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We stopped at the local grocery store and loaded up on food. I ate like a king, a french king. I bought a loaf of french bread and some half decent cheese. I was really excited about the cheese, tasty dairy is hard to come by here for some reason. We sat at the foot of a mountain stream that flowed into bay.
Next we started up the mountain to look at some of the shrines and to check out the temple. At the entrance to the ascending stairs, this shrine greets you. It apparently can heal you if you pray here, and an offering of yen wouldn't hurt I suppose.
I think in Japan people are generally more tolerant of spiders. The webs are everywhere and people only knock them down if they are a major hinderance. This spider caught more than he could handle I think. Its an entire praying mantis.
After climbing the steps up, we round the corner to the temple and spy that its pretty packed with elderly people. I was peeking my head around when someone started yelling for us to come in. The priest, was saying prayers over some of the people and it seemed to be a reverent moment. So Tim and I were sort of shocked when this big guy jumps up and starts yelling at us and beckoning us in. So we clamored in, Tim and I trying to keep our heads down and remain respectful of the situation. The guy started making jokes loudly and flipping off the priest. I think he was trying to explain that we shouldn't flip off the priest. In Japan, the middle finger carries no negative connotation but he knew it would crack us up. Eventually everyone ignored the priest and started laughing at this guy and at the two foreigners who looked vaguely dazed.
To kick it off, I was pretty sure the guy teasing us had been drunk. So the priest was going around mumbling some prayers and fanning people with his book. He would then slam the book onto the backs of the people. He hit 3 times, once on the shoulders and once in the middle of the back. With the encouragement of the crowd he came and prayed over us and smacked us with the book. It was hearty smack! He was pounding on the elderly and feeble with the same force! It turns out that he was knocked the evil spirits out of us.
After the beatings the ceremony was ended and everyone gathered around some tables for sake, tea and rice balls.
Can you imagine drinking wine at church? What do they think they are, Catholic? Seriously though, they weren't shy with the sake. Anyway, we both said we were driving, and politely refused the drinks. And having eaten so much on minutes before I barely stuffed a rice ball down. As always, the crowd of people had endless questions for us, but we enjoyed their company, though we were pretty sure they were cracking some jokes at our expense. Tim was good enough to entertain them long enough for me to grab my camera. Interestingly, the men and women sat at different tables. We were warmly welcomed to sit with men.
After finishing up we picked up the tea and plates and such and headed out. We were taught how to pray on the way out though. This big bowl is full of sand. You kneel down in front and light two sticks of incense, place them into the big bowl, say a quick prayer and ring this little bell twice.
As we left, the priest saw everyone off by thanking them, blessing them, and inviting them back again. The sign here just says "Please watch your step."
After it was all finished the same chap who was jeering us and teaching us how to pray properly walked around with us. He showed us the fire saint and now knowing the proper motions, Tim and I offered up some incense to the fire saint. To explain that this statue was the fire saint our guide said "SANTA MARIA!" then made a motion with his hands that we had to assume meant fire.
Next he showed up some of the (apparently) oldest trees still standing in Kazusa. This is no small feat considering the area is home to an active volcano, earthquakes and severely limited space. Also the building that was next to the trees burned to the ground years ago but left the trees unscarred.
Afterward, Tim, Eric and I went to our guides house where his wife made us coffee tea and some deserts! We attempted chatting a bit and watched some TV. He invited other people over to see the crazy foreigners and we visited with them a bit. As we left, he gave us a huge bag of mikan, or japanese oranges. They are delicious and i think I've eaten over 20 in 2 days!
2 comments:
That sounds like an awesome outing! Do you speak the local language or do they speak english? Which guy in the picture was the one you talked about making jokes? Are you collecting any rock and minerals?
Most people don't speak English, we can use a little japanese and figure the rest out in context and trial and error. Its amazing how much you can communicate without spoken language. What rocks and minerals should I look for? Some japanite might be cool!
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