Increasing your physical strength by walking down the streets of Onomichi
Hi, I’m Danny.
I was influenced by my favorite TV show and decided to stroll along the streets of Onomichi, where I had wanted to visit for a long time.
Since I had come all the way to Onomichi, I knew it’s better to walk down the streets of the city. However, I was amazed to find out how steep the stairs were!!!
I spent a few seconds thinking and decided to walk down the streets on the way down.
So, I took the cable car up the mountain to get to the observatory in Senkoji Park.
https://www.ononavi.jp/sightseeing/showplace/detail.html?detail_id=410
It goes every 15 minutes. Only 30 people can go up or down at a time. I recommend you to get there at an early hour in the morning because of the traffic jam.
You don’t have to worry about time for those who can walk up the mountain.
You can have a spectacular view of Onomichi Channel from the top of the mountain. You can also look across the sweep of the city and the great beauty of the archipelago of Seto Inland Sea. The panorama is just breathtaking. I enjoyed the beautiful view.
And here, you will find signs that say, “let’s compose a haiku” and boxes where you can post your original ones.
Pencils are there to write with. Create a haiku, and let’s post it in the box♪
I went down the Path of Literature, Bungaku no Komichi in Japanese. First, I headed for Senkoji.
You can find stone monuments everywhere in the path. I could imagine why many poets wanted to compose a haiku.…
I was more interested in the huge rocks and the shape of gnarled bush though.
(A tree of a dog)
And finally, I got to Senkoji. There’s a stage like the famous Kiyomizu Temple.
Here, you can find huge rocks again. You can experience shugendo easily in the back of the temple. (shugendo: Japanese mountain asceticism incorporating Buddhist concepts)
You need to pay 100 yen, but you can climb up the rock.
Since I had come all the way to Onomichi, I decided to try it.
It looks like you can climb it easily, but it wasn’t! I started off on the wrong foot.
A kind local woman taught me to put my foot on the chain. I managed to climb it after putting my foot on the shaking chain. The rock was higher than I thought. It was scary because the chain was the only place where I could put my hands.
I climbed the rock testing the footing for each step.
I couldn’t think of anything else.
It’s truly the place for shugendo.
You don’t have to go down the rock after you reached the top, so don’t worry.
Go through the cemetery behind and you are back at the point where you started climbing.
If you are a woman and want to try it, be sure to wear pants that are suitable for climbing.
I wore jeans, but it was very difficult to climb and I broke into a cold sweat.
After training my mind at shugendo, I decided to go to Tenneiji as a next destination.
I kept going down the path. It was really fun!
You can find side streets here and there. Many small shops dot the streets.
“What is there down the street?” “What kind of shop is there?”
How exciting it is to take a quick side trip to the path that you don’t know!
It’s important to take the shortest way to your destination, but I realized it’s good to hang around as well. This place makes you relax.
You’ll arrive at Tenneiji after going through the path.
(Sanju-no-to, three-storied pagoda. There’s a little distance from hondo, the main hall of the temple.)
This temple was built in the Muromachi period.
I was surprised at its long history, but what surprised me most was Gohyakurakan, 500 Rakan Statues.
They stand in a line and they are slightly different in facial expression and size.
Furthermore, I was surprised to find out that you can experience zazen, sitting in silent zen meditation, for beginners and those with experience alike.
The place where you can experience zazen is the basement floor located beneath Gohyakurakan. You may be able to concentrate your mind because of the location.
If you are interested, just go and participate in it♪
※Every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 a.m.; Participation is free
(I had an experience of zazen before. I was thinking about what I’m going to have for my lunch during zazen… Ah, evil thoughts….)
Walking down the streets with many ups and downs, climbing up the rock of shugendo,
and strolling the shops around the stairs and the famous stone pavement of Onomichi…Onomichi was an excellent place to increase my physical strength.
