I took off to Hakone with time enough to spend a good couple of hours there. Stepping off the train my first question was, where can I get that bloody Neon Genesis map?! I went to the tourist office, and the poster of Rei on the door was a good sign. But there was no map inside. I looked around, and found nothing – nothing!
Look, I came all the way out here to get a map, and while I'm sure I'd have loved it anyway, it would feel like a failure without it. I needed that map!
Once the lady trying to figure out that, indeed the bus outside the building was the one she wanted (this concept was just not getting through) I was able to ask the english speaking employee about it.
Well, actually, she pushed the bus lady aside, to help me. How many more times could she really explain – orange bus – you can see it through the window – go now!
When I asked about the mysterious map I had read about, she smiled and fetched me a card. Apparently you had to fill out a card and exchange it for the map. No doubt this is to gather information about how many tourists that aspect is bringing in, and also to keep people from taking a whole stack of them. It's not like that's what I was planning on doing – I just wanted one, just one for me – ok, fine, I wanted a whole stack and was going to take every one they had, but no – I was foiled. That's OK though, I left with my one map and that was all I needed.
With map in hand, and regular tourist map of the area, I headed out to wander the streets. For the most part I saw two things on this day. Two temples, each uniquely juxtaposing one another and bringing modern day Japan into sharp focus.
One was a waterfall temple – two waterfalls bordered the building, and a day spa had been built close by to capitalize on the location. It's hard to picture the area one hundred or more years back, when all there would have been was a path to the falls, and the temple atop a short hill. One can try and picture the terrine, but it's nearly impossible as the falls have been manicured to best suit the visitors of the spa/onsen.
This is Japan today.
The other temple took me up into the hills. On my map it did not seem quite so far off the path, and had I known just how long it would take, I would probably have ignored it completely. But I was ignorant, and all the better for it.
Walking up some stone steps, I found myself on a path leading ever upwards, wondering when I would reach the top. Although at this point I didn't know if there would be a top, nor that there was a temple located there. I was simply climbing stone steps into the moss-grown forest, assuming that something must lay ahead. The path had to lead somewhere.
Every landing presented me with a number of small tombstones, and wooden planks engraved with text undecipherable to me. Ever upwards I wandered as the shadows closed in around me, and blocked all vision – all sound – except for that which was immediately before me.
the path was lined with small statues, glad in red knitwear. I know not what they were for, nor how long they had been there. All I knew is that I was walking up, ever upwards.
Losing myself in the experience I was both shocked, and relieved, when finally the end was before me. Silently I had cursed my desire to explore, spending twenty minutes climbing higher and higher. But then, there was the end. A temple before me. And one lone cherry blossom tree. These would be the last blossoms I saw in Japan, and they stand out in my mind, perhaps more so after the climb, than had I just found them with ease.
No, it was not isolated by days of trails from the quote unquote real world, but it was a momentary escape. And I saw no one else from the time I started the climb, passing a group just headed down, until I reached the bottom once more, as another group started going up.
Just letting someone know there is an end point, or pointing the location out to them – would that take away some of the beauty?
Every now and then it's worth taking the stone steps leading up into the forested hills.
And this? This is the old Japan.
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