I am not a fallen leaf....

Trembling in autumn fog, 

blew off by the wind, 

drifting along the river,

with no choice of its own,

like that fallen leaf, 

life's driving me away,

I don't wanna move,

I am here to stay. 

I am still alive,
preserving the real me,

with numerous possibilities,
a soul longing for freedom,

and a life of my own,

Coz I am not a fallen leaf. 

-Anubha Shukla

A Visit to Chūson-ji temple at Hiraizumi

Entrance to the Chuson-ji Temple.

A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to visit Hiraizumi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tohoku region of Japan. It's a town located in Iwate prefecture and is famous for its temples, gardens and archaeological sites that represent the Buddhist Pure Land. I didn't get time to explore Hiraizumi (I am sure I will go there again) but I did visit Chūson-ji temple located in Hiraizumi which is the head temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism in Tohoku (northeastern Japan). 

Situated on the top of a hill named Kanzan, Chūson-ji was founded in 850 by a priest called Ennin (Jikaku Dashi). However, the large scale construction of the impressive temple complex was done by Kiyohira, the founder of the Oshu Fujiwara clan, in the 12th century. To some extent Kiyohira's story is similar to that of Ashoka the Great, the Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty who gave up war after the conquest of Kalinga and started practicing Buddhism. 

Kiyohira lost his wife and children at the hands of his own half-brother in an internal conflict to gain control of the powerful Kiyohara clan. This traumatic experience motivated him to create a peaceful society following the teachings of Buddha in Michinoku which was considered the remotest area of Tohoku region. He resolved to bring peace to the region and built Chūson-ji temple to comfort the souls of all those who died, whether friend or enemy, in bloody battles. Chūson-ji was the result of his dream to  establish a Buddhist Pure Land on earth which will be free from violence and strife. However, all structures at the Chuson-ji except Konjikidō hall were destroyed by fire in the 14th century. The temple was rebuilt by Date clan in 17th century. Date clan planted hundreds of trees that enhanced the beauty of the temple complex.  

Japan's stunning natural beauty is capable of attracting many tourists but strangely most of the foreigners prefer to visit the heavily industrialized areas around Tokyo and Osaka. Mountains, green spaces, rivers, lakes, sea, trees, beautiful autumn colours and cherry blossoms are some of the nature's immense blessings bestowed upon Japanese people. Over 70 per cent of Japan is covered by hills, mountains and forests whereas residential and industrial areas cover only 10 per cent of its land making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. If you visit Tokyo you will get to know what it means. 

Most of the places I visited here are close to nature and needless to say Chūson-ji was one of them. A long walk through the spectacular tree-lined path here will leave you in awe for sure. These breathtaking tree tunnels, while leading you to the historic structures at the Chūson-ji, will make you realize that sometimes the journey is more beautiful than the destination. Actually, it's true for most of the Buddhist shrines in Japan. Take Yamadera temple for example. To reach this mountain temple you will have to climb over a thousand steep stone stairs through the deep forest that makes the steep climb to the top worth it. 

I wanted to write more about Chūson-ji but as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words", so I will leave these beautiful pictures to speak for themselves. 

Tree-lined path at the Chūson-ji complex.  These trees were planted 300-400 years ago by the Date clan of Sendai.
Photo credit: Anubha Shukla

Entrance to the Konjikidō hall (on the right), completed in 1124, is the only 12th century structure to survive in its original form at Chūson-ji.  This hall is made up of gold and stands inside another building for protection. Inside the hall you will find many golden statues. Indeed, it's a breathtaking sight.  Since taking photographs inside the hall is prohibited I could not click the picture of the golden hall. 

While walking through the tree-lined path you find these statues.

It's a custom to wash your hands by pouring water from bamboo ladles before entering a shrine

It's an outdoor Noh stage. During the spring and autumn the monks and priests of the Chūson-ji perform 'Noh' here. Originated in the 14th century, 'Noh' is a form of theater that involves music, dance and drama.

View of Hiraizumi town from the Chūson-ji

Devotees praying at one of the sacred structures.

Mini shrine-like structures. each structure is dedicated to a Chinese zodiac sign

This is Hondō Main Hall. Chūson-ji is the name of both the complex and this principal temple hall where many services and rituals are conducted. At a given time atleast 20-23 monks work here.

How to get there

Take the JR Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Ichinoseki Station (via Sendai) that takes 2-2.5 hours and then the JR Tohoku Main Line from Ichinoseki to Hiraizumi (8 minutes). 

The Hiraizumi "Run Run" Loop Bus connects Hiraizumi Station to  Chūson-ji. It will take around 10 minutes and cost around 150 yen. So, if you are a good walker you can cover that distance on foot. Also, rental bicycles are available at Hiraizumi station. 

It's not easy to leave your roots

Chuson-ji Temple in Hiraizumi of Iwate Prefecture in Japan

It was May 16, 2014. India was witnessing a change, a change which I believed would place India at the forefront of development on world's map in the coming years. It wasn't just the change of the government. It was a change most of the Indians were waiting for and I was one of them. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) had swept Loksabha elections with 334 seats. NDA's PM designate Narendra Modi was all set to become the PM. Like millions of young people in India he symbolized hope for future and today he had finally arrived with a historic win. People who know me understand what it meant to me. At this happiest moment of my life I was sitting in Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, waiting for my flight to Tokyo. Japan was going to be my home for some time.

I was looking at the screens showing Mr. Narendra Modi addressing the people in Vadodara, Gujarat, for the first time after the massive win. I was watching everything with a heavy heart, not just because I won't be a part of this national celebration but because I would be away from my country and my people for a long time. No matter what people say, it's not easy to leave your roots. Sometimes we keep our loved ones at the periphery of our heart, we don't let them in to know how much we love them. Telling them that we are going to miss them badly might portray us as an emotionally weak person. We don't want that, do we? We are trained to hide our true feelings to look brave. 

Anyway, after an 8-hour flight I landed at the Narita International Airport and took JR Narita Express (NEX) train to reach JR Tokyo station. The Airport is around 64 km away from central Tokyo and the train takes about an hour to reach there. From Tokyo I took JR Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet train) to reach my ultimate destination- Sendai. Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi prefecture. The train covered over 300 km in 100 mins and I had already started feeling better about this country. But several thoughts didn't leave my mind. Being a vegetarian, how am I going to survive in this country? I don't even know a word of Japanese language. How would I interact with people? With most of the sign boards in Japanese how am I going to travel in case I want to travel alone? 

To be honest, there were times when I entered into a restaurant and struggled to tell the staff that I don't eat fish and meat. There were times when I took a wrong bus because I couldn't read the sign board at the bus stop. And there were times when it took me 45 mins to buy something because I could not read the name and the ingredients. First few weeks were not easy but I have to tell you that even if Japanese don't understand your language, they try their best to help you. They are the most polite, helpful and respectful people I have ever met. Besides, unlike India everything is so perfect here. Trains and buses are always on time, clean and safe streets, tree-lined roads, no traffic congestion and systems are in place. What else do you want to live a comfortable life? 

As Wendy Carlos said, "As human beings we do change, grow, adapt, perhaps even learn and become wiser."  I don't know about other things but gradually I have got adapted to this environment. I searched for places where I could get vegetarian food. Surprisingly, I have found out a completely vegetarian restaurant and a vegan cafe here. I learned commonly used Japanese words. I usually collect ample information (online or offline) about the place I am travelling to. I pack my lunch if I am going on a day trip to a place where there is no possibility of getting anything vegetarian. 

I am a travel freak and therefore before coming to Japan I searched on Google to know more about Sendai but didn't find much information about the places I could visit in and around the city. Since I live here now, I have explored some amazing places such as Matsushima, Aoba castle, Shichigahama beach in Tagajo, Akiu Waterfall (Akiu Otaki), Zao (Okama Lake) in last three months and I would try to write about them in this blog. 

While I write this post Indian PM Narendra Modi has completed his 5-day successful visit to Japan. During his high-level visit, he also addressed the Indian community living in Japan and said,"जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी" (Mother and motherland are greater than heaven). That took me back to the memories of May 16 as I repeat in my head, "No matter how comfortable your life is in a foreign land, it's not easy to leave your roots".