Report on the TENGU Tour held on 9 September 2023

 It was drizzling in the morning and was a little cooler after the heavy rain caused by Typhoon No. 13 while the moisture in the air prevented us from enjoying a clear view from Mt. Takao.

 Our guests are six (6) trainees from various countries (i.e., Cambodia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lao-PDR and Papua New Guinea) to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan International Forestry Promotion & Cooperation Center (JIFPRO).  Our guests are attended by two (2) people each from JICA and JIFPRO.　TENGU team consisted of Nabe-san, Keita-san, Ken-san and myself as a tour leader.   So, our tour members consisted of four-teen (14) people in total.

 Although we were originally scheduled to meet our guests at 10:00 am in front of the Takaosanguchi Station, the bus arranged by JICA/JIFPRO was caught in a traffic jam and their arrival was delayed by almost two (2) hours, which was unfortunate.　Eventually, we took a cable car leaving Kiyotaki Station at noon after we introduced to each other very quickly. 

After the six (6) minute cable car ride, we found that everything was enveloped in a fog or mist.　By that time, we had already decided to give up the idea of going up to the peak of the mountain.

After guiding our guests on Monkey Park, Octopus Cedar Tree, Flora of Mt. Takao (including its rich biodiversity thanks to the geographical location, geological features, etc.) and Joshin-mon Gate, it’s almost lunch time.

Then, we moved on to the peak of Jimben-yama (Jimben Hill), a little elevated place between Trail No. 1 and Trail No. 4 where there is a newly established memorial monument for forestry martyrs.

 During the lunch time, one of our guests was looking at me eating an onigiri rice ball with great interest.  If fact, he asked me if a piece of black paper wrapping a rice ball is edible at all. I explained to him that a black paper　like one is a kind of seaweed called “nori”, that Japanese people eat many kinds of seaweed and that　each seaweed has a different name, respectively.

Actually, he had already finished his rice ball lunch assuming a piece of black paper is a part of wrapping materials.  As he was fully aware of our “Don’t leave any garbage behind” campaign at Mt. Takao, he still kept a piece of black paper as a part of the garbage he should bring back to the JICA Dormitory.  Then, understanding that a piece of black paper is a part of his lunch, he started eating it with a nice smile!  I was happy to see that!

After spending some twenty (20) minutes there, around 1:10 pm we moved back to Trail No. 1 around the Jimben-do which is dedicated to En-no Gyoja, the founder of Shugendo for some guiding there.

 At the fork in Trail No. 1, I tried to convince our guests to take an easy route nicknamed “women’s slope”, saying that they appeared to be free from the 108 worldly desires.

 Unfortunately, our guests were full of energy (and full of worldly desires?) and were willing to follow the more challenging route nicknamed “men’s slope” involving the 108 stone steps to eliminate their 108 worldly desires.

 Then, we moved forward on Trail No. 1 guiding on the list of contributors, huge old cedar trees, Shitenno-mon (the Gate of Four Heavenly Kings), etc. on the way to the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple.

Guiding and spending some time in the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple, in front of the living quarters of monks, we were able to witness the procession of Buddhist monks on the way to their 5th performance of Buddhist fire ritual called “Goma Fire Ritual” starting at 2:00 pm at the main hall of Yakuo-in Temple.

After looking at the procession of Buddhist monks and mountain priests, some of our guests asked us how Buddhist temples are financially supported, what is the population of Buddhist and Shintoist like, etc.

 In the course of answering their questions, our explanation to the effect that it is said that Japanese people are born as a Shintoist and die as a Buddhist and that the aggregate of the population of Buddhist and Shintoist in Japan is some 1.5 times of the Japanese population might have been surprising and interesting to them.

 Then, going through Nio-mon (the Gate of Heavenly Kings), we moved on to the main hall of Yakuo-in Temple where our guests were listening to the monks chanting Buddhist sutra during the Goma Fire Ritual.

 The final destination was the Izuna Gongen-do Hall in this tour.  We explained the comparison between the main hall of Yakuo-in Temple and the Izuna Gongen-do Hall, etc.

 We left the Izuna Gongen-do Hall around 2:30 p.m. 

 On the way back, we took the same route except that we detoured by visiting Yuki-en (literally, Joiful Garden) where we saw the Thai style white stupa and the bronze statue of Izuna Daigongen, the ruler of Mt. Takao.

 

Then, for a change, we took a chair lift from the Sanjo Station to the Kiyotaki Station, which might have been more exciting to our guests.

We came back to the foot of the mountain around 3:45 p.m. and took a group photo with our guests again in front of the cable car station, which was the end of the tour.

 

　Written by Shiro

Dated: 11 September 2023