So today is my first official day off (not part of the regular weekend) due to Golden Week, the magical time of year when I get a whole 9 days off of work to do whatever I want! :D Sounds pretty awesome, right? Well, it did until I realized that I had no plans for the week other than sit-at-home-and-play-video-games. You may ask "But Shawna, you live in an exotic foreign country full of history and culture, how can you sit around doing nothing?" It's a really good question actually. You see, the problem, as I have talked to some of you about at length, is that I am very nervous about traveling further than a bike's ride from home. I worry that with my limited (if improving) language abilities, if I were to get lost or have an emergency I wouldn't be able to get help. It's easier when I'm traveling with someone, but everyone had plans this week, so that wasn't going to happen. It's doubly sad because this fear is what kept me around Shizuoka during winter vacation too, and the prospect of spending another vacation within the confines of my own home and neighborhood was rather bleak. So yesterday I decided to change that. I decided that this Golden Week, my goal is to travel at least 2 train stations away from home every day (if the weather permits), and to go exploring and sightseeing on my own. So, with a train/travel itinerary in hand, I set off from my house this morning at around 9:30 on my first trip.
I took the Tokaido Main Line train toward Atami four stops to the town of Okitsu, right on the coastline. From there, with a helpful map drawn by the station ticket adjustment operator, I walked about 15 minutes to Seikenji (清見寺) a Buddhist temple where Ieyasu Tokugawa, a famous figure in Japanese history, spent some of his childhood and education.
Reaching back to the year 679, Seikenji has a history of more than 1300 years. It was founded by emperor Tenmu as a guard post the north. Through its location close to the trading route "Tokaido" and its strategic post in the foothills of Mt. Fuji it has played an important role throughout history.
Originally occupied by the buddhist Tendai-sect, teachings changed to the more spartan Zen-Buddhism during the Kamakura period. In 1216 it changed again to the doctrines of the Rinzai-sect at which remains today.
In the Edo period Seikenji fell under the reign of the Imagawa clan who kept the young Tokugawa Ieyasu as a hostage in the close by Sunpu castle. He was sent to Seikenji for education. It was Ieyasu who planted plum trees on the temple ground and designed a beautiful Zen garden at the inner temple.
The temple was absolutely beautiful, both inside and in the garden next to it. There was one monk, Gaku-san, who spoke English and gave me the grand tour. One of my Amity students writes a journal every week about Japanese history, so I knew a little bit about Ieyasu Tokugawa, but it was wonderful to get to see the rooms where he lived as a child, and the garden that he played in so many years ago. He was one of the most powerful figures in Japanese history, so it was beautiful to see the gentler side of him that planted plum trees and gardened.
Here are some pictures from the inside of the temple:
Gaku-san was so friendly and an excellent tour guide. I was really grateful to have him there, because otherwise I would have been unsure of which rooms were ok to go into, and where to take off my shoes. He did the whole tour with me, before sending me out to see the garden alone. Before we parted, though, I bought some absolutely wonderful incense and he gave me some post cards and a keitai (cell phone) charm as a souvenir present. Then, he told me about where I could get lunch, one train stop over in Shimizu, and sent me on my way.
The garden outside of the temple was amazing as well, and full of statues. Apparently there are 500 statues of Buddhist disciples in the garden. "The statues depict the students of the Buddha Syakamuni. Their facial expression are finely detailed and no two look alike."
Afterward I headed off to find some lunch. Shimizu is right on the coast and has a famous fish market called Kashino-ichi where tons of fresh fish are sold every day. In addition, there are several sushi and other seafood restaurant inside. The lines for the
restaurants were crazy! I waited almost half an hour at one restaurant,
labeled suspiciously "Seafood Restaurant," but it turned out to be a
branch of the place we eat lunch at every Saturday in Apita! I found
this out when the guy who was making all the bowls, handed me one and
said "Aeon Amity, desu ne?" which shocked me no end. Then I saw the
emblem on the bowl, which is the same as the Saturday place! Lol, of all
the restaurants I pick, I got one that was familiar! It was still
yummy, though!
I was so tired after eating that I finally headed back home, ending my trip around 4pm. My feet hurt sooo badly right now, but it serves me right for wearing heels. Tomorrow, flats or sandals only. In the morning I'm headed back to Shimizu to see the Tokai University Marine Science and Natural History Museums, and the Shimizu Marine Park. In fact, if I have enough energy (and if it's not too crowded, I might even see S-Dream Plaza (another famous spot, but I don't know if it's a theme park or what?)! Anyway, that's it for day one, hope you enjoy the pics!
Ja ne!
Shawna
Hello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Linda. I was googling 500 buddha statues Japan. I was trying to remember the temple I visited in 1972 when I was teaching English there. Your beautiful page popped up. Thank you so much for posting it. I hope you had (are still having) as wonderful a time as I had 40 years ago.