Location: Kasai City (near Hokkeguchi Stn., Hojo Line), Hyogo
Prefecture; about 1 hour 40 min. from Osaka, or 1 hour 15 min. from Kobe
+ 1 hour 15 min. walking time; or 35 min. by bus from Himeji + no
walking time
Associated with: Sai-no-Kawara (賽の河原), the Buddhist purgatory for departed children
Associated with: Sai-no-Kawara (賽の河原), the Buddhist purgatory for departed children
Saying prayers for mother, they heap the second tower.
Saying prayers for their brothers, their sisters, and all whom they loved at home,
They heap the third tower.
Comments: It's difficult to recommend a day trip that takes in only one temple. If you are captivated by the Sai-no-Kawara teaching like Lafcadio Hearn was more than a hundred years ago, a visit to Ichijo-ji can be a real adventure.
Our journey starts outside the temple. Off to the right you'll discover an outdoor statuary display of red-roofed gazebos presided over by Mizuko Jizo (lit. Jizo for Water Children). These are altars erected for the protection and prayer of stillborn, miscarried and aborted children. Each small Jizo statue represents a departed soul, having been purchased from the temple by bereaved parents. To the uninitiated, the display may seem a tacky revenue source exploiting a parent's grief. This isn't helped by its added-on appearance, standing abandoned outside the temple proper. Yet the purchase of a statue, much like buying a small headstone, comes with religious rites, and free access means visitors can pay their respects as often as needed. When funeral options for unborn children can be complicated, the consignment of one's child to the protection of a benevolent being such as Jizo can help ease the anguish felt by parents.
In spite of the very vivid Sai no Kawara teaching, it's not apparent that those enshrining their children here are doing so with an urgency to release them from purgatory (though a visit to this temple would make that painfully confronting). Jizo is the protector for all children and also one of the deities Japanese people can pray to for a safe birth. That he would also carry the mantle for departed children seems a natural extension of his duties.
The temple proper's atmosphere of spiritual authenticity is more established. The main buildings are lined up with the entrance and are connected by a series of ascending stone stairways. The first takes you up to the Jogyo-do, or training hall (under construction when I visited); the next to the Sanjunoto, or three-story pagoda; and the last to the Hondo, or main hall (also called the Kondo or Golden Hall). The latter is the largest temple building and main destination for pilgrims. Beyond the Kondo is a shortcut of sorts to the inner sanctum, the Kaisando or Founder's Hall (and beyond that the Sai no Kawara), but I recommend a different approach.
The training hall, pagoda and Kondo are all beautiful in their construction. Yet veering off at each level of ascent are paths that draw one to differently atmospheric territory, with forested areas, Shinto shrines and statues piled high with stones.
Comments: It's difficult to recommend a day trip that takes in only one temple. If you are captivated by the Sai-no-Kawara teaching like Lafcadio Hearn was more than a hundred years ago, a visit to Ichijo-ji can be a real adventure.
Our journey starts outside the temple. Off to the right you'll discover an outdoor statuary display of red-roofed gazebos presided over by Mizuko Jizo (lit. Jizo for Water Children). These are altars erected for the protection and prayer of stillborn, miscarried and aborted children. Each small Jizo statue represents a departed soul, having been purchased from the temple by bereaved parents. To the uninitiated, the display may seem a tacky revenue source exploiting a parent's grief. This isn't helped by its added-on appearance, standing abandoned outside the temple proper. Yet the purchase of a statue, much like buying a small headstone, comes with religious rites, and free access means visitors can pay their respects as often as needed. When funeral options for unborn children can be complicated, the consignment of one's child to the protection of a benevolent being such as Jizo can help ease the anguish felt by parents.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
In spite of the very vivid Sai no Kawara teaching, it's not apparent that those enshrining their children here are doing so with an urgency to release them from purgatory (though a visit to this temple would make that painfully confronting). Jizo is the protector for all children and also one of the deities Japanese people can pray to for a safe birth. That he would also carry the mantle for departed children seems a natural extension of his duties.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
The temple proper's atmosphere of spiritual authenticity is more established. The main buildings are lined up with the entrance and are connected by a series of ascending stone stairways. The first takes you up to the Jogyo-do, or training hall (under construction when I visited); the next to the Sanjunoto, or three-story pagoda; and the last to the Hondo, or main hall (also called the Kondo or Golden Hall). The latter is the largest temple building and main destination for pilgrims. Beyond the Kondo is a shortcut of sorts to the inner sanctum, the Kaisando or Founder's Hall (and beyond that the Sai no Kawara), but I recommend a different approach.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
The training hall, pagoda and Kondo are all beautiful in their construction. Yet veering off at each level of ascent are paths that draw one to differently atmospheric territory, with forested areas, Shinto shrines and statues piled high with stones.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
For viewing order I recommend you climb the stairs from the entrance to the training hall, pagoda and then up to the Kondo, but instead of taking the shortcut to the Kaisando, backtrack to the pagoda level and take the path that veers off here. This will take you past many stone-piled statues and down toward a pond. Before you reach the pond, you'll be attracted to a wide approach on your left with more statues and more stones. This is the long way to the Kaisando. Follow this approach until you get to the hall, and once inside the enclosure you'll find the entrance to the Sai no Kawara on the left. From there, you "ascend" to purgatory.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
It was perhaps by design that one has to go beyond the inner sanctum in order to reach the Sai no Kawara. The feeling is quite indescribable, as what one sees is not so much a representation of the underworld but its reflection, something that shimmers between realities. Likewise, glimpses of what is done in our reality reflects back into the other. It is a portal.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
It would seem that in recent years landscaping has been done to make the Kaisando and the Sai no Kawara more accessible. Older photos show precarious (yet beautifully rustic) ascents, which have now been modified with utilitarian hand rails. The staircase to the Sai no Kawara is now looking particularly sculpted, which detracts somewhat from the overall feel. Finally, nestled at the back of the river, not too obvious but still in plain sight, is a very modern-looking dam. Doubtless, future visitors can look forward to this eyesore being obscured by tree growth.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
If you make your way back to the pond there is more to explore. An unexpected highlight is the Miko Daimyojin Shrine. When I visited, the shrine was overdue for renovation with some sections in a deliciously creepy rundown state. The walkway was missing about half its number of vermilion torii gates, the stairway was overgrown with moss, and stonework was leaning at all manner of jaunty angles. In such a place, the sacred makes way for the supernatural and pious feelings are replaced with a call to adventure. While the destination itself might be drab, making the effort can lead to something extra rewarding.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Which was certainly the case, as beyond the shrine was something magical: a clearing of moss-covered stonework, perfectly framed with forest, tree rootage and broken torii. Here was an inner sanctum of a different sort.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
My constant companion throughout the journey to Ichijo-ji was the summer heat. To get there I had struck out from the local station on foot, and by the time I arrived I was half covered in sweat. At the end I looked like I had been swimming with my clothes on. The heat, along with the solitude, played havoc on my brain and fueled my imagination. For me it was a moving experience, but the humidity was overbearing. For a brief time I was in Buddhist purgatory.
End of Part 2
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
(death) The Riverbed Sai (賽の河原)
Site: Ichijo-ji Temple (一乗寺); in full "Hokkesan Ichijo-ji Temple" (法華山一乗寺)
Nearest Station: (Hojo Line) Hokkeguchi Stn. (法華口駅) <-- though not particularly "near"
Google Map Search: "Ichijo-ji Kasai"
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