Japan 2019

Saturday9thNovember

After a 3-hour drive with our new rental car, we arrive in the middle of the Kii Peninsula, in the small town of Okunoin. Without losing a moment, we have lunch in one of the town's restaurants, Tonkatsu-tei.

And there you have it, walks in cemeteries are not uncommon in my various travels. The colorful ones in Guatemala last year were among the most epic, especially with their kites. Here in Japan, we return to the classic, peaceful, and more meditative... The Okunoin cemetery, if it is the largest in Japan, is also one of the most sacred for one of the branches of Buddhism, Shingon. Its founder, the monk Kūkai (also called Kobo Daishi) established his school here in the 9th century. After the death of the monk, whose mausoleum "Gobyo" is present here, many followers wished for their final rest to be here...  

All kinds of tombs are found here... A rocket is undoubtedly the most original... But most funerary monuments remain classic, with simple tombstones.

Cedars and maples populate the cemetery. On the right, the statue of the monk Kūkai.

The cemetery is populated with Jizō statues. Jizō are beings who have returned from Nirvana to support those who suffer the most, especially those who have lost a child. He is often represented with a youthful or baby face, and those who have lost a baby add a red hat and a bib to him...

Japanese maples (Acer palmatum).

A small river crosses the cemetery.

A stupa composed entirely of Jizō statues dressed in their red hats and bibs. And here the Jizō are not statues! They are simple stacked stones.  

Chōzubachi fountains to purify hands and spirit under the gaze of deities and other statued monks.

We are on the Gobyo-no-hashi bridge which leads to the Gobyô sanctuary. Inside the temple, it is forbidden to take photos. So you will have to come here to enter.   It is in this temple that the monk Kūkai Kōbō-Daishi rests. When he died here in the year 835 after retiring to a cave, his disciples observed after a few months that his body did not decompose and even seemed still alive. This principle of "living mummy" also called "sokushinbutsu", would be followed by other monks who would follow a whole ritual throughout a part of their lives so that their bodies would be preserved even after their death... Here, only a few monks can see him. They come every day to bring him food offerings and also to regularly change his clothes.   Do you think this is a legend? Not so sure... We will be able to see it with our own eyes in a few days... To be continued then.  

After visiting the temple, we take the path winding between the cedars, the "toto" and other "jizo"...

Multitude of "tōrō" lanterns line the paths. The day is fading and the lights are beginning to come on.

It's past 4 PM. Night is already falling, adding a little more mystery to the place. Nevertheless, it will be time to leave all the inhabitants of the place to their eternal rest...

We leave this last "toro" and hit the road again to reach the south coast about a hundred kilometers from here.

A few hours later, here we are in Shirahama at the small Senjoarashi hotel. Tomorrow will be dedicated to the "Kumano kodo" pilgrimage routes, the Camino de Santiago of Japan.