We got to Hakata in the evening, very tired... Maybe the week of traveling, moving daily from place to place was too much, but I think another factor was the rain. Moving about in rain makes it much harder, as one uses so much more energy than usual. Feeling weak, we went to an Izakaya, ordered lots of salads since both our bodies were craving it, and headed to bed relatively early.
Our impression of Hakata/Fukuoka was that it was another HUGE city, reminding us of Tokyo or Osaka- the skyscrapers, game centers, pachinko places and the countless restaurants and bars, could have been any of the big cities. It felt like it lacked personality and uniqueness, so we found somewhere a little further away to explore and found a truly unique place- the Nanzoin Temple.
博多によるに着いたときは二人とも、ぐったり…１週間の毎日の移動という旅の疲れもあると思うけど、そのとき続いてた雨も関係していると思う。荷物を背負いながら移動しているとき、雨が降っていると通常の何倍ものエネルギーを使うから。心身少し弱くなっていたので、食事は野菜をたくさん。ホステルの近くの居酒屋ですませ、早く寝た。
着いてからの博多の印象は、東京や大阪みたいな「都会」だということ。高いビルやゲームセンターやパチンコ店、数えきれないほどのレストランやバーは、どの都会とも変わらないから、博多にいる感覚があまり感じられなかった。あまり「町柄」が感じられないから、次の日は少し遠のいたところを散策。すると、本当にユニークな場所に出会えた。
南蔵院というところだ。
Nanzoin is a Buddhist temple located in Sasaguri, in eastern Fukuoka. It is also the first stop of the local 88 temple pilgrimage in the town, modeled after the famous Shikoku pilgrimage. It is a 1200km long pilgrimage that visits the 88 temples on Shikoku Island, that I would someday like to do...
We encountered mini-buddhas were all over the temple area- each subtly but significantly different from another. It was fun just to see them, getting to know each "personality". Every person that comes here, must find buddhas that resemble the people in their own lives.
南蔵院は篠栗に位置するお寺。そのエリアの八十八カ所巡りの最初のストップでもある。お遍路さんといったら有名なのはやっぱり四国だけれど、それもいつか是非やってみたい…
お寺の敷地に入ると、小さな大仏像がたーくさん、色々なところにおいてあった。ひとつひとつ、わずかだけど確かに違う。一人一人の顔と「性格」を見るのはとても楽しかった。訪れる人一人一人が、人生で出会った人をこの像たちによって思い出すんじゃないかと思う。
It was a beautiful space- buddhas, and ojizousans laid out all around the area, filled also with nature, including trees, rocks and waterfalls. They even had a cave looking rock that you had to climb through- a bit of an adventure inside that quiet environment. We were almost just the two of us, but it definitely felt like we weren't- it must have been all the gods and the spirits, following us.
とても美しい空間だった。大仏やお地蔵さんがあらゆる場所に、木や岩や滝といった自然に囲まれながら存在している。潜り込んで中を通る洞窟みたいな岩もあって、とても静かな環境の中での小さなアドベンチャーもあった。ほとんど私たちだけなのに、二人以上そこにいる感覚。神様や精霊が一緒だったのだと思う。
We also visited the Sleeping Buddha- 41m long, 11m high, and 300ton heavy, it is the biggest bronze statue in the world. It is bigger than the Statue of Liberty! (11.5m and 14 tons)
I think that the photo of this shows the size... it was even hard to find a place to put the camera to fit the whole buddha in the frame. We also got to see one of its hair-twirley looking things, each one weighs 35kg and looked huge close up...
同じ場所にいる寝そべる大仏様の涅槃物も見に行った。長さ４１m、高さ１１mに３００トンのその大きさは、ブロンズ像の中では世界一らしくて、アメリカの自由の女神より大きい（高さは同じくらいの１１．５m）
下にある写真を見てもらったら伝わると思う…大仏の全身をカメラのフレームに収められる場所を探すのも一苦労だった。大仏の髪の毛のクルクルも間近で見せてもらったけどすごく大きくて、一個３５kgすることも知った。
While writing this post and reading up on the place, I also learned that the sleeping buddha was made with a strong purpose- fearing that people are losing to be kind, only wishing for their own happiness, the monk built the buddha with the wish that people be reminded when they see it that we are able to live, by appreciating all the living things that surrounds us.
With the Buddha's peaceful facial expressions, I think the message is conveyed to people, each in its own way.
この投稿を書いている最中、寝釈迦様の事も少し調べたら建造された裏に特別な意味があることを知った。オフィシャルサイトから引用：
生きとし生けるものに感謝しつつ生きることができる、皆様の
「心のよりところ」になればと、という願いから建立された。
Before taking off we also made it to see the biggest WOODEN buddha in the entire world, situated in Hakata. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, so this one is from the internet. This one was also very very very big, with countless smaller buddhas stuck on the wall behind as well.
博多を後にする前に、世界で一番大きな木造の大仏も見に行った。残念ながら中では写真がとれないから、これはウェブから。こちらも、本当に本当に大きくて、後ろの壁には小さな仏像もたくさんついている。
Sara and I also went inside the Buddha- and walked the journey from hell to heaven.
Afterwards I found out this is a way to worship- going through the "womb" of the buddha... kind of a strange concept, but it was certainly an interesting one. When we came inside underneath the buddha, there was narration and a series of painting explaining the different worlds of hell. After seeing quite horrific drawings and descriptions of hell, we entered a path of COMPLETE darkeess. We hung on tight to one another, screaming, while taking one step at a time, after a few minutes of walking in a twirly path... we reached "heaven". It is difficult to describe the feeling of reaching light and heaven- there was certainly a sense of relief, happiness and appreciation, and I was quite impressed and awed with this whole experience.
サラと二人で、大仏の中にも入ってみて、地獄から極楽への旅を体験した。
その後読んで分かったのだけど、これは「胎内めぐり」とよばれる暗闇の中を歩いて参拝する一種の霊場だそう。なんだか奇妙な響きだけど、興味深かった。
大仏の胎内に入ると、ナレーションの声とともに、地獄図の絵が並べられていて、色々な地獄の説明が。その先を進むと真っ暗な闇の中。腕をきつく取り合って、二人で叫びながら、くねくねした道を真っ暗な中進んでいくと…やっと「極楽」へ到着。光と極楽に到達したときの気持ちは安堵感と幸せと感謝が交じった複雑な気持ちだけどそれよりも、思いもよらない経験に圧倒されちゃった。
After the very "buddhist" day, we satisfied our hungry stomachs with the famous Hakata Ramen- ramen with pork bone broth/soup. The set-up of the restaurant was interesting too, with booths for each customer, for the purpose of concentrating on the ramen. In your individual booth, there is a water pitcher, a manual how to best enjoy your bowl of ramen, and the staff serve you from a little window. Since the focus is solely on the ramen, you can only see the torso and hands, and hear your server... I never knew this kind of place existed and enjoyed the whole experience, including the yummy bowl of ramen! On the way out, we saw a family, and they had their walls folded away- and I was blown away by the japanese serving-spirit and flexibility to cater to all ages and demographics. If anyone is interested, this particular ramen restaurant has expanded all over the country with their unique style of serving. It is called "Ichiran".
とても「仏教」な一日を終え、すっかり空いたおなかを満たしに、有名な博多ラーメンを食べにいった。入ってびっくりしたのが、お店のセットアップ。ラーメンに集中するために、一人用のブースのようになっていて、セルフサービスで水をくめるやつもちゃんとついている。主役はあくまでもラーメンだから、働いている人の手とおなか部分しか見えないのもまた特別。こんな場所は初めてだったから、その環境もラーメンの味も含めてすべて楽しんだ。食べ終わって出る途中には子供連れの家族がいたのだけれど、集中用の壁を折り畳んで、みんなで食べていた。このような、様々な年齢層にもフレキシブルに対応してる日本のサービスにも感動。もし興味のある人は、「一蘭」へ、日本の色々な所に拡大しているそうです。
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