Adachi-ga-hara 安達ヶ原: Yes! Happy Halloween!

I think it is typically a Japanese gender issue. Ages ago, Japanese mountains or deep forest was off-limit for women. I told you until about 150 years ago, Mt. Oyama 大山 (ASL 1252m) was closed for women (; my post on May 26, 2017). In the middle of Ura-Sandoh 裏参道 hiking route for the peak of Mt. Oyama, there still stands a big notice made of a stone saying “From here no woman is allowed to go forward”. Carefree Japanese old guys are often chatting like “Oh, yeah, that’s because the goddess of a mountain is often ugly, and so they are jealous of women entering in their territory, ha ha ha!” … I assure you, younger generation and women smile embarrassingly when we encounter such casual yesteryear remarks in this “#Me Too” age, even in Japan. But this notion could have some deep-seated something about Japanese traditional femininity, AND general attitude toward nature. This year’s program for Oyama Torch Light Noh Festival 大山薪能 happened to express such thinking in the most refined way. On October 2^nd, 2018, the theatrical troop led by Kanze Kiyokazu 観世清和 performed “Adachi-ga-hara 安達ヶ原,” a story of a witch living in a deep forest.

The ancient notice saying
 “No woman allowed from here” in Mt. Oyama

The drama is based on a legend of a faithful nanny, called Iwate 岩手, for a baby princess who was a daughter of a rich minister in Kyoto. The princess could not speak, even after her 5^th birthday. The parents worried a lot, and asked fortune tellers if there was a remedy. One of them recommended preparing her a meal made of inner organs of a living baby who was still in a womb. The parents were horrified, but ordered the nanny to cook such dish. This power-harassed employee departed Kyoto to procure the ingredient, leaving her daughter in Kyoto with her hand-made talisman. She reached to Adachi-ga-hara that locates in a deep forest of the present-day Fukushima Prefecture 福島県, and decided to stay there until ‘a suitable pregnant woman’ comes to her shabby dwelling. Years’ passed. Iwate became an old woman. One day, a young travelling man with a pregnant wife came to Iwate’s place and asked if they can stay for one night. Iwate was “delighted,” and let them in her hut. Soon the labor of a young wife started. Iwate cheated the young husband to go outside for a while, killed his wife, drug out the baby from the womb, and killed the baby to procure the magic ingredient. When Iwate began clearing-off the crime scene, she noticed the victim wore a familiar looking talisman. That was the thing Iwate hand-made for her baby girl. She realized she killed her daughter and grandkid. Iwate became a human-eating demon from that time on.

This year, Suzukawa River 鈴川 running next to the Oyama Noh Stage had
 really abundant water.

Noh play of Adachi-ga-hara is the after-story for this witch Iwate. Another years passed and a holy yamabushi monk of Yukei Tokoh-boh 阿闍梨裕慶東光坊 came to Iwate’s hut in cold forest after dark. He and his servants lost their way and asked the witch one night stay. She reluctantly allowed them to her hut, and let them see her “ordinary job” of spinning threads (Oh, so Jungian scenery …) while she lamented her “unlucky” and “painful” life. It grew late so that her stock of firewood became thinner. She told them she went in the forest to procure woods, and asked “Never open the door of my bedroom.” The party of the monks said goodnight for Iwate, and began napping. However, a servant of the monk could not resist the temptation to have a peep of the bedroom. (This is another symbolic development!) He slightly opened the door of the chamber and found a pile of human bodies dripping with blood. They were horrorstruck, and ran into the forest panicking. The witch found them escaping after discovering the contents of her bedroom. She was furious and chased them in a supernatural speed. The holy monk recited the mantra of Acala with all his might. Hey, presto, the witch could not trail them anymore. At the top of her voice, she cursed her tormented life and betrayal of male guests who not only forced into her shabby lodging but also saw her secret. She then melted in the dark forest … The end, … a sad story.

The stage on October 2^nd, 2018.

In Noh performance, the main actor (called “Shite” in Noh terminology) plays Iwate, and is expected to express a dramatic contrast between the old woman reluctantly accepted stranger in her domain, and the witch furiously chasing the rude guys for revenge on everything. The costume of the first half is understating greyish kimono called “Ironashi-Karaori” 無紅唐織 with the stylized face mask, named Fukai-no-men 深井の面, representing an elder woman. The performance is done mainly sitting. With the minimum gesture in front of the spindle, Shite by Kanze expressed irritation and hidden menace of a seemingly frail elderly woman. Then, for the second half of the plot, as a female demon, Shite wraps the upper part of Ironashi-Karaori around his waist, and wears Hannya 般若 mask representing female face filled with jealousy and resentment. The performance is a violent dance chasing for the monks. This year in Oyama, Kanze played the latter part in almost Kabuki like craziness in front of the real black pine of Oyama Noh Stage. The agony he expressed at Shite-bashira (the corner of the main stage that connects with corridor like space, Hashigakari) was something of heart-broken … The air of Mt. Oyama was damp and chilly on October 2^nd this year, which made the despair of a cursed woman more real in the forest. 

The Noh stage for Oyama Afuri Shrine.
 The scenery normally painted in the other Noh stages
 is made of real vegetation here.
 This is something.

Adachi-ga-hara, the story of Iwate, is a sort of prototype for female demon in Japanese culture. The tale has a backdrop of shining human city that is Kyoto, and a deep forest where the cussed woman was practically expelled. The tormented witch was swallowed by a cold forest at the end of the play. In contrast, the famous monk went back to the marvelous world of man-kind with a help of Acala. After viewing the play, I had an uneasy feeling of witnessing unfairness for the poor nanny, and for the forest of Oyama. I don’t know why this year Kanze Company chose this play in Mt. Oyama where once we females were off-limit. Deep in the forest of Mt. Oyama  the place once had even a cedar tree that was used for black magic to kill, which was often performed by women (; my post on April 14, 2017) … I don’t think the witch and the forest voluntarily chose to have such experience, oh yeah. If we can say something in the 21^st century, the problem Iwate had could have been avoided if she had said “No” to her abusive employer who ordered her to commit an abominable crime for their benefit. Women of the world, be brave and clarify to the world, No means NO! OK, OK, OK … It’s difficult, but we can do it, yeah. But how about the forest? The connotation of tormented female life and the forest is another creation of Japanese way of thinking. The place can be abused, but would devour us if it wants to ... Is it a perception we hold for such a long time? If so, what would we do for forests in this age of global warming?

The place once had a cedar tree
 specialized in the black magic.
 It was destroyed
 when the Great Kanto Earthquake
 caused a massive landslide here.

If you find an environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

An Empty Space in the Forest: Afuri Shrine Fire Festival and Torch Light Performance of Noh 大山阿夫利神社火祭薪能

This week, I tell you my metaphysical adventure of Noh theatre in the forest of Mt. Oyama Afuri Shrine 大山阿夫利神社. Besides being a weekend hiking destination for Tokyonites, Mt. Oyama has been a deity in Japanese mythology for centuries. Oyama Afuri Shrine is an interface between us mortals and the supernatural Mt. Oyama. Before iPhone X, such media has had many features for millennia to establish the link between humans and something beyond no-genius comprehension. Noh festival of Afuri Shrine is one of them.  For two nights before the first full-moon of every October, the shrine holds Noh theatre where the performance under the light of flaming torch is dedicated to God Oyama. Mt. Oyama presides over rain and thunder, i.e. fire, and so, the Noh under the flame makes sense. You may purchase a front seat for 4000 yen (or 3500 yen for an advance ticket; phone reservation only at 0463-95-2006 from 3 weeks before the first performance, 9:00-17:00). But the event has 1000 free tickets that are available only by postal application (detail at the end of this post). I of course chose a free ticket, and situated myself at the furthest, but the highest (in altitude) seat of the venue. That was a bingo. I could immerse myself naturally in a fantastic world of Noh surrounded by primeval forest of Mt. Oyama under the 13^th night of beautiful moon … Yeah, you may prefer actors standing just before you. But don’t you think you can do it in National Noh Theatre in Harajuku, surrounded by the ocean of buildings in Tokyo? In Mt. Oyama, I’ve witnessed an effortless resonance between Noh and the forest. If you are in the metropolis Tokyo in October, Noh in Mt. Oyama is the event you should experience!

Actually, the performance is not held at the top of the mountain, nor the shrine sanctuary halfway up to the peak. The venue is at the administrative complex of Afuri Shrine near the hiking entrance to the purification site, Misogi-no-Otaki (禊の大滝 “the Big Waterfall for Purification”), where I reported my adventure last spring. The bus stop to the waterfall is Shamukyoku-Iriguchi Bus Stop 社務局入口. “Shaumukyoku” = Admin Office of the Shrine. Got it? When you plan to visit them directly from Isehara Station 伊勢原駅 of Odakyu Odawara Line 小田急小田原線, please take Kanachu Bus 神奈中バス I-10伊10 or I-11 伊11 from the Terminal #4 in the North Exit of Isehara Station. (Time Table, here.) It’s a 20 minuets’ bus ride to Shamukyoku-Iriguchi. The performance starts at 16:00 and the door is open at 15:00. BUT, there is almost no parking facility and the public transportation is only with Kanachu Bus. Although the organizer arranges special bus services from the station to Shamukyokku-Iriguchi stop, we’d better expect a long wait at Isehara Station for the next available bus. Our options are (1) arriving at Isehara Station at least by 14:00 to join the cue for the bus, (2) if you are a group of more than 4 people, take a taxi from the station and prepare to pay about twice as much as the bus ticket, or (3) hike Mt. Oyama on that day, and come down to the admin place of Afuri Shrine by 15:00.

At Isehara Station.
In this photo,
Terminal #4 itself cannot appear
as the line is too long …

From the north exit of the Isehara Station,
you may notice a big Torii 鳥居 next to Isehara Branch of Resona Bank.
On the day of Noh Festival,
there is a notice propped up on the pillar of Torii,
saying
“Afuri Shrine Fire Festival and Torch Light Performance of Noh.”

We are getting on the bus.
This signboard says
“Although Oyama Afuri Shrine has
Noh theatre performance tonight,
we cannot guarantee a fine weather.
Please accept any radical changes
in program due to weather.
All the seats are outdoors.
Please prepare yourself for rain or winds.
Usage of umbrellas is strongly discouraged.”

Shamukyoku-Iriguchi Bus Stop 社務局入口

At Shamukyoku-Iriguchi stop, we get off the bus, and cross the road and the bridge over Suzukawa River 鈴川. The road to the performance site is VERY congested from the bus stop. It’s difficult to get lost your way, so don’t worry. There is a community surrounding the administrative office of Afuri Shrine including several tofu shops. You can purchase tofu there before entering the venue, and ask the store people to keep your tofu in their refrige to be picked up after the performance. Their tofu is De-Li-Cious. If you are a bit more courageous, you can also ask them to give you tofu refuse, Okara おから in Japanese, made of soy beans. Normally, the people in Oyama town are generous and give you okara for free. Okara can be a very good veggie burger and many dishes (recipes here.) 😋 Once you situate yourself in the venue, just relax. Your fellow theatre goers may have a good time with beer and sake under the open air of Mt. Oyama … the atmosphere was very similar to summer concerts in the forest of Kenwood. Picnic foods, wine, laughter ...

Just follow the crowd.

Fire trucks are ready for the festival.

At the end of the road is the ticket booth for reserved seats.

Turn left at the booth for reservation,
and first right to the “free” seats.
You have to have an invitation postcard
to pass the gate over there.
More to this postcard at the end of this post.

One of the tofu shops
located in front of the admin office of the shrine

From the admin office,
we could admire the peak of Mt. Oyama,
under the cloud …

There is a bit of a story about Noh performance in Afuri Shrine. During the long history of Oyama worship, the most powerful patron for the shrine and Oyama Temple 大山寺 was Tokugawa Shogunate that governed Japan for 1600-1868. It was the time when Oyama pilgrimage from Tokyo (Edo 江戸) became uber-popular. Many people and, inevitably, conflicts were brought in to the sacred mountain. One of the most serious was a rivalry between temple monks and Yamabushi priests 山伏 affiliated with the shrine. Often, they were young and ambitious “religious males” to pursue the “purest doctrine of their belief” and disdained “unbelievers” active in the same Mt. Oyama domain. They fought, physically and daily. (Sounds eerily familiar in some other parts of the current world, doesn’t it?) Shogunate worried the escalation of violence, and envisaged a clever solution. In the late 17^th century, they dispatched a Noh master, Kishi Matashichiroh 貴志又七郎, from Kishu Kanzeryu School 紀州観世流 to Mt. Oyama and let him organize twice-yearly official Noh performances acted by monks and priests TOGETHER. Creating a theatrical performance requires a damned-well team work. If that’s the order of Shogun with absolutely superior military power, young gangs in the mountain had no choice to study and work together under master Kishi. (Hm. Sometimes, a dictator could act very effectively ...) Eventually, they had no time to fight and the peace arrived in Mt. Oyama. The tradition of Noh performance continued till Americans started bombing Japanese cities in 1944. After the war, for a while, money and people were dissipated to hold performing arts in Mt. Oyama. Then, about 40 years ago, together with the previous chief priest of the Afuri Shrine, the largest school of Noh, Kanzeryu 観世流, and the oldest school of Kyogen 狂言, Okuraryu 大蔵流, began the project to resurrect the tradition. In 1980, the current style of “Afuri Shrine Fire Festival and Torch Light Performance of Noh” was established. The 2017 event is its 37^th. Oh, by the way, for a full-Noh performance program, Noh and Kyogen must be presented alternately.

They are the seats for 4000 yen.

The Noh stage of Mt. Oyama Afuri Shrine.
It’s one of the best Noh stages in Japan.

The idea of revived Noh festival in Mt. Oyama is a combination of the fire festival traditionally held in late August and the Noh performance under torch lights with a community theatre component. This year, the first night of the festival was opened by Kaniyamabushi Kyogen story 蟹山伏 by Oyama Community Kyogen Group 大山狂言. It’s a classic comedy of arrogant Yamabushi who was tormented by a mountain crab goblin. The actors of the program were enthusiastic amateurs who train themselves to preserve 300 years’ tradition for a community theatre of peace. It was a fun! Come to think of it, the origin of the event was bigheaded behavior of Yamabushi and monks. Ordinary people laughing out loud their snobbism is the best fit for the occasion. After Kaniyamabushi, the mayor of the City of Isehara and the local representative for the National Diet gave a small speech to celebrate the festival. They were followed by a ritual of purification by the priests of the shrine to announce the beginning of the fire festival. Next, in time to ancient hypnotic court music played by priests, young shrine maidens brought the fire created at the peak of Mt. Oyama to the sacred space next to the Noh stage. A pile of firewood was situated at the center of the place demarcated by 4 pillars of purified bamboos on which the maidens lit the fire. Then, the priests recited the chant, expressing the gratitude to God Oyama, and asking peace in human world. The prayer was reinforced by following arrow-and-bow and Japanese pole sword rituals 弓矛神事 on the Noh stage. Finally, the priests transfer the sacred fire to the torches strategically located around the Noh theatre. When the community actors performed, the sun was still shining and the cicadas were singing merrily in the forest. By the time the priests made the fire torches, the voice of evening cicadas was echoing in the forest of slightly chilly but pure air. The stage was ready for the professional Noh actors.

Kaniyamabushi Kyogen

The shrine maidens to transfer the sacred fire

The fire ritual

The arrow and bow ritual

The priests are making torch lights for Noh performance.

The opening of a full Noh theatre is always Hitori-okina (“An Old Man Alone”) 一人翁. At the beginning of 2017 torch-light Noh in Mt. Oyama, a priest conducted a rite of purification for the actor and musicians of Hitori-okina on stage. Then, the Noh actor Kanze Yoshinobu 観世芳伸 performed the dance of offering to God Oyama, Hitori-okina. The beer-and-loud-chat atmosphere at the beginning completely disappeared. But unlike Noh theatres indoors, the forest in the mountain, darkening sky, smells of torch lights and water of nearby Suzukawa River … curiously claim their absolute existence during this semi-prayer dance. Hitori-okina was followed by two Shimai dance 仕舞, Dohkan 道灌 with Matsuki Chitoshi 松木千俊, and Matsukaze 松風 with Takeda Yukifusa 武田志房. Shimai is a sort of abridged Noh dance taken from a longer story and performed without masks or specific costume. I was amazed by simply-clad actor’s small movement of arm, or of a golden fan that could change the flow of air at once in the theatre. The expectation was mounting. The penultimate program was Jizohmai Kyogen 地蔵舞 performed by Yamamoto Tohjiro 山本東次郎 (an Living National Treasure title holder) and Yamamoto Yasutaroh 山本泰太郎. Jizohmai is a comedy where a monk declared abstinence during his pilgrimage but in his effort to find one-night shelter in a mountain succumbed to drinking and started to dance called Jizohmai. 80 years old Yamamoto Tohjiro sit very cute in the center of the stage, looked like an emoji of a teenage girl. The charm of Kyogen of that night was both programs incisively making sarcastic remarks about the self-importance of Buddhism monks and Shinto priests, without being cruel for anybody. Maybe, that’s the secret to settle a bickering among too-ardent religious people. By the end of Jizohmai, Mt. Oyama was in complete darkness where the torch fires illuminated brightly the stage, and the shadows of forests were drifting with the chorus of crickets. The entire space was vast-open, but the stage without any props was like a core of concentrated something. The conclusion of the evening was Funa-Benkei 船弁慶 which is a story of a defeated samurai master Minamoto-no Yoshitsune 源義経. During his rout, he had to bid a farewell to his beloved wife Shizuka 静御前 and battle against a ghost of slain enemy Taira-no Tomomori 平知盛, with a help of his faithful follower monk Benkei 武蔵坊弁慶. When the first protagonist Sizuka was on stage, the air was beautiful but painfully silent and tense. The actor Kanze Kiyokazu 観世清和 (the current grand master for Kanzeryu School and a recipient of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) wore beautiful female mask and just by slightly changing a direction of his movement expressed silent agony of the brave but desperate wife. After the lovers separated, the second protagonist, the ghost of Taira-no Tomomori by Yamashina Yaemon 山階彌右衛門 (a younger brother of Kanze Kiyokazu), burst in the stage with a fury for revenge. He wore the mask of devil and menacingly approached to the party of Yoshitsune. The actor did not wear any bloody costume or smelly-looking gown like characters in Macbeth, but we could feel the death. I had a flush back of a scene I encountered ages ago in Bois de Vincennes for Théâtre du Soleil. My French is so rudimentary that it’s unfair to comment the intention of Ariane Mnouchkine … but I realized what she wanted to have in Paris could be this intensity in Oyama Noh created from the medieval script from Japan. Both stages were in the forest … Cartoucherie de Vincennes created a stage by closing off the space with a tent. Oyama Noh set a stage without any wall and let the forest to interact uncontrollably during the performance ... Oh what the difference a forest can make to human expression … Around the time Sizuka withdrew from the stage, the 13^th night moon appeared above the stage, welcoming the ghost of defeated soldier. Over the waning moon, the clouds were moving slowly just like the movement of Noh actors. The moonlight and torch lights changed the silhouettes of the forest over the stage meditatively … The evening was ended by another prayer dedicated to God of Oyama. Great. The art in the forest.

Er, well, the photos of professional actors were not taken
as I thought there must be copy right issues.
But, the moon is beautiful, isn’t it?

An empty space again

If you plan to have an invitation ticket for a free seat for Oyama Noh Festival, you send a reply-paid postcard by Japan Post to

The Committee for Himatsuri-Takiginoh at Oyama Afuri Shrine　大山阿夫利神社社務局火祭薪能実行委員会

355 Oyama, Isehara City, 259-1107　伊勢原市大山355

(phone) 0463-95-2006

with your name, address, phone number and the date you plan to attend in message part. One application per person only. No group request accepted. Deadline of application is 2 weeks before the first performance. If the number of applications exceeds more than 1000, the shrine holds a lottery and luckies will receive an invitation postcard in reply. Otherwise, their reply says “we are sorry.” They accept the application from August every year. Good luck!

Ring off: Japanese women and Mt. Oyama in Urasando 大山裏参道

16-Chome with the 18^th century obelisk

Now let’s talk about Urasando 裏参道 for Mt. Oyama. Major Shintoism shrines often have two approaches to its sanctuary. Omotesando 表参道 is the main street, and Urasando is a supporting road for Omotesando. In Mt. Oyama, Omotesando and Urasando shares the same route for the first 1K from the peak until 16-Chome (16丁目, 995m ASL). Uradando diverts from Omotesando there, and brings us to Minogue Town 蓑毛 in Hadano City 秦野市. From Minogue commuter bus services (time table, here) bring us to Odakyu Hadano Station 小田急秦野駅. When we see Oyama from Tokyo, the road from the east is surely the main street, and from the west is a backup. Urasando from the west of Mt. Oyama is exactly so. You know, when a major social change happens, people adjust the main thing first for the new, and then proceed to deal with the 2^nd tier matters later. If it takes a long time to settle the primary, and treating the secondary is not so important, it is happily forgotten ... There is one particular scenery in Urasando in Oyama, which could be in this category.

To Urasando

As I told you last week, till 16-Chome, the route is scree-covered from the top. You may have a slight expectation the alternate route would be less so ... Fat chance. Not for nothing Mt. Oyama is for the mountain worship for millennia. The backup of the Main Street has also played its part for centuries, and inevitably shows the effects of tread pressure by the pilgrims. The scree-covered mini-valley continues for about 300m in Urasando from the 16-Chome. This side of the slope of Mt. Oyama is in Hadano City. It is a continuation of the forest we’ve visited last fall for Kashiwagui Forestry Road 柏木林道 from Yabitsu Pass. The vegetation we go through for Urasando is of afforested coniferous trees. In less than 15 minutes from the 16-Chome, we meet a junction. To the left is for the Lower Afuri Shrine 阿夫利神社下社 at the Cable Car station 大山ケーブル. To Minogue, we go straight. From here, the route becomes a bit less steep with smaller scree. Phew.

At the beginning, the road raises our expectation …

But soon, it’s all the same.

Though, the signposts are well-situated.The forest maintenance work has been down there.

The junction to the Lower Afuri Shrine and Minogue

¡Adelante!

Very soon from the junction to the Lower Afuri Shrine, at 829m ASL we find on the right a moss-eaten obelisk, accompanied by a small signpost with an inscription of “the Lord of Sohshu-Odawara Han 相州小田原藩領主.” The signpost is the declaration this obelisk was built by the governor of the area who was directly designated by the Tokugawa Shogunate Government in Edo (Tokyo).  i.e. It was a serious stuff. The obelisk itself has an inscription, “Koreyori Nyonin Kinsei 従是女人禁制.” It’s an ancient legal phrase, saying “From this point no woman is allowed to enter the mountain.” Well, Mt. Fuji might be a goddess, Konohana-sakuya-hime 木花咲夜姫, but at least until 1872 no female pilgrim was officially admitted for the top of Mt. Fuji. UNESCO World Heritage of mountain worship in Japan has this kind of history. In Mt. Oyama , the dad of Mt. Fuji, Oyamatsumi-no-Okami 大山祇大神, it was also not permitted for  lady believers to express religious passion as male counterparts. I just wonder in those days how women visited Afuri Shrine / Oyama Temple. If they took Urasando from Minogue, they have to turn right at the junction that appears after this obelisk. I am sure the same warning was standing somewhere between the current Lower Afuri Shrine and Koma-sando street. If they obeyed the governmental order, they could not worship the deity in the shrine, lower or upper. And there is that cursed-doll shrine, Niju Yashiro 二重社. It is said that Ushino-koku-Mairi 丑の刻参り rituals were often performed by female. I don’t think women are more resentful than men, but if there were enough number of women who visited Niju Yashiro 200 years ago, there must have been the itinerary for them. The route to the cursed doll is one narrow trekking road coming right below the Lower Afuri Shrine that was off-limit for women. Did they sneak in? How? What kind of urge did our female ancestors have for Mt. Oyama? They even committed the crime of “climbing the mountain” in dead past-midnight …

No Woman Allowed,

Signed by the Lord of Odawara

According to Dr. Yukie Takeya 竹谷靱負 of Takushoku Univ. 拓殖大学, no matter the legal prohibition, Japanese women tried, tried and (secretly) succeeded in reaching to the peak of Mt. Fuji for more than 500 years. He concluded their persistence in the end opened the “official” door for Japanese women to climb the mountains in the late 19^th century. (“Mt. Fuji and No Admittance to Women 富士山と女人禁制” June 2011, ISBN978-4-87294-690-1 C3039) … I wonder why that obelisk is still standing there in Oyama. Maybe, people in the 19^th century were busy sorting out the mess of Oyama Temple and Afuri Shrine during the Meiji Restoration. They forgot to deal with a trivial matter of female prohibition and left the relic of previous era intact … or, there could be people who still believe what the obelisk says is important ... Our elder hiking sisters may have chosen to leave it as an educational tool. In any case, these days, scholars of Japanese mountain worship argue there is no fundamental female exclusion in Shintoism theology, and a trend is apparent for population growth in female Yamabushi. Huh! I’ve been to the top of Oyama, many many times! Mt. Oyama is definitely more manly and generous than the “Lord of Odawara.” Oh yeah.

Near the obelisk,
there are vigorous trees of Lidera praecox which were in full bloom in mid-April.

Our road is steadily descending after the obelisk. Along the road within the afforested coniferous forest there are several broad-leaved trees whose trunk is covered by plastic mesh. Approx. 15 min after the obelisk, we arrive at another junction. To the left the road goes to Minogue-goe 蓑毛越 and eventually reaches to Odakyu Hadano Station 小田急秦野駅 in about 5 hours walk. To the right is Oyama Urasando, so let’s take this direction. We would notice the forest floor has a peculiar feature. It may be because of congested planting of cedars and cypresses … but it is sure Hadano City is thinning the area as there are lots of logs lying on the slope. The floor receives some sunshine, and there are even open spaces. In spite of this, the ground looks very bare in April. The vegetation we can find in the forest floor in mid-April consisted of violets (cute 😙), Pteris cretica L., Skimmia japonica Thunb., and Daphne pseudomezereum. The combination of them continues almost to Dainichi-do Temple 大日堂, the terminal point of Urasando in Minogue town, except at 3 crossing points for the paved forestry road, named Shungaku Rindoh 春岳林道. Each crossing between our Urasando and Shungaku Rindoh preserves the other kinds of plants like sasa bamboos which conceal the almost exposed inside of the forest … Why? A hint: the paved forestry roads around Minogue and Yabitsu Pass are very popular for cyclists and bikers training for races a le Tour de France. I’ll return to the issue next month, after telling you my adventure in Yadoriki forest やどりき水源林 … The thing here and there are connected. 

The trees wearing the plastic

Don’t you think it’s too naked?

Flowers of Daphne pseudomezereum.
It’s an odd plant,
having leaves and flowers during winter
and early spring.
They will shed everything soon
to spend summer as stems and branches only.
They have enthusiasts for
their very understating brown flowers
and red berries.

The Junction for Minogue-goe and Minogue town

In any case, the signposts are well-located on this route.

The end of Shungaku Rindoh
which is our first crossing with
the popular paved road in Minogue area.

The other side of the above photo has
a signpost for continuing Urasando.
2 more crossings have the same arrangement.

Dreaming for yellow jersey …

We cross Shun’goku-sawa Stream 春岳沢 which annihilated a village in upstream
with debris-avalanche
of the Great KantoEarthquake.

Immediately after crossing the small bridge is,
our Goooooooooal!

On the right is Dainichi-doh Temple.

We turn left at the Temple for Minogue bus stop.
By the way, along this road on the right
there is a small restaurant
whose specialty is BBQed trout
freshly caught from Shun’goku-sawa.
For a brief moment of 2 weeks in April,
they sell tempura of fresh spring herbs
morning-gathered from nearby.
Take-away available.
They tasted so pure …
Spring ephemeral 😋

Minogue 蓑毛 Bus Stop

If you find environmental problems in Mt. Oyama, please make a contact to

 

Kanagawa Nature Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/