upward through many vermilion torii and tall cedars. The red wooden gates and banners near them are offerings to Inari, a popular god in folk belief, a shrine to whom is located at the top of the hill. To the left of the shrine, a hiking path leads in the direction of the Chichibu Folk Museum 秩父市立民俗博物館. Though it is a pleasant half-hour walk, particularly in the spring when forsythia or dogwood are in bloom, it is in the opposite direction from that of the next temple, so it might be best visited at another time. However, it will be introduced here in the hope that readers can take time to see it some day.
Housed in a charming Meiji-period, Western-style building, the museum was originally built in 1885 with funds donated by the French Minister to Japan. The old wooden museum annex is also attractive; it was originally the Chichibu Railroad Station. The museum’s main displays are based on the collection of utensils and farming tools donated by the late Bonkai Tajima, the monk of Temple 14. Other materials on display reflect the life of prewar silk merchants, and the Chichibu Rebellion of 1884. (Open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; closed Mondays, days following national holidays, and New Year holidays.) The cemetery in front of the museum is planted with many plum and cherry trees. A path on its right side leads to Temple 3 through cedar woods.
Leaving Temple 11, backtrack to the traffic light, cross Route 299, bear left (not a sharp left) and walk straight. Cross a small stream and take the first left. Continue straight ahead, crossing several small intersections. You should come to a red-and-white “no entry” sign and curved traffic mirrors. Although your destination is straight ahead, on a fine day you might enjoy an alternative route to the left, through Hitsujiyama Park 羊山公園 on the hill. Another suggestion is a short detour to the right to visit a landmark of silk industry in Chichibu. If time or weather permits neither of these options, skip the next three paragraphs and keep walking straight.
➩ If you turn right, and right again at the second crossroad, you will soon find a charming tile-roofed building with porte-cochere, formerly a prefectural research institute for quality control of local silk industry. The institute was closed down in 1998 and will be reopened shortly as a history museum and workshop to commemorate the glorious tradition of Chichibu silk. The exhibition will feature, among others, meisen, a taffeta-like fabric and special product of Chichibu, which enjoyed large sales until the 1960s. Originally makeshift of reject fibers after the fine quality yarn was sold to merchants, the crisp fabric for daily kimono had won popularity since the eighteenth century. Demand increased dramatically in the early twentieth century owing to technical improvement to create reversible fabric with decorative designs, an accomplishment by ingenious Chichibu weavers. Japanese working women in prewar years all wore meisen kimono at the office, but their modern counterparts prefer suits.
➩ The left turn will guide you to the top of the hill. As you climb you will notice a small pond with a water wheel on your left. It was built recently in memory of Wakayama Bokusui 若山牧水, a poet who visited Chichibu in the early twentieth century when the area was humming with the silk industry. He composed a waka, a thirty-one syllable poem, describing the neighborhood, which has been inscribed in a stone by the pond. A sign at the crest of the winding ascent points to a natural history museum and Yamato Art Museum やまとア一トミュ一ゾアム, respectively. If you like, take a short detour to the left to see a small, but good collection of woodblock prints by Shikō Munakata 棟方志功 (open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; closed Tuesdays). Just before these museums, a bronze statue of a man in formal kimono stands on a high pedestal to honor a local businessman, Manzō Kakibara 柿原萬造, described later in this section (see p. 59). Your main direction is to the right. Past a row of red torii, you will find a blue-and-white sign proclaiming “Antioch Park,” reflecting a sister-cities relationship between Chichibu City and Antioch, California. Opposite the sign is the Hitsujiyama Center, where snacks and refreshments are served. Just past it the road forks out into two. To go to Temple 12, take the right path by a small shrine, which descends rather abruptly. Turn left at the bottom of the hill, passing a small cemetery on the left, and then take the railway underpass to the left. A beautifully plastered white wall will soon be seen, behind which is Temple 12.
The left path is the start of the Kotohira Hiking Course 琴平ハイキングコ一ス, a very pleasant two-hour walk, through wooded, slightly rugged, ridges to Iwai-dō 岩井常, a mountaintop inner shrine of Temple 26 (or three hours on to Temple 27 Daien-ji 大渕寺). Interested hikers should go right at the end of the parking lot (with a toilet attached), take the next right fork and turn left at the 丅 crossing at the bottom. Cross a brook to the left, make a U turn and ascend to the left at two small shrines. When the zigzag ascent peaks tentatively at a ridge, go left. In about an hour you will pass by a stone monument inscribed with an epitaph to commemorate a military drill in 1904 (during the Japan-Russo War) in the foothills of Mt. Bukō. Beyond it, a shrine with a torii facing Mt. Bukō is dedicated to Oyamazumi-no-kami, the guardian god of mountains. Many azaleas bloom in May around here. The trail winds to the left and leads to a flat area, the site of a legendary king’s residence and a good view spot. You will continue along the ridge, hugging the bottom of large rocks. The cinnabar-colored roof seen through woods ahead is of Iwai-dō, your destination, but you have to first climb up a steel ladder to the right and at the top, take a detour to the right for a quick visit to an ascetic monks’ disciplining post on a rock. The precariously built wooden skeleton somehow seems to be filled with dense fog of mysticism. Backtrack to the top of the ladder and go left all the way around rocks to reach the bottom of Iwai-dō on stilts. To return, descend with Iwai-dō on your back and take the stone steps dropping straight to the right. You will come out to a factory compound, where you should turn left and past the guards station, go right and immediately left. At a T crossing with a larger road, turn right and cross the railroads ahead on the left. At Kagemori Station 影森駅 off to the left of the railroads, buy a ticket to Ohanabatake 御花畑, one stop, and take a train leaving from track two. From Ohanabatake Station, walk back to Seibu Chichibu Station to return to Tokyo.
Pilgrims who continue straight from the crossing with the rea-and-white “no entry” sign will pass by a charming Jizō on a pedestal on the left. Notice the sun, moon, and old characters on the stone marker for pilgrims to the left of the Jizō. Around the corner to the left is the ryokan Hiyoshi 比与志, if you want to spend the night. If not, keep walking after passing under the bridge for the Seibu Railroad, and turn left at a white rectangular sign with kanji characters for Nosakaji 野坂寺. The weathered front gate of Temple 12 is seen ahead. (If you are beginning the second day with Temple 12, go right from Seibu Chichibu Station to reach Route 140. Cross it and turn right. Past the pedestrian bridge, turn left at the next traffic lights. Turn right at the 丅, passing under the Seibu Railroad tracks and look for the rectangular sign for Nosakaji.)
Entering through a charming two-story wooden gate, you walk into the well-tended compound of Temple 12, NOSAKA-JI 野坂寺. This temple basks in the sunshine, as well as in the favor of its worshippers. The large main building is very impressive. The monk’s living quarters to the left (where temple inscriptions may be obtained) is often busy with visitors. The well in the garden is known for good spring water filtered through rocks of the hill behind the temple, and many people come to draw the water. The water is the manifestation of Kannon’s blessings, and the reason for the temple’s location here, according to the abbot of this temple, Abbot Arai. An accomplished Zen priest trained at Nanzenji temple in Kyoto, he believes in irksome daily chores as a mental and moral discipline. He sweeps the garden himself after a morning service to the Kannon every morning at five. A tradition he has started here is the unique celebration of O-bon (see p. 148). On the evening of August 16, the last day of the festival of the dead, a tall tower of lighted paper lanterns is set up in the compound, with more lanterns hung on railings at its base. At 6:00 p.m. all the participants join the abbot in chanting the Hannya shin-gyō, praying that their ancestors’ spirits will return safely to the other world after a short stay with the living during O-bon. It is very touching to see hundreds of illuminated white lights shine softly in the darkness of night, as
