MOUNTAIN ZEN
A mountain town in Japan’s Nara prefecture provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of a sect of mountainworshipping monks, writes Lorna Thornber.
Just a short train ride from the busy Japanese cities of Osaka and Kyoto you’ll find a cherry tree-covered peak where a unique form of mountain worship still holds sway.
For more than a millennia, white-robed Yamabushi monks have completed arduous treks through the Unesco World Heritage-listed Kii mountain range in the name of enlightenment.
Practitioners of Shugendo¯ , which combines elements of Shinto¯ , Buddhism and Taoism, believe that pushing themselves to their limits in a harsh natural environment will lead to spiritual rebirth. While many of their practices remain a mystery to outsiders, they are said to involve activities such as night walks, meditating under waterfalls, and hanging off cliffs.
These days, Yoshino, which lies in the Nara prefecture, is best known for the some 30,000 cherry trees that paint its sacred mountain pink in spring. But it’s also a beautiful place to learn about the ascetic monks, whose mindful hikes could be seen as an ancient precursor to the modern Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku (‘‘forest bathing’’).
Our group of three spends our night in Yoshino, which lies at the heart of the Kii mountains, at Chikurin-in Gumpoe, a temple-turned-traditional inn that the Yamabushi once used for well-earned rest.
Set amid sprawling gardens, its minimalist decor adds to its zen-like aura (my room contains little more than a futon
mattress and low table), but there’s nothing remotely austere about our time there – we tuck into multi-dish teppanyaki feasts, showcasing local ingredients, for both dinner and breakfast.
We also have a much easier ascent of Mt Yoshino, riding the gondola to a strip of traditional-style wooden shops and restaurants selling local culinary specialties such as kakinoha-zushi – an ancient form of sushi made with fermented fish and wrapped in persimmon leaves – and squidgy matcha-infused mochi (rice cakes).
Arriving at the chocolate-coloured Kinpusenji Temple, one of the most important places of worship for Shugendo¯
practitioners in Japan, we bow down before giant 1300-year-old statues of Zao¯ Gongen, the fierce, blue-skinned deity said to safeguard the mountains of Yoshino, and hope he grants our silent prayers.
Admiring the famed view of the cherry trees from beside the 8th-century Yoshimizu-jinja shrine, I feel a sense of peace that eludes me most days. I’m almost tempted to take a hike – if it wouldn’t have made me late for my teppanyaki dinner, I just might have. How to get there: Air New Zealand flies nonstop from Auckland to Tokyo.
The writer was hosted by Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).