Pilgrimage '07: Part 2

Childish, yes, but with the right eyes...just put a space between 'i' and 's' then 't' and 'e'...

The ferry ride from Hiroshima to Matsuyama is absolutely lovely as it winds through the straights near Kure and cuts across the Seto Inland Sea. It would have been more lovely if it wasn't about 10-degrees outside plus wind chill. From Matsuyama to Kobe is also an excellent ride that takes one under the many island-hopping bridges that span the passage and gives an excellent view of lots of port towns. Being an overnight journey, that ferry has staterooms and even an onboard bathhouse, so after one of those, some light reading and snacks with the teachers I hit the sack. That didn't last long--we pulled into port at 4:30 AM and disembarked at 5.

I stayed awake on the bus to Nara just long enough to see Kobe through the windows, take in the industrial blight between that city and Osaka, get a feel for the truly FUBARed Osaka expressway system and gaze befuddled upon a disturbing Tommy Lee Jones BOSS Coffee billboard that portrays him as a dangerous MPD schizo. When I woke up again an hour later we were parked in front of the cafeteria where breakfast was being served and down the block from Horyuji. What a miserable breakfast and a miserable hour of the day (about 8 AM) to tour one of the most wondrous treasures of Japanese ancient architecture. I took pics not for posterity necessarily, but rather so I could look back from a place of comfort and take in the view instead of while half asleep freezing my arse off as was the reality.

Piled on the bus again we meandered across town in Nara Rush Hour (not entirely that bad) to reach Yakushiji, another gorgeous 8th century Buddhist temple. Unfortunately only one building on the site can claim to be from the original phase of construction, the rest having been destroyed in fires and earthquakes over the centuries, but it's in remarkable shape with the minimum of maintenance put into it. It's not everyday that one gets to stand next to 1,200 year old wood beams. On the grounds we met up with Beppu's Hamiwaki JHS second-years who were coincidentally on their school trip also and together the classes listened to a very funny monk explain the temple grounds and how to pray like a bad ass Buddhist.


The main hall of Yakushuji. Behind and to the right is the 8th century pagoda that are the grounds' only original building.

If that past couple paragraphs were lackluster it's because I was hardly paying attention at these two temples, both which are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and this brings me to my second major complaint against the way these school trips are operated. I understand wanting to expose the students to as many bits of their heritage as possible, but this schedule had them (and me) so wound up shooting off from one temple or museum or park to the next that everyone's heads were spinning. I think it's very fair to say the trip had absolutely no focus and I would have chosen two of the four cities we spent time in and devoted more to those than superficially skimming them all: you want to teach the kids about contemporary Japan then Hiroshima and Osaka would have been fine; teach them about where they came from and you head to Kyoto and Nara. Simple as that and I guaran-fucking-tee you the students wouldn't have been coming to me every five seconds (they only come to me with these things because I'm the only adult human being at school that tries to relate to them) with "Matto-sensei, tsukareta yo..." (Matt, I'm tired...). A bit more on what would have made the students happier and improved the learning experience later, but first back to the trip.


The third largest bell in the world is right there in Nara Park along with over a thousand beady-eyed, drug-addled deer. I see those eyes--I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO!!!

From Yakushiji it's only a short ride to Nara Park and Todaiji, home of Nara's Daibutsu, or Great Buddha statue. Yet another UNESCO World Heritage site, I was sufficiently awake to be aware of what I was looking at and be blown cleanly away. I still can't decide which is more impressive, the 15m-tall (50 ft.) bronze Buddha statue inside or the building housing it that just happens to be the largest wooden building in the world. Supposedly it used to be even bigger until earthquakes and fires destroyed it a couple times. I can't even imagine that building falling down and the cleanup effort afterwards. "Awe inspiring" hardly captures the feeling.


Largely kept secret from historians and theologians alike is that Buddha's superpower was to supersize himself and turn his skin to metal. Now he doesn't know how to turn back and just sits there all day. And to your right, a very very big wooden building.

The Todaiji grounds don't end at the Daibutsu though and have much more to offer the intrepid walker. Like deer. Lots and lots of tame deer. The Sika Deer were thought to be messengers from the gods and allowed to roam the area around Todaiji protected under an imperial order not to harm them and today they remain. Shops around the park sell packs of a special kind of cracker (senbei) for 150 J-bucks that the deer find utterly irresistible, like a can of Red Bull filled with crack-laced, heroin-stuffed cigarettes and tasting of chocolate. My clothes were bitten, my pockets browsed through and I was actually, physically gored by bucks with antlers all trying to get some crackers from me. Cute as the deer are I think their contact with human beings has been, ummm, excessive and very against nature's plans.

OK, that's all for tonight. I'll wrap it up with Kyoto tomorrow night and another rant. Yay, fun.

--Matt