Associated with: Nue aka "the Japanese chimera"
You'll recall from our previous installment that we have a nue on the loose, terrorizing the capital each night from the sky. Directly below it in the Seiryo-den of the imperial palace we have Emperor Konoe, a frazzled and sick teenage ruler. Finally it's time for our hero to make his entrance.
The warrior Minamoto no Yorimasa was the great-great-grandson of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, aka Commander Raiko. This is the same Commander Raiko who led the demon-slaying party at the Mt. Oe massacre, and who also beheaded the dreaded Tsuchigumo. It is perhaps no coincidence that Yorimasa had yokai "extermination" in his blood.
As per the tale, you'll recall that Yorimasa dealt with the nue by shooting an arrow into the dark circling clouds, out of which the screaming nue fell. Now, I'm not looking to ruin the tale for anybody, but doesn't the imagery of a warrior firing his arrow into a swirling vortex seem a bit... phallic? I realize that something longer than it is wide needn't always be a penis, but seriously, I think this is an idea that needs exploring. Let me tell you why I think so.
You see there are, I kid you not, no fewer than three sites connected to the construction of what is possibly the most elaborately made arrow in history. The tip of Yorimasa's arrow was an heirloom from his great-great-grandfather Minamoto no Yorimitsu. The shaft of the arrow came from Yorimasa's fief. Finally, the fletchings were made from the tail feathers of a mountain pheasant, done at the command of Jizo, who appeared to Yorimasa in a dream. You'll agree that is a pretty potent arrow.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Putting all that to one side for now though, let's begin with the site where Yorimasa is said to have acquired the shaft of his arrow. The reason I'm starting with this site is because it's in Hyogo Prefecture and quite a distance from Kyoto. Though the tip of the arrow and the fletchings are a different matter, it would have been impractical for Yorimasa to travel so far to harvest a bamboo shaft once the threat of the nue had become known. Likely he had some with him or had access to some when he was already in the capital (otherwise he would have kept Emperor Konoe waiting a very long time). The point is we have a site whose partial claim to fame is that it is the source of the bamboo used to make the shaft of the arrow that was fired by Yorimasa into the whirling vortex, wounding the nue. I had you at "partial," right?
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Though it seems like rather an obscure thing to boast of, Chomei-ji Temple in Nishiwaki claims that the bamboo was harvested in the surrounding area. The temple has doubled down on this claim with the commissioning of the Nuetaiji-zo (鵺退治像), a statue of Yorimasa aiming his arrow at a ferocious-looking nue. The statue is actually pretty fantastic, but of note is that the artist avoided depicting the flying nue and simply had it face off with Yorimasa on the ground. The warrior is drawing his arrow at point-blank range for a shot that I think I could probably make.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Just south of Chomei-ji is the Nuenobashi (lit. "Nue-field Bridge"), next to which are the remnants of a bamboo grove known as the yatakeyabu, or "arrow bamboo grove," from which the shaft of the arrow that shot the nue was taken. Next to that stands a Hachiman shrine (Hachiman being the god of archery and war, and the guardian deity of the Minamoto clan).
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Comments: This is the first location I've done a write-up on that I would consider "remote," and I'm not sure I can justify the length of the journey to any other than hardcore yokai fans. The area does have historical significance as Yorimasa's old fief, and the statue of him and the nue is a real treat. If you were feeling extra ambitious, you could try squeezing it in on a trip to Himeji Castle. Chomei-ji is by no means on the way, but unfortunately by itself it is completely out of the way.
Getting There
The starting point on the Midosuji subway line is Umeda Stn. Our destination is Nishiwakishi Stn. on the JR line.
Umeda Stn. lies next to Osaka Stn., a large hub of intersecting JR lines. From subway Umeda, follow the signs directing you to JR Osaka Stn. Unlike Umeda, there is only one "Osaka" station, but south there is another JR station called Kitashinchi. Though you'll likely find Osaka Stn. with your eyes closed, if you are following "JR" signs and you've been walking for longer than 5 minutes or so there is a small possibility you've made a wrong turn. I again want to point out that we're starting at subway Umeda Stn. to keep it in line with our Midosuji Line-centered travel, but if you are staying in the Osaka Stn. area or near a station on the Loop Line, you obviously needn't worry about the subway for this trip.
From Osaka, it is silly to take anything slower than a shinkaisoku, or special rapid service train. They usually depart every 10 or 15 minutes depending on the time of day, so if you've just missed one, buy a bagel or something and line up for the next service. Though we're going to stay on JR for the whole trip, we need to change lines at a station called Kakogawa, which is on the JR Kobe Line portion of the Sanyo Main Line. Here again we are simply talking about different sections of one long continuous line. What is known as the "JR Kobe Line" is part of the Tokaido Main Line from Osaka to Kobe and part of the Sanyo Main Line from Kobe to Himeji. Again, it's all the same line.
On the shinkaisoku, Kakogawa is seven stops and approximately 50 minutes from Osaka. Don't be surprised if you find yourself standing the whole way, but know that at least you'll be making good time. Around Sannomiya or Kobe you might be able to get a seat.
At Kakogawa, you need to get off and change lines, but again, you don't need to leave the station. The name of the line branching north here is the Kakogawa Line, and as it suggests it starts from Kakogawa Stn. Providing you find the right platform you can get on a train and not worry about going in the wrong direction. Kakogawa, however, is one point where I recommend you move smartly if you haven't looked up the departure time before arriving. Trains leave around every 30 minutes here, and one of the services stops short of Nishiwakishi. If your timing is off you could find yourself waiting for the better part of an hour for a train to take you all the way. Keep in mind that the trip itself from Kakogawa to Nishiwakishi is about 50 minutes, so this is something to plan ahead if you can.
At this point, I would like to introduce you to a website called Hyperdia, where you can input your starting point and destination (stations) in English and have the whole trip planned for you:
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
I use another Japanese site for my trips, but only because I had already used it for several years before I found out about Hyperdia. I have used Hyperdia for putting together itineraries for English-speaking friends and it works just as well. It is a bit picky about how you input the names of the stations, but it has a nice auto-complete function to help you get the romanization of the stations correct. However, I do recommend you play around with Hyperdia a bit before you actually plan a trip with it. Like the Japanese sites, it will assume you want to go from A to B as quickly as possible, which is nice but it can be annoying to have domestic flights, shuttle buses and other unwanted results pop up in your search. In the main screen, click on the "more options" tab and deselect some of the boxes that will clutter up your results. For a basic search, I usually just have "walk," "local train" (by this they mean "ordinary train" not a train that stops at every station), "Japan Railway" and "Private Railway" selected.
Getting Your Bearings at Nishiwakishi Station
At Nishiwakishi Stn. there is only one exit. As you come out you'll see a rotary for buses and taxis. From there, follow the map below:
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Here is the first half of the route to the first bridge:
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Here is the second half of the route:
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Here's the final approach. Note that "Takumatsucho" (or Takamatsu-cho) just refers to the municipal designation. The grounds of Chomei-ji are at the right of the map.
Image/Map courtesy of Google Maps
Information on Chomei-ji
I have Chomei-ji opening at 9:00 and closing at 17:00, but I would aim to get there for 15:00 at the latest with the assumption that things will be winding down around 16:00. If coming from Himeji, aim to leave at 13:00 or earlier.
Be sure to check out the follow-up entry for more information on the site:
http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.jp/2016/11/xxvii-follow-up-report-on-chomei-ji-or.html
Driver Gragma (yokaitourbus "at" mail "dot" com)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yokaitourbus/
The Master List (Hyogo)
http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.jp/2015/08/6-b-master-list-hyogo.html
(yokai) Nue (鵺)
Site: Chomei-ji (長明時)
Nearest Station: (JR Line) Nishiwakishi Stn. (西脇市駅)
Google Map Search: "Chomei-ji Nishiwaki"
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