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
In this land of the dead,
I am your father and your mother.
Trust in me morning and evening.
Getting There
It’s
a somewhat more complicated trip getting out to Ichijo-ji. I’ve devised a
train journey and mapped out a pleasant trek from the nearest
station to the temple, or if the weather is poor or if “pleasant” isn’t a
word you normally associate with long walks then you have the option of
taking a bus. Things are going to get rather complicated, so I’m going
to break this into three sections 1. Train Journey,
2. Bus Options, and 3. Trek to the Temple. You should probably read
each section so that you can plan for any eventuality, but if your aim
is to skip the trek (or only do it on the way/way back) then you’ll need
to read the Bus Options section carefully. Also be sure to read section
4. Heading Home.
Note: There are various stations and stops with similar sounding
names, so be mindful of that as you read along. Here is a quick list to
refer back to:
Hokkeguchi (法華口) - A train station on the Hojo Line.
Hokkeguchi-eki-mae (法華口駅前) - The bus stop near Hokkeguchi train station.
Hokkezan-Ichijoji (法華山一乗寺) - The bus stop outside Ichijo-ji temple, our destination.
Hokkeyamaguchi (法華山口) - The bus stop closest to the temple in the case you get on the wrong bus. (In this case, "close" means a 40 min. walk.)
1. Train Journey
Umeda station lies next to Osaka station, a large hub of intersecting JR lines. From subway Umeda, follow the signs directing you to JR Osaka station. I want to point out that we're starting at subway Umeda station to keep it in line with our Midosuji Line-centered travel, but if you are staying in the Osaka station area or near a station on the Loop Line, you obviously needn't worry about the subway for this trip.
From Osaka, it's 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. The first stop you need to change trains at is a station called Kakogawa, which is on the JR Kobe Line portion of the Sanyo Main Line. Via 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.
At Kakogawa, you need to get off and change lines, but 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. However, trains leave around every 30 minutes, and one of the services stops short of Ao, which is our next transit point. 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. Providing you get a good connection, the leg from Kakogawa to Ao is six stops and takes about 25 minutes.
Ao Station presents a rather unfamiliar set-up. You will change train companies but you won’t put your ticket through a ticket gate to leave one station to enter an adjacent one. In fact, you won't need to leave the station at all. You also don’t need to conventionally buy a ticket for the next train, so there is no wandering around looking for a ticket machine either. You simply need to get yourself to the platform for the Hojo Line and get ready to board the train. The ticket that you bought to get to Ao is now confetti (but keep hold of it for the rest of the day).
The Hojo Line
that departs from Ao is a small local service that operates more like a bus than a train.
Like a Japanese bus, you get on at the back and pay as you exit at the front. This is the reason why you don't need to run around looking for a ticket machine before you board. By
the door as you get on is a little ticket dispenser that
spits out tickets with a number printed on them. This number corresponds
to a display, usually at the front, which indicates your fare. For
example, if your ticket says “3,” find that number on the board and
that’s what you pay as you get off. The amounts go up incrementally the
longer you stay on. The only annoying thing is fumbling for the right
change at the end of your journey.
However, at Ao you may find that the dispenser on the train is not issuing
tickets. This is because Ao is the terminal at the southeast end of the
line, and so having no ticket means you've been on the line since the beginning and will simply pay the maximum accumulated fare (310 yen as of August 2019) when you get off at Hokkeguchi (3 stops). Just
remember to follow the procedure I outlined above and grab a ticket if you take the train
back to Ao later that day!
At Hokkeguchi, the station building is a
small wooden affair. It likely won’t be staffed, but the cosy interior
is a nice place to rest for a moment. There is a toilet and a vending
machine just outside.
You can now wait to try and catch a bus or do the trek to the temple. (Jump to Section 3 if you plan to walk.)
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
2. Bus Options
From Hokkeguchi
Your
first bus option if you don’t want to walk is to take a No. 71 bus from
Hokkeguchi to the temple. Be advised that due to the very
infrequent services, the wait is sometimes as long or longer than the
walk. If you arrive at the right time though you might be lucky and have a
bus take you straight to the temple in a little over ten minutes.
Unfortunately not all No. 71 buses follow the same route. Only one goes
to the temple.
To get the bus, you need to walk
to the bus stop that’s located on the main road a short walk from the
station. Again, note that the bus does not come all the way up to the train station. The name of this bus stop in Japanese is Hokkeguchi-eki-mae
(法華口駅前). To get there from the station, please refer to the map and visual below.
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Image courtesy of Google Maps
The following are the bus times as of August 2019. They are subject to change, but will at least provide a guide as to how long you can expect to wait.
On
a weekday you can catch a bus to the temple from Hokkeguchi-eki-mae at 9:55, 11:20, 12:55, 14:55 and
16:15; on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays at 10:24, 11:44,
12:54, 14:39 and 15:39. There are a few earlier services but they do not
go along the temple route. If somehow you end up on one of those, you
can go an unsatisfying three stops to Hokkeyamaguchi (法華山口) and walk from
there:
Map courtesy of Google Maps
From Himeji (Train, Train, Go Away)
If
you’re feeling like all the train changes are a pain, there is a bus
that runs directly from Himeji to the temple in about 35 minutes. This
is potentially a more direct, simple and shorter option, but it’s not
without its complications.
Firstly, to take the bus you need to travel to Himeji Station. You can get there using the guide in our entry on Okiku’s Well:
Once
there, follow the signs to the bus terminal. You need to board the No. 71
bus, which, as of August 2019 departs from platform 14. In the best case
scenario you can jump on a 71 and it will take you straight to
Hokkezan-Ichijoji, the stop just outside the temple.
That’s
simple enough, but buses run very infrequently and a poorly timed
itinerary or delay will have you waiting anything from 60 to 90 minutes.
Services basically halt around noon. There is one final run in the mid-late
afternoon. After that
everything stops completely.
The other issue
is that not all 71 buses follow the same route. Ichijo-ji is on a detour
route that runs off the main route. One 71 service terminates short at
the Ohara bus stop, and the other continues along the main road and
skips the temple entirely. If you take the former, you need to get off
and wait for another service. If it’s the latter you have a choice of
walking from the closest possible vantage point or getting off at Hokkeguchi-eki-mae
(法華口駅前) near Hokkeguchi station and waiting for a bus going in the opposite
direction (see times listed above). It’s great if you get it right,
otherwise it’s a potential shitfest of frustration.
On
a weekday, buses going directly to the temple leave Himeji at 9:00,
10:00, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00. On a Saturday, Sunday or national
holiday, they leave at 9:00, 10:30, 11:30, 13:30 and 16:30.
To
keep track of your journey, watch out for the previously
mentioned Ohara (小原), which is about the 20th stop along the route.
(This is not to be confused with the similar sounding Ogawa/小川, which is
the 9th stop.) If you’ve taken the correct service, the bus will turn
off the main road after Ohara and in short order arrive at your
destination. The name of the bus stop outside the temple is
Hokkezan-Ichijoji (法華山一乗寺), and it’s two stops after Ohara.
If
you accidentally got on the right bus but the wrong service, the bus
will either terminate at Ohara, or continue from Ohara along the same
road. In the case of the latter, the third stop after Ohara will be Hokkeyamaguchi
(法華山口), which is the same vantage point previously mentioned in the case
you got on the wrong bus at Hokkeguchi-eki-mae (scroll back up for
the map).
Perils aside, if you make it to the
temple it’s a much simpler process timing your trip back. The only
problem is working in with the infrequent services (about one per hour), meaning you might
need to thin or pad out your time at the temple to line it up with a
particular departure. There is a small rest house across the road from the
temple, but nothing else to while the time. If the bus isn’t coming for
an hour or more and the weather is fine, consider walking to Hokkeguchi Stn.
3. Trek to the Temple
If you’re up for a stroll, I recommend the following route from Hokkeguchi Stn. Though you can pick out your own route with Google maps, what I have put together is fairly pleasant and relatively gentle, and of course has been road tested.
Map courtesy of Google Maps
I managed it on a sweltering day in August without too much difficulty, but included along the route is a supermarket for any last-minute supplies. If that happens to be closed, there are several vending machines to help keep you hydrated.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Map courtesy of Google Maps
From
the supermarket, the road cuts through a field and then winds its way
into the town along the river. In the town section above I have marked in red a thru road that Google now claims does not to exist. I assume that it's still passable, but use the Google route if you find it has been blocked off. After this section, you’ll turn left onto a larger road.
Partway along the larger road, a side route branches off for walkers. Weirdly, Google is now marking this as nonexistent, so I have included it above and below in red. I do hope this has not been blocked off (I'm assuming it hasn't), as it moves up and through a pleasant forested area topped with a temple gate. There it rejoins the main road. From the gate, it’s just a short walk to the temple.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Partway along the larger road, a side route branches off for walkers. Weirdly, Google is now marking this as nonexistent, so I have included it above and below in red. I do hope this has not been blocked off (I'm assuming it hasn't), as it moves up and through a pleasant forested area topped with a temple gate. There it rejoins the main road. From the gate, it’s just a short walk to the temple.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
There is a public bathroom on the side of the road opposite the temple, which, to my great relief had a Western-style toilet. At least in the gents, this had been installed comically far from the wall and close to the door. The very tall should be careful not to kneecap themselves or bust open the lock with their long bones as they sit down.
4. Heading Home
To
get home you can either walk back to Hokkeguchi station, try and catch a
bus back to Hokkeguchi station, or try and catch a bus back to Himeji
in the opposite direction.
If you go home via Hokkeguchi, remember this time to take a numbered slip when you get on, otherwise you will need to pay the full fare. At Ao, you will suddenly realize you don't have a return ticket for JR, yet are already inside the station. What you need to do is leave the station briefly (there are no gates or barriers) and purchase your JR ticket from the machines just outside the entrance. Once you’ve got it, you'll have a valid ticket though there will not be the usual automatic ticket gate to punch it. This will happen at Kakogawa as you transit. You can show it to the staff at the ticket gate at Kakogawa and they will punch it manually or put it through a machine. After that you can exit normally at your destination.
A trip home via Himeji, providing you can catch the bus, is less complicated. On a weekday (as of August 2019) you can catch the No. 71 bus back to Himeji at 10:07, 11:32, 13:07, 15:07 and 16:27; and on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays at 10:36, 11:56, 13:06, 14:51 and 15:51.
Information on Ichijo-ji
Ichijo-ji opens at 8:00 and closes at 17:00. (Pilgrims will to need to wait until 8:30 to get their book stamped.) Entry is 500 yen as of August 2019.
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Mark Schumacher has an excellent article on this same topic at his wonderful page onmarkproductions.com. The site contains a wealth of knowledge and is an invaluable reference for filling in the gaps on so many topics relating to Japanese religion and folklore. When my brain takes on more info than it can hold (pretty much always), Onmark is my go-to. Matthew Meyer (yokai.com) has also taken a good crack at summarizing the complexities of the Meido.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
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"
