gurdymonkey | A sort of pilgrimage - Ise Grand Shrine (Reply)

I was up early as quietly as possible to make an 8:35 train to my next destination. I did have time to hit an ATM at the Seven Eleven and get a very good apple pastry and a cup of coffee at "The Little Mermaid." The Japanese have taken a lot of Western foods to their hearts and generally if they do something differently than you'd expect, it's still pretty tasty. It was also something quick I could eat at the counter while dragging a rolling suitcase with my backpack strapped to the handle.

For reasons only known to Kintetsu Railway, you have to buy two separate tickets to ride their Limited Express service - and for some reason I cannot fathom, the Limited Express ticket the machine spat forth had multiple times and seat assignments on it. I also had to transfer at Yamato-Saidaiji and just about made it onto the train in time. None of the three seat assignments on my ticket were free but there were a ton of empty seats, so I grabbed one. The conductor ended up scratching things off the ticket with a pen and initialing it because he couldn't figure out what had happened when I bought my ticket either.

The scenery as you head southeast towards the Mie precinct grew lusher and somewhat more agricultural than the cityscapes around Kyoto and Osaka, so it was a nice ride and I arrived at Iseshi station around 10:15, stuffed my bags in a locker - which in hindsight turned out to be a waste because it turns out my ryokan was literally about half a block away and probably would have been happy to hold my bags for me. Consider it an offering to Amaterasu Omikami.

Digression: I received a Roman Catholic education. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales were part of Dad's early storytelling mix, and recently some of my SCA friends have been doing things like hike parts of the pilgrimage route to Compostela (Spain). When I started reading medieval Japanese literature, Ise figured in the mix. Princesses in the Imperial line served as high priestesses at the shrine where the sun deity Amaterasu dwelled. (Decent overview from Wikipedia here.)

When I told Dad it's sort of like visiting the Vatican, it is, only not really. Shinto is one of the hardest belief systems to explain easily and it's pretty much only practiced in Japan or places where Japanese have emigrated to. And while kami are often referred to as gods, there are Gods with actual names such as the sun goddess Amaterasu, and there are gods in the trees and the rocks and the river. I admit my understanding of what I did today and how I approached it is hampered by what I may never quite "get" about Shinto as a non-Japanese.

When you go through the photos in the link at the end, you will see a group of people standing around a low rock with a rope barrier around it, hands held out as if they were warming themselves at a fire. I also saw - and found myself doing it pretty quickly - tree petting. People would walk up to an old tree and gently rest a palm against the park for a few moments. If Buddhism is about detaching oneself from suffering, Shinto is about getting along with the world around you. Nature will cheerfully kill you with no remorse or it will give you a good harvest.

Anyway, I was interested, so here I was, going to visit the holiest site in Japan. Actually, I should say sites, because there are two large shrine complexes situated about 3 miles apart. Me, being me, I figured 3 miles was doable and early pilgrims would've done it and that would be part of the experience.

The Geku shrine complex was a fairly straight shot up from Iseshi Station down a street with shops and restaurants. I watched other pilgrims - and you'll see from the photos that there were plenty - so I could perform the appropriate bows when passing through torii (the gates) upon entering and leaving a shrine precinct, ritually purify hands and mouth at the well at the entrance of the complex, and make offerings at the various sub shrines throughout. I grew up with smells-and-bells Catholic ritual, I would show respect and use the offerings as a way to give thanks for the privilege of being here.

One falls into a rhythm with it. And I admit I got drunk on the forest, all that lush green, the smell of it, the birdsong, the trickle of water. I would get in line and offer a coin and bow and clap and press my palms together and think, "Thank you." I found myself "petting" trees even as I admired and photographed them. And I have to wonder if J.R.R. Tolkein would have loved the place or fled jibbering from the massive, ancient cypress spirits. I felt like I could hear them breathing. There were other trees, trees with eye shapes in the bark. Unlike the Japanese worshippers, I gave the younger trees some love too, for they may one day be imbued with the same spirit as the older ones.

Three miles. I can do three miles, I thought, even though it was humid and not yet too hot. I checked Google Maps and set off through what was mostly a nondescript townscape on uneven asphalt sidewalks, dodging the bicyclists and making eye contact and smiling and saying "Konnichwa" like I belonged there. It usually elicits a response, even if it's reflexive. You can get a long way with an attempt at a greeting and a smile, and it helped me concentrate on getting across town. I knew that before I reached the Naiku complex there was an area identified as "Okage Yokocho Ancient Street" which looked like a good spot to take a break.

It got warmer. My feet hurt. I'd watch for signs with the distance in kilometers and tell myself I was almost there. And then I made the turn onto Okage Yokocho Ancient Street and it was mobbed - and more than one street. Pilgrims need food and drink and other things and this neighborhood was right on the way to the shrine ready to sell you souvenirs or ice cream or a chance to win candy at a shooting gallery.

The heat and humidity have been supressing my appetite for days. Nothing seemed appealling, but I knew I needed to have something. Then I saw people walking around munching cucumbers on a stick and discovered the perfect I'm-too-hot-for-food snack. The lady was also selling assorted chilled fruits, but it was the chilled, lightly salted skinny cucumbers that were really popular. If I can get the right kind of cucumbers at home, this could become a thing at home in the summer. So refreshing!

On to the Naiku after struggling through the crowds and the overcast of the morning gave way to brighter skies. Again I bowed as I passed through gates and crossed the river. I made offerings. I breathed the forest air and tried to be respectful as I took photos. About that, I wasn't worried. Shinto is about life and living. The Japanese pilgrims were herding their kids and taking selfies and enjoying the day out as well. They'd be chattering right up to the point it was their turn in the line to make an offering, then it was toss, bow, bow, clap, clap, gassho. Shinto is just something they do.

If I saw a no-photo sign, I didn't shoot. If I saw priests or priestesses on their business, I didn't photograph them. (I got lucky at Kitano Tenmangu. Once. I don't need to push my luck.) I was extremely aware that there didn't appear to be other non Japanese around. (There probably were, I just didn't see ANY.)

I went down to the river and washed my hands before leaving. The river was chilly but refreshing. It felt like the right thing to do before crossing the bridge back to the worldly crush on "Ancient Street." Oddly the public toilets just outside the shrine precincts were not crowded and at 4PM, the crowds were breaking up. It is Sunday after all. I found a bus back to Iseshi, got my stuff out of the locker and found Hinode Ryokan. My host checked me in, showed me my lovely traditional style room as well as where the toilets, ladies' bathing area etc. The room is furnished with fragrant tatami mats, a mini fridge and instant hot water kettle, tea things, a mini-safe for valuables phone, tv, as well as a yukata and obi for swanning to the bath with, complimentary toothbrush and hair brush. Instead of the Gideon Bible, there is a bilingual edition of the Kojiki, a slim photo essay titled The Wisdom of Ise Jingu, and a restaurant guide, as well as binders with Japanese and English versions of how to run all the appliances and other guest info. I will be served a Japanese breakfast at 7:30 AM tomorrow too.

I knew if I went to the bath first, I wouldn't eat, so I went down the street, found a place serving local seafood and had a very nice meal of assorted sashimi (tuna, salmon, squid, octopus and sea bream) with real wasabi, a bowl of rice and a small flask of lovely sake. About $20 US for what I ordered. They also do the local lobster, but I didn't think I could do it justice and what I had was just enough.

The bathing area is single sex. You go in, disrobe and leave your things in a basket, then through to a four person hot tub, but first, you wash yourself at the standing/sitting shower stations, furnished with liquid soap, shampoo, conditioner and a little plastic stool to sit on if you want. Once clean, THEN you can get into the full-to-the-brim hot tub for a soak. I had it all to myself until I felt like I was getting drowsy, then I got out and started downloading these: https://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/albums