under her breath to guard against a letter of chastisement from the Vatican.

"I favor a Hail Mary in these instances," confided Bossy as she tossed a 50-yen coin into the money box. "I'm counting on her to defend my ecumenical gestures to the Higher Powers."

Bossy wanted a group shot at the Daibo Hongyo-ji entrance for posterity's sake. "Artistic is always sneaking off when it's time for a group picture. If she doesn't shape up, I'm not taking her to Kappabashi next week."

"It's not her fault this time. A lady grabbed her arm and tugged her in the direction of a building behind the main hall."

Bossy, Weather, and Novice scurried past the main hall. When they caught up with Artistic, she was removing her shoes on the steps of a low, modern building. The sliding door behind her was ajar, offering a glimpse of a woman's shoulder and arm. Artistic was excited. "Hurry! Take off your shoes! She wants to show us something inside this building."

Throwing caution to the wind and forgetting every childhood admonition concerning taking candy or rides from strangers, the Explorers kicked off their shoes and filed into the building.

Bossy brought up the rear as they marched around the perimeter of a Buddhist sanctuary. By the time she turned the corner and caught up with her companions at the back of the building, the mysterious hostess had vanished. Bossy is not totally convinced the woman ever existed.

"Don't look at us," snapped Weather. "You are supposed to be admiring the view."

Certainly it was a view meriting lavish amounts of admiration. A glass-walled gallery enclosed the building on three sides, offering splendid prospects of a peaceful enclosed garden. It was a perfect setting for quiet reflection (on the generosity of strangers, perhaps) and for taking dozens of photographs from every possible angle.

Bossy spotted a boomerang shape painted on a rock in the Secret Garden. "If we were playing a computer game right now, that boomerang would be an important clue," she mused. "Wait! Is that a cemetery on the hill behind us? That might be a fun place to explore. I wish we didn't have to head in the opposite direction to reach Honmon-ji temple."

Or do we?

Next installment: Be Careful What You Wish For . . .