of number one was a crowning glory.
The part of the building on the left, as you face it, is used as a shop and inscription counter for pilgrims. Press the buzzer on the pillar if no one is around. (At some temples, a bell is used instead of a buzzer.) Rosaries, nōkyōchō (books for collecting temple seals and inscriptions), as well as complete pilgrim outfits may be purchased here. Some pilgrims collect temple seals on a scroll with an image of Kannon painted at the center, still others on a simple cotton vest called oizuru (or, oizuri), both of which are available here. Originally, seals and inscriptions served as acknowledgment of sutras chanted by pilgrims as offerings to the temple’s Kannon. However, nowadays it is permissible to omit the sutra and request that a seal and inscription be entered in your nōkyōchō for a small fee, an offering to Kannon. If you want to do your temple book, here is an important tip. To save on waiting time, submit your book (with the fee) upon arrival at each temple and pick it up as you depart.
A bronze statue placed before the Kannon hall to the left of the entrance was stolen and was missing for more than seventy years. It was subsequently found in a Tokyo antique shop and, with the support of publicly raised funds, was purchased and returned to the temple. As you leave, you will notice an attractive building outside the gate to its right. It is a minshuku (small inn) named Hatago Ichiban 旅籠一番, named after the Number One temple.
To reach Temple 2, take the narrow road across the street to the left of the minshuku. Follow the right fork to cross the bridge over the small river, and continue until you come to a small roadside shrine at a fork, with a stone marker for pilgrims to the left of the stairs. Throughout your pilgrimage, you should look for these old stone markers (some are indicated on the maps with a ◊) showing the direction to the next temple. Many were donated by dedicated pilgrims and monks to help others find their way. Temple 2 is located up in the mountains off to the left. If, however, conditions are unfavorable for hiking in woods, you may wish to opt for a faster alternative to Kōmyō-ji just for inscription in your temple book. If you turn right, you will return to the bus stop, from where you should walk straight for about twenty minutes. You will pass by two schools along the way and arrive at a bus stop for the entrance to Kōmyō-ji 光明寺 in front of a liquor and food store called ARAMASU on the left. Turn left and left again between two metal fences to reach the temple.
To follow the authentic pilgrimage road, take the left fork at the roadside shrine and continue your hike through the fields, crossing another road. Keep to the left. The road gradually ascends, and cedar woods replace terraced fields. It is not an easy climb; consider it an initiation into the discipline of the pilgrimage. After about twenty minutes the overhanging trees suddenly recede and a large square sign on the right says, “Temple 2 二番.” Do not turn here, however. Take the next path to the right to arrive at SHIMPUKU-JI 真福寺.
No one lives here. Calm prevails. In early spring plum and cherry trees are in full bloom against remote mountain ranges in a haze. In the valley below, clusters of farmhouses snuggle comfortably together. Originally built in the Edo period, the hilltop Kannon hall survived a fire at the end of the nineteenth century. The eaves are attractively carved, and the many senja-fuda left by pilgrims attest to the popularity of the hall. In the dim light through the narrow openings of the slatted doors one can see hundreds of stuffed-cloth dolls dangling from above. Called saru, these small figures are believed to have magical powers to dispel human suffering. Women living in the communities under the temple’s patronage make them as offerings to Kannon. The hall is dedicated to a Kannon statue rendered in the sixteenth-century style, but it is usually kept out of sight in an inner shrine.
For your inscription, you must visit Kōmyō-ji, which administers several temples in this area. From the Kannon hall, take the stone steps directly in front of the temple down the hill and follow the path first to the right and then immediately left as it descends. The concrete downhill road is quite steep at first and passes through some woods. Past two farmhouses on the left, the road curves, and a wooden post with a small red metal sign points the way to Kōmyō-ji 光明寺, to your right. Take the narrow path and you will see a large tree on the right, with a sign explaining that it is a five-hundred-year-old kin-mokusei, a kind of sweet olive that bears small flowers of intense sweet fragrance in late autumn. When the path joins the road, turn right. Continuing along the road for about ten minutes, you will cross two bridges. Bear right at the end of the second bridge. Soon you will pass a factory on your right, a two-storied, cream-colored building. Turn right between the metal fences and you will come to a stately new temple with a spacious garden. This is Kōmyō-ji. The inscription can be obtained in the building to the right of the main hall.
Leaving Kōmyō-ji, return to the road you came in on and turn right toward the crossroads, which is the bus stop for the entrance to Kōmyō-ji. Cross the busy main road, walk straight and turn left at the 丅 junction. Past a large hotel, Hotel Miyama ホテル美やま, on the other side of the river, cross a relatively large bridge off to the right of the road. This area in the valley of the Yokoze is one of the seven locations in Chichibu famous for mineral-water springs. Near here are several ryokan, including the now-Westernized Hotel Miyama, that feature mineral-water baths. They have been quite prosperous since the middle of the Edo period. From the bridge you can observe the excellent riverside location of Hotel Miyama, combined with the comforts of a modern hotel. Pilgrims should turn left after the bridge and follow the red arrows in simple wooden signs pointing to Temple 3 三番.
Located on a quiet hillside, Temple 3, JŌSEN-JI 常泉寺 harbors a simple, stately main building and an attractive Kannon hall to the left. The inscription may be obtained at the building to the right of the main hall as you face it. The small Kannon hall is elaborately decorated with intricate carvings of birds and dragons under a pointed copper roof. The curved beams under the roof of the front porch represent two dragons, one ascending and the other descending, providing a good example of art and function in one. The Kannon hall was originally built in the compound of Chichibu-jinja during the late Edo period, presumably with handsome donations from wealthy silk merchants. Shortly, the feudal age was terminated, and the Buddhist Kannon hall on the Shinto shrine premises was forced out in the wake of the enforced separation of Buddhism and Shintoism as part of the Meiji modernization program. The hall was thus moved here in 1870. A pond between the two buildings is bordered by irises, azaleas, and hydrangeas, providing in the summer vivid contrast to the surrounding green. A trail from the cemetery behind the Kannon hall leads up on your left to the top of the hill, where you can hike to the Chichibu Folk Museum. In the summer when the grasses grow over the path, the course may be a little hard to follow.
I recall what an old friend told me while pausing here on a visit. She said, “Some years ago, I was told that anger and hatred are counterproductive. One’s own feelings are ultimately reciprocated. If you dislike someone, that person will dislike you in return. It’s a vicious circle. Conversely a good circle can be established that will make you feel happier. I was fed up with my awful mother-in-law, but there was no way for me to break away from her. So I tried hard not to get irritated, but to feel more relaxed when I was with her. Her attitude began to change gradually and, although it took a great deal of time and patience, she is more appreciative of me now. It’s amazing how it works. My friends, too, have become kinder and more considerate. It is as if a good wind began to blow by believing in good and trying to make it happen.” Having known this person for years as a rather intellectual realist, I was surprised by her story. However, after she had cited many other examples of relationships changed for the better, I became convinced of her spiritual transformation, and I agreed with her statement that she was “riding a jet stream of good.”
When you are ready to leave, return to the riverside entrance to the temple. If you were to go right, you would come to Yamada Onsen 山田温泉, a Japanese inn with a barbecue lunch area in the compound. Backtrack to the large bridge and re-cross it. A foolproof route to the next temple is via the main road. However, to avoid the often heavy traffic, turn right immediately after the bridge and cross the smaller bridge. A narrow road curving to the left leads to a shrine called Tsunemochi-jinja 恒持神社. The shrine is usually very
