A place to reflect, ramble, and rofl at adventures from my study abroad in Nihon...
Honestly, there could be shenanigans.

4.4.10

Day 6: An Appoggiatura on Hiei-zan




Hiei-zan at last...

Friday morning we got up early, and it looked like the weather was going to work in our favor. (Mostly sunny, according to weather.com.) We took a few buses to reach the the base of Hiei-zan and waited at the cable car station for it to come back down.
The view of Kyoto going up the mountain in the cable cars was pretty breathtaking.

It was a much less laborious than the climb up Kurama-yama was the day before. And the walk back down the mountain was much less damp. Although it precipitated slightly less than the day before--only a little bit, mostly in the afternoon. And when it did, it snowed. Which is strange, for almost-April. But then, it still gets pretty frigid here in Kyoto, especially at night.




It even left some ice crystals on the ground.

A graveyard overlooking quite a spectacular view...
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we're approaching the Jodo-in temple en route to Enryaku-ji's main grounds...


Biology interlude! I can't help it. Fugus (perhaps lichen) is exciting. Orange fungus, doubly so.
 A peek inside Jodo-in
And here we met Jogyo-do and Hokke-do. The sort-of-bridge between them was once lifted by a monk. Clearly a very strong monk. I don't know why he did it yet.
Going down the stairs past these temples was Shaka-do, where it began to snow while the sun were still out. We took refuge inside for a few minutes, where a bikuni signed the nokyo-cho. When we came back out, it had stopped snowing, for then at least.
The belfry at Shaka-do
 
It's a little hard to see the snow here...
Then we turned back the way we came, walked back up to the main road, and continued on towards Toudou, the East Pagoda, where the main buildings of Enryaku-ji stand. As we approached Amida Hall, it began to snow again, pretty hard this time.
 
A long time ago, Enryaku-ji was an enormous complex of temples, whose warrior monks were used as mercenaries; sometimes they protected the old capital of Kyoto, sometimes they invaded to enforce their own demands. They became such a powerful and influential institution that eventually Oda Nobunaga, a warlord, decided they were a significant rival and threat. His forces destroyed most of the Enryaku-ji and its monks. The buildings that stand today were rebuilt in the 1500-1600s.

Ben showed us how to pray at the belfry...
 
Another stunning view of Kyoto from near the belfry
 
Looking down a looong steep set of stairs towards one of the main temples

Enryaku-ji is the center of Tendai Buddhism, and Hiei-zan is famous for its "marathon monks." These monks practice and extreme form of ascetic training called Kaihougyou. One of the challenges involves a 1000-day marathon: over the course of seven years, they must walk a certain number of kilometers. During the last few years, the number of kilometers and the number of days they must walk are increased. In their fifth year, they also have Doiri, a nine-day period of fasting (including water) and no rest--only praying. Many monks in training die attempting the 1000-day challenge, and less than 50 monks have completed this training since the 1580s.


On a much lighter note, Robert and I went back to the Kyoto Handicrafts center that evening, after a little rest, to pick up a few things he'd been eying when we visited earlier. On the way were a few interesting sights...When crossing the bridge from the bus stop, we saw a ton of eagles by the river.
...I suppose the people were out fishing that evening as well.
Also saw an older lady with slate-blue hair. (Since then I've seen quite a few older ladies with strange colors faded in their hair. Nick, another student from the home university, told me he thought they probably messed up their dye jobs.)