Temple Countdown

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So it is likely that 2007 will be marked as one of my most memorable New Year’s. The experience felt in many ways, very authentically Japanese. Or at least, as authentic as you can get with 4 geijin and a monk.

The evening started at Brian’s house in Kurahashi, sipping on wine and eating cake and strawberries. Just before 11pm, we ventured up to the monk’s temple and residence. “The monk” is actually a friend of Brian’s, another ALT in the Kure area. Brian lives in what we call “the inaka”, otherwise known as “rural Japan”, or “living in the middle of nowhere”. (I am exaggerating here - Brian's "inaka" includes an onsen, rec centre and a number of other facilities and conveniences). The monk spoke excellent English. (By day he is a computer teacher who used to make frequent trips to the United States for business).

We ventured up to the temple and monk's residence, climbing 108 steps to get there. We were invited in by the monk and his wife, eating traditional Japanese snacks and hanging out. After some chatting and sake drinking we proceeded outside to hit the temple bell 108 times. Now when I say bell, I am talking a 5ft by 3 ft gong. In Buddhism it is believed that humans have 108 worries (and if you know me well, you know that I can really relate to this). As the bell was rung, people from the community started to assemble and take their turn at taking the huge wooden log used to ring the bell. Every time the bell was rung, the monk's son proceeded to throw a seed in the fire that had been made nearby. At one point his son's accuracy on the number counting was questioned, but it in the end, it seemed to all work out. Mid-way through the bell ringing, the monk went into the actual temple and performed the New Year's ceremony. Brian and James, very interested in the ritual, were actually invited to step into the temple to join the monk. I think this made James' day.

One of the best parts of this whole ritual is the sake drinking that takes place throughout the entire ceremony. The first drink was sake with remnants of sake sludge. It took a bit to get down. Afterwards we drank sake with gold flecks in it - definitely a treat. After everything was finished we went back to the monk's residence. His wife brought more food and we continued to eat and talk for the next hour.

We then all went back to Brian's and slept until 5am. We woke up and then got ready to climb up a nearby mountain in time to watch the first sunrise of the year. Once we reached the top, we were joined by several other people from the community taking part in the tradition.

After watching the sunset, we ventured back down, having a Japanese breakfast at the monk's house and then making our way to the local onsen.

So yes, a very fantastic and memorable new years!

P.S. Photos are compliments of James!

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Photos

WOO HOO
An early morning rise for an early morning climb.

strike #82
It's a joke... the bell is hit 108 times over the course of an hour or so. The number 108 represents the number of human worries people carry with them. The rining of the bell symbolizes washing these worries away for the New Year.

View from the top
Here we are at the top of the mountain looking down on Kurahashi.

Comments

[Alison]

What an incredible experience! The sunset looks beautiful. I would've loved to bring in the New Year that way!