Takahata, Yamagata Jun, 2019
Kameoka Monjyu, Nekonomiya and cold beer
I made a visit to Takahata, a town of some 22,000 people bordering Yonezawa city to its west in Yamagata prefecture. They produce rice on the flat areas and peaches, pears, apples, grapes, cherries, etc., on the hilly areas. Takahata town is the largest producer of ”Delaware grapes” in the nation. With its abundant gifts from nature, the town has been called as “Mahoroba” in an ancient Japanese word, or a fertile land surrounded by hills and Mountains. My grandmother of my mother’s side was originally from this town. My mom and her siblings evacuated from Yokohama to the town during the wartime around 1945. Her cousins are still living in the town. I went to a driving school in Yonezawa during the winter break for some four weeks when I was around 22 years old. I remember I passed through Kameoka Monjyu-do, a Buddhist temple enshrining the Monju Bodhisattva during an on-the-road driving lesson. I never thought I had any connections with this town back then. Fast-forward 36 years, I am putting my footprints at the town finally now.
My mom passed away all of sudden in the last summer. I decided to take the pod of her ashes and visit her cousin with my younger brother by his car in a trip of one night and two days. Their house is not far from Kameoka Monju. There are Nekonomia, the cat shrine and Inunomiya, the dog shrine near their house. Before visiting the family, we visited Kameoka Monju. The Shingonshu sect temple “Daishoji temple” is widely known as Kameoka Monju, a temple enshrining Manjushri Bodhisattva, a Bhudda of Wisdom. Kameoka is listed one of the three prominent Manjushri Bodhisattva temples with Abe Monju inn, Nara and Kireto Monju, Kyoto. The temple is believed to grant people wisdom. Those who are taking examinations or something come to visit for the divine benefits. I just walked up the slope toward the temple watching statues of Rakan Buddhist saints along the side in the quiet forest of Cider trees.
We stayed at a inn ran by a local near JR.Takahata station at the night. After we checked in, we walked to the station and used a public bath house there. Then, we found a local pub “Jizo” , guardian deity, for dinner. We had some cold beer and dishes and called it a day. The next morning, we had breakfast at the inn. The owner brought a nice Japanese style breakfast to the dining table with steaming hot boiled rice in a rice bowl.