Our guests were a quartet from
Philippines (i.e., one (1) lady and three (3) gentlemen) who appear to be
co-workers at the office of a Japanese company in Manila.
In front of Takaosanguchi
Station
TENGU guides included Rie and Shiro (myself)
as tour leader. On the way, we took a chairlift around
10 am and then followed Trail 1 which is the front approach to Yakuo-in Temple,
the main religious structure located halfway up the mountain.
At Chairlift
Sanjo Station
Although the weather was reasonably
good, we were not able to have a clear view of either high-rise buildings in
Shinjuku, Tokyo Skytree, etc. from Sumika-mae Observation Deck, the Pacific
Ocean from Kasumidai Observation Deck or the graceful figure of Mt. Fuji from
the peak of Mt. Takao.
At Chairlift
Sanjo Station
Having said that, otherwise, our guests
were very lucky in that 20 April 2025 is the 3rd Sunday of April which
falls on the Spring Festival of Yakuo-in Temple.
Accordingly, it was a very eventful day
at Mt. Takao.
Luckily, on the way, we had
opportunities to take photos with some of the mountain priests and one of the
lion dancers. In fact, the lion dancer
was one of our guide fellows of TENGU.
With some of
the mountain priests in front of 11-chome Tea House
At Kasumidai
Observation Deck with one of the lion dancers who are just ready to perform
We guided our guests stopping at usual landmarks
including Tako Sugi (Octopus Cedar Tree), Joshin-mon tri-i gate (Gate of
Purified Heart) moving on to Otoko-zaka (Slope for Men).
Touching the statue of Lucky
Octopus for diving blessings
In front of
Joshin-mon tri-i gate
Just after
choosing the more challenging Otoko-zaka
Although we are aware that at Yuki-en (Joyful
Garden), where there is a photogenic white Thai style stupa, the outdoor Goma Fire Ritual was scheduled for the
afternoon, our time schedule did not allow us to stay there until the ritual
performance unfortunately.
At Yuki-en
(Joyful Garden) with the Thai-style white stupa as the background
Outdoor Goma
Fire Ritual held from 1 pm at Yuki-en which we failed to see
Just after leaving Yuki-en, we saw the
procession of mountain priests, well-dressed children, supporters of Yakuo-in
Temple, some of the local Boy Scout members, a trio of lion dancers one of who
was one of our guide fellows, which was very much impressive.
A procession of
mountain priests
Taiko drumming, which is an essential
element of Japanese festivals, played in the open space close to Shitenno-mon (the
Gate of Four Heavenly Kings) was also great and really impressive.
Taiko Drumming
performance
In front of Shitenno-mon
(Gate of Four (4) Heavenly Kings)
Guests trying
to multiply their coins by washing them in the divine water with the help of Eight
Dragon Kings
In front of
Nio-mon Gate (Gate of Two (2) Heavenly Kings)
In front of the main hall of Yakuo-in
Temple one of our guests asked me an interesting question looking at the Head
Priest escorted by a pair of well-dressed children in the procession.
He was very curious about the identity
of those children.
When I responded to him that they would probably
be children of some of the ordinary citizens or supporters of Yakuo-in Temple who
applied for the participation in the procession.
It turned out that he suspected that some
of the monks of Yakuo-in Temple might be their father(s). Could anyone give us the truth?
Head Priest of
Yakuo-in Temple escorted by a pair of well-dressed children
With the lion
dancer who just finished his job
At Izuna
Gongen-do Hall
After we spent some time in the grounds
of Yakuo-in Temple, we got to the peak of the mountain where we had lunch much
later than usual at 1 pm.
Although the peak of Mt. Takao was still
very much crowded, partly thanks to a little late lunch time we managed to find
one (1) lunch table enough for six (6) people, which was good.
After having lunch, we took group photos
at the peak of Mt. Takao and left there around 2 pm.
At the peak of
Mt. Takao
On the way back, we followed a different
route going through the suspension bridge on Trail 4.
At the suspension bridge
Although we originally planned to take a
cable car on the way back for a change, we found that our guests wanted to take
a more exciting chairlift again.
Taking a
chairlift again
We came back to the foot of the mountain around 3 pm and
then took the group photos involving our other guide fellows in front of the
cable car Kiyotaki Station, which was the end of the tour.
In front of
Kiyotaki Station
Dated: 21 April 2025
Written by Shiro
