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Published: March 15th 2014
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Rice Field Outside Dazaifu
On the long walk in the morning. March 13, 2014
Dazaifu
I made it to Dazaifu easily after my misadventure yesterday. It was a bit of a walk from the train station in a light rain, as I walked around the rural outskirts to the east side of the city, planning to pass through the area east to west and catch a different train station home. It was a pretty walk, though, with the clouds hanging low on the mountains and whips of clouds rising from the densely forested hills.
After at least an hour of walking, I made it to the Kyushu National Museum, a magnificent blue glass building the rose out of the forest as I descended down a hillside. The first floor exhibit was free of charge, and I examined some displays of archeological sites and an exhibit of wood statues of bodhisattvas. I would have liked to see more of the museum, but decided to keep moving so as to get to some of the ruins I intended to visit. The friendly dossier told me recommended that I come back on a day where the whole museum is free, which I would like to do if time permits.
Clouds Rising From Forest
Long walk in the morning. After that, I made my way to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. After crossing an arched bridge called the “Taiko Bridge,” though I’m not sure why it was called that, I entered into the busy temple complex and got another shuin stamp. A lot of times the calligrapher works quietly and behind a glass window to protect their work from the wind, but this time the young man talked to me and asked where I was from. He then told me that after he had finished college, he spent a month in the United States bussing across the country, so it was a little bit of a parallel to what I was doing. After we had said goodbye and I was on my way, he came running out after me in the rain in his white robes and gave me a map in English. It was a very kind gesture of him.
I had planned to go to a nearby Zen temple, but as I left the shrine I saw some steep stone steps leading up the hillside so I decided to check it out. It led me to a train that went up the hillside so I kept following
Kyushu National Museum
Botanical gardens surrounded the museum. it. It was just this mysterious empty trail through the forest. Eventually, it took me to this small shine up on the hill with a fox theme. Behind the main shine, there was a little cave with an alter covered in small ceramic foxes. Rice and salt were left in little plates before the foxes. It was just so surreal to have wandered into this place. As I was leaving, though, more people came, and it appeared that there was a more conventional path that came up from Dazaifu Tenmangu underneath a series of arches.
I decided to continue to explore the forest path and followed it further up until I came across a grove of ume trees. I met two construction workers there who were joking with each other when I came down from the forest in the rain. I think they tried to joke with me, but I couldn’t understand, so had to explain that I didn’t understand. I did understand when they told me they were ume trees and not sakura, though.
From the groves I walked down hill and came across another temple. I looked around but it was empty and mostly closed off.
Taiko Bridge
Leading to Dazaifu Tenmangu. I realized that it looked more like an everyday church where people do church stuff instead of tourist stuff, so I left it in peace.
After that, I went by what looked like an abandoned amusement park, but I think it was just closed because of the rain. The little kids’ rides sill made sounds every so often, which was kind of eerie. It reminded me of Spirited Away. Then the mailman showed up on a motorbike and dropped off mail, which made it really not eerie at all.
I went back towards the Dazaifu Tenmangu area and stopped by the Komyozenji Zen temple. It was closed but they had one garden open that I looked around. It was really beautiful and I was the only one there, so there was no pressure to keep moving like there had been in Kyoto, so I was able to take my time and enjoy it.
After that, I continued to the other side of town across the river, where I stopped at the Kazenoji Temple and the Kadanin Hall, the former that had been one of the oldest and most influential temples in Kyushu. What’s there today had been
mostly rebuilt, and all that remained from the old days was the giant Bonsho Bell and some relics they had in a little museum there, which I passed as the day was drawing closer to a close.
Behind the temples, though, I saw a path leading up through some giant trees up a little hill. It looked like a scene from Totoro, just this giant tree behind some fields with steps leading up behind it. I climbed up and found a small, tranquil shrine up there. It seems like there are little shines all over the place in Japan. Even on the trains, looking out the window, the landscape is dotted with old cemeteries and shrines on the edges of sprawling urban areas.
Lastly, I went to the site of the Dazaifu Government Offices from when the city was the ancient capital of Kyushu. You could see the stones that served as the bases of building in this giant empty field. It looked like it would be an interesting archaeological site to excavate, though I’m sure it already has been. I had wanted to some more ruins, but I realized that I would miss my train home if
Koi
Outside Dazaifu Tenmangu. I didn’t hurry back.
So I ended up running a few kilometers to the train station, but I ended up running too far and made it to the next train station instead. I missed my intended shinkansen and had to catch the next one. I was supposed to be back so that I could go to dinner with Ellen and one of her friends. When I made it back, they were just about to leave without me, which would have been preferable to making them wait. We ended up biking to a yatai stand, stands that are set up at night and then taken down in the morning, which is pretty impressive since they have a kitchen and all. We had ramen and beer. I was surprised to find that he made a vegetarian ramen, so it was my first ramen in Japan. Very good.
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