The morning cool makes it feel earlier than it is, due to a light breeze blowing off the bay, and the shade of the canopy spreading massively above. A couple of the camphors of Asuka Jinja would have been saplings around the time that the nobility began passing by in their finery. It was shirtsleeves...
On the Ise-ji, Yakiyama terrifies most. The height and length of the pass are well out of scale from that of anything else on the entire walk. Getting an early start out of Owase is a good idea, and the road leading from town is narrow and straight but for a long detour around the...
There is something wonderful about walking low passes in Japan. You follow a long valley out to its farthest reaches, and after the up and over, you enter a new landscape, with another broad valley opening before you. This next section is through a quiet village, stretched high above the river which wends slowly...
Long before coming to Japan, I’d been intrigued by the Kumano Peninsula, that geologic mandala haunted by gods, and by the holy mountain men who set out to meet them. The roads too that traverse the area had great appeal not only to me but to the nobility of a millennium before, whose pilgrimages were...
One of Kyoto’s best features are the mountains that ring the city on three sides. These mountains were one of the primary reasons why in 794 Emperor Kammu chose the basin between to be his new capital, Heian-kyo. According to ancient Chinese principles of feng shui, the hills surrounding the city would help protect it,...
It is no secret that the city of Kyoto is a treasure chest. Home to over 2000 Buddhist temples and Shrines shrines, it is difficult to choose which to visit. The best and most beautiful tend to be at the city’s edges, nestled amongst the green hills that encircle the city like a horseshoe. The...
