No one lives here. Calm prevails. In early spring plum and cherry trees are in full bloom against remote mountain ranges in a haze. In the valley below, clusters of farmhouses snuggle comfortably together. Originally built in the Edo period, the hilltop Kannon hall survived a fire at the end of the nineteenth century. The eaves are attractively carved, and the many senja-fuda left by pilgrims attest to the popularity of the hall. In the dim light through the narrow openings of the slatted doors one can see hundreds of stuffed-cloth dolls dangling from above. Called saru, these small figures are believed to have magical powers to dispel human suffering. Women living in the communities under the temple’s patronage make them as offerings to Kannon. The hall is dedicated to a Kannon statue rendered in the sixteenth-century style, but it is usually kept out of sight in an inner shrine.
For your inscription, you must visit Kōmyō-ji, which administers several temples in this area. From the Kannon hall, take the stone steps directly in front of the temple down the hill and follow the path first to the right and then immediately left as it descends. The concrete downhill road is quite steep at first and passes through some woods. Past two farmhouses on the left, the road curves, and a wooden post with a small red metal sign points the way to Kōmyō-ji 光明寺, to your right. Take the narrow path and you will see a large tree on the right, with a sign explaining that it is a five-hundred-year-old kin-mokusei, a kind of sweet olive that bears small flowers of intense sweet fragrance in late autumn. When the path joins the road, turn right. Continuing along the road for about ten minutes, you will cross two bridges. Bear right at the end of the second bridge. Soon you will pass a factory on your right, a two-storied, cream-colored building. Turn right between the metal fences and you will come to a stately new temple with a spacious garden. This is Kōmyō-ji. The inscription can be obtained in the building to the right of the main hall.
Leaving Kōmyō-ji, return to the road you came in on and turn right toward the crossroads, which is the bus stop for the entrance to Kōmyō-ji. Cross the busy main road, walk straight and turn left at the 丅 junction. Past a large hotel, Hotel Miyama ホテル美やま, on the other side of the river, cross a relatively large bridge off to the right of the road. This area in the valley of the Yokoze is one of the seven locations in Chichibu famous for mineral-water springs. Near here are several ryokan, including the now-Westernized Hotel Miyama, that feature mineral-water baths. They have been quite prosperous since the middle of the Edo period. From the bridge you can observe the excellent riverside location of Hotel Miyama, combined with the comforts of a modern hotel. Pilgrims should turn left after the bridge and follow the red arrows in simple wooden signs pointing to Temple 3 三番.
Located on a quiet hillside, Temple 3, JŌSEN-JI 常泉寺 harbors a simple, stately main building and an attractive Kannon hall to the left. The inscription may be obtained at the building to the right of the main hall as you face it. The small Kannon hall is elaborately decorated with intricate carvings of birds and dragons under a pointed copper roof. The curved beams under the roof of the front porch represent two dragons, one ascending and the other descending, providing a good example of art and function in one. The Kannon hall was originally built in the compound of Chichibu-jinja during the late Edo period, presumably with handsome donations from wealthy silk merchants. Shortly, the feudal age was terminated, and the Buddhist Kannon hall on the Shinto shrine premises was forced out in the wake of the enforced separation of Buddhism and Shintoism as part of the Meiji modernization program. The hall was thus moved here in 1870. A pond between the two buildings is bordered by irises, azaleas, and hydrangeas, providing in the summer vivid contrast to the surrounding green. A trail from the cemetery behind the Kannon hall leads up on your left to the top of the hill, where you can hike to the Chichibu Folk Museum. In the summer when the grasses grow over the path, the course may be a little hard to follow.
I recall what an old friend told me while pausing here on a visit. She said, “Some years ago, I was told that anger and hatred are counterproductive. One’s own feelings are ultimately reciprocated. If you dislike someone, that person will dislike you in return. It’s a vicious circle. Conversely a good circle can be established that will make you feel happier. I was fed up with my awful mother-in-law, but there was no way for me to break away from her. So I tried hard not to get irritated, but to feel more relaxed when I was with her. Her attitude began to change gradually and, although it took a great deal of time and patience, she is more appreciative of me now. It’s amazing how it works. My friends, too, have become kinder and more considerate. It is as if a good wind began to blow by believing in good and trying to make it happen.” Having known this person for years as a rather intellectual realist, I was surprised by her story. However, after she had cited many other examples of relationships changed for the better, I became convinced of her spiritual transformation, and I agreed with her statement that she was “riding a jet stream of good.”
When you are ready to leave, return to the riverside entrance to the temple. If you were to go right, you would come to Yamada Onsen 山田温泉, a Japanese inn with a barbecue lunch area in the compound. Backtrack to the large bridge and re-cross it. A foolproof route to the next temple is via the main road. However, to avoid the often heavy traffic, turn right immediately after the bridge and cross the smaller bridge. A narrow road curving to the left leads to a shrine called Tsunemochi-jinja 恒持神社. The shrine is usually very drab and quiet, but becomes lively on March 15, the day of its annual festival. The event is a harbinger of many spring festivals and attracts crowds. Three rustic floats, abundantly decked with pink paper flowers, are pulled through the neighborhoods. The festival also features a magnificent fireworks show at night.
Take the right turn by the shrine (before the main road) and walk straight ahead to a 丅 junction. Turning first right and immediately left, you will come to another ryokan, Araki Kōsen 新木鉱泉, on your right. Taking the next left turn will bring you back to the bus road. Cross it, turn right and then take the first left. On your right is a Canon Electronics parts factory, and farther ahead to your left you will see a large traditional house with an elaborately crafted tile roof. This is the home of a deceased political leader of Chichibu and a former member of the Diet. Wealthy people used to take pride in the design of their tiled roofs, especially the top ridge, as this was the portion of the house visible from a distance. Continuing along the road, which curves to the right, you will come to Temple 4, KINSHŌ-JI 金昌寺.
Featuring a large, eighteenth-century, two-story gate hung with a pair of enormous straw sandals, Kinshō-ji is the most popular of all the thirty-four temples of the Chichibu pilgrimage. A square stone pillar in front of the gate is inscribed with several Japanese characters written by Matsuda Kaiken, one of the finest calligraphers in Chichibu, who lives in this neighborhood. The people of Chichibu have a great fondness for calligraphy, and local masters of the art are often commissioned to write the names of community shrines or temples. It is a great honor for the calligrapher to have his work on permanent display.
The temple compound is filled with more than a thousand stone statues, some smiling, many in meditation, still others looking as if about to dance. You are supposed to be able to find at least one statue resembling someone you know. Carved out of soft sandstone and greatly eroded over two centuries, these statues continue to speak for their Edo-period donors, who sought the patronage of Kannon. Inscriptions on them reveal that many were offerings for the repose of the souls of the family dead.
Hiking up the gradually ascending path to the right you will find the most celebrated statue in the compound, that of a young mother nursing her baby. It is placed in front of the Kannon hall to the right (as you face it). This lovely pair rests on a pedestal in the shape of a lotus flower, a classical motif of Buddhist art. The inscription on the lotus petals says that a wealthy man from Edo donated it in 1792 to pray for the happiness of his ancestors. However, the sensual rendition of a young woman and her plump baby in such a relaxed stance is completely unlike any of the other figures in the compound, or even anything else from the same period. It is so much like a baroque sculpture of a Christian saint that people call it the Virgin Mary Kannon, crediting its creation to the Japanese Christians of the Edo period, a time when Christianity was banned by the shogunate. To avoid persecution, they created images of the Blessed Virgin in the style of Kannon, hiding in the work motifs of Christianity, such as a cross. This particular statue is said to reveal a cross when seen from