| The City
| Endless Stair Shrine
| Iimori-Yama | Bukeyashiki
|
| Buddha's
| The Castle |
| The City
| Endless Stair Shrine
| Iimori-Yama | Bukeyashiki
|
| Buddha's
| The Castle |
The City
It was a long trip
from Tokyo to Aizu for me. I first had to have Takada help me get
to the bullet train station and buy a ticket. After taking the bullet
train from Tokyo Station to Koriyama, I then had to find the correct train
that would bring me to Aizu-Wakamatsu. I was a little tense about
the situation. I was hoping that there would be at least some kind
of English signs to help point me in the right direction. To my disappointment
it was not the case. Thanks to a very kind lady though, I was able
to make it to Aizu, obviously, safe and sound. I had not been off
the bullet train for more than 5 minutes. I had placed my bags on
the ground and began to gawk around to see if I could discover where the  train
to my brother's town was. Before I could pick my bags up and begin
my search, a small japanese lady approached me and asked me something in
her native tongue. I just said, "Aizu-Wakamatsu" and the next thing
I know she is smiling, bowing, and leading me down a flight of stairs.
When we reached the area where the train would pick us up we stopped and
she faced me. She pointed to herself and said, "Aizu-Wakamatsu".
I gleaned from this that she was headed in the same direction that I was.
She had just saved me from some major heartache and time that could have
been wasted searching around for this train. Later while I was riding
on the train I thanked God for his angels in whatever form they appeared
in (I also thanked her as much as I possibly could in Japanese without
slaughtering the language). Who ever that lady was I would like to
thank her again. It turns out that after we had chit-chatted, if
that is what you could have called it (due to the communication barrier),
she left a small note in one of my books. It said (In Japanese
of course) "if you would like to come visit me and my family please
feel free to give me a call". Her phone number and address were written
beside the note. This is an example of the kindness of the people
in the area of Aizu-Wakamatsu, which had been shown to me while I stayed
there. At this time I would like to express my gratitude to all those who
treated me with such kindness and who were a part of my experiences in
Aizu. I will leave you all nameless, again, for fear that I might forget
one person's name and hurt somebody. You will not be forgotten (your name
might, but YOU won't)! |
While I stayed at
Aizu I was able to work with my brother up at Aizu University and meet
many  outstanding
people. I also was able to travel around and see the famous sites.
I took Japanese classes once a week at the International Center to help
me brush up on my communication skills. One night me and my brother
were driving down Main Street in the City. It was a dark night, but
the lights of the shops kept everything and everyone aglow. When
I looked up at the sky it appeared that there was a huge roof on the top
of the entire city. I guess it was from the contrast of such a dark
night and all the bright lights of the city. I felt like I was on
a ride at Disney land or something. All the buildings were short
and to me it seemed as if there were no sky above us, only a dark paneled
ceiling. It was a strange thought, but a very memorable feeling. |
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Endless Stair Shrine
My brother had mentioned to me before about a shrine with a lot of stairs,
that he had found during his first trip over to Japan. He explained
to me while I was staying with him that the shrine was located in Aizu.
I didn't understand how many stairs there were, no matter how much he tried
to explain, until I got there. I wanted a good work out so I was
ready to take on as many stairs as the mountain could dish out (that's
what I thought). |
We arrived at the
base of the mountain at about 1:00 PM. We began to climb the stairs
at a fairly good pace after we got through the torii. After going
up four flights of the winding stairs we were both breathing  heavily.
We looked back and all we could see was green (not a bad sight for me).
There were so many trees and bushes and on top of that, moss grew on the
top of everything in the area. The steps were covered with newly
fallen leaves and seemed to be cracked or warped to one side, at certain
points along the trail. At the sides of the flights of stairs there
were occasional small statues with numbers imprinted upon them in Japanese
(we assumed that they were there to mark the distance). As
we climbed each flight of stairs we both started to wonder when the stairs
would end. We commented about this to each other several times.
Though we were tired, we continued on. |
We had walked at least 2,000 stairs, or at least our bodies felt that way,
when we finally reached the shrine. Or was it the shrine? Eric
informed me that this was just a miniature of the bigger one at the top.
Our destination had still not been reached. There were more stairs
to climb and things to see. There was going to be no rest for the
weary! |
Another 20 minutes
of climbing and we were done. It took us about 45 mins to climb the
entire flight of stairs to the  shrine.
The view from the top was breathtaking. We could see most of the
city below us. The shrine itself was covered with graffiti, it was
sad to see such a beautiful Japanese treasure be destroyed like that, and
little origami cranes. Eric told me that people fold 1,000 cranes
and then hang them on a shrine to help a loved one get over a sickness.
It was an awesome sight to see. It was very quiet and peaceful.
It was probably the farthest away from another person one could get while
still in the city limits. It was a place that I would have to visit
again, and I did a couple of times while I stayed in Aizu. |
Eric then informed
me that we still weren't done with our climbing for the day. He saw
a trail that could possibly lead to the top  of
the mountain. So we went for it! After another 20 minute hike,
this time through the Japanese outback, we arrived at the top of the mountain,
and we saw that it was good! It was a great feeling to climb
a small mountain in Japan. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and
inner peace, it gave me wobbly legs. On the way down we both had
a very rough time not falling down or twisting an ankle. Though there
was pain....it was still enjoyable. |
We took a gnarly picture on our way down the stairs from the shrine.
We found the longest straight set of stairs we could. Then I stood
about in the middle of the stair case with a broom made from bamboo that
I had discovered on our way up in the bushes. Eric took a picture
of me holding the broom with my arms stretched out in a motion that said,
"Clean ALL these steps?...yeah right!" |
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Iimori-Yama
| Once again my brother and I were in the mood to climb some stairs. Eric knew of some stairs in the local area (approximately 200 hundred stairs) at a place called Iimori-Yama. Now the story about this place goes something like this. During one of the wars in Japan there were a group of young samurai who were from the Aizu area. They were returning from battle to their homes. When they got over the mountains they could see that the city was on fire and had been under attack. All their hearts were broken and they feared that the castle had been taken. There was nothing left for them. So they all committed suicide, for they did not want to live if they were not able to protect their own town and castle. Later a monument was place in the spot where the mass suicide had taken place. It is still there today. We saw it! (Sorry, no pictures). |
| We arrived at the the base of the mountain early in the morning. There were people exiting tour buses and getting onto the escalator that would take them to the monument. Eric and I were not going to take that easy route. We looked at the stairs and then ran up them as fast as we could. When we first began our ascent we skipped every other stair. By the time we reached the top we were slowly jogging up the stairs, one by one. Once we reached the summit we decided that our legs were still not at the jello consistency we had expected. So, we ran down them and up them again. After we had completed our mindless act for the day we took a walk around to check out the area. |
| I walked over towards the monument where the crowd of people had gathered. They were listening to the story being told by one man, while a few other men were acting out what was being said. At the same time a lady was playing a traditional Japanese flute to accompany the short play/narration. We walked around a little bit more and found the actual grave sites and a shrine in the area. It was a quick visit, but a powerful one. |
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Bukeyashiki
| The Aizu Bukeyashiki (Residence of the Samurai) was a very exciting place for me to visit. I headed up to this place early on Sat. the 7th of November. To me it looked more like a 1-story castle. There were so many beautiful things to visit inside it's gate. Here is a list of the different areas and things that I saw while I was inside. |
The Bukeyashiki in Aizu had an area of
7 acres. Most of the buildings burned down about 130 years ago  during
the Boshin Battle. It took the workers in Aizu two years to rebuild
the samurai residence for the Principal Retainer. It had 38 rooms
which were restored to their original state approxiamtely 20 years ago.
They made a reproduction of the Edo period by using some armor, household
items, and furniture from that time. To me it was the perfect representation
of ancient feudal Japan, or at least what I had learned about that period
of Japanese history. |
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Buddha's
| It was the first Saturday I had spent in Aizu. I had just arrived the day before at the train station. It was a very rainy day and everything was gray. Eric had setup a time where I could go with his company to observe some ancient Buddhist Statues. We arrived at the first Shrine at approximately 11am. We headed towards the front entrance as we all ducked under our umbrella's watching our breath make fog all around us. There were about 12 of us in the group. There were 2 statues placed inside the Torri at the front entrance. One on each side of the main walkway. We follewed up the main trail to a large shrine in front of us. There was a huge bell with a rope hanging down in the front. It was said that you shook the rope to ring the bell which in turn would wake the god's up so that they would hear your prayers, meditations, and requests. It was a very large building and the wood was old and warped. There were a few red painted torri to the right of the building. If you were to walk under them you would have entered a small graveyard, probably containing the remains of some priests. It was a gorgeous sight. This place was out in the middle of nowhwere in Aizu City. A perfect place for such a quiet and humble site. |
We headed back to the main entrance after about 20
minutes of gazing and walking around the main shrine. Over to the
right of the head entrance was another building. It was more modern
in  design though
there were ancient buddhist statues and graveyards that were place around
it. We were able to go inside this building. It contianed about
10 or 12 Buddha statues. It was so exciting for me to be there!
I entered the room after taking my shoes off and leaving them at the front
entrance. The statues were all on a platform about 3 feet off the
ground. The floor was covered by tatami mats and we were asked to
sit down. We all sat down in the traditional Japanese style, feet
straight back, your butt placed on your ankles. The lady that let
us in began talking to us in Japanese. Then she sat at the center
of the room. Turned towards the statues and bowed to them.
She then took a brass bowl and spun some kind of wooden churner around
in it. A steady ring filled the room and pierced our ears.
It immedialtely silenced me and brought me to a new level of concentration.
My mind was focused and my center was calm. She began to speak in
Japanese, it appeared as if to the statues, I imagine that she was praying
to them. I just listened and tried to remain in a medatative state.
The room began to fill with energy. I don't know if anybody else
noticed, but I felt like I could cut the energy with a knife(I have experienced
such things back at home only a few times). It was a very solemn
experience for me. I was glad to be a part of it. |
| Once she had finished her praying or chanting she stood up and told us to go ahead and look around. She explained to us, in Japanese though, what each statue was and represented as well as a little history. Each statue was carved from wood and then coated with gold or bronze and some were even painted. The statues that sood before us were weather warn and towered about 6-7 feet in the air. There were statues of all kinds. two or three of them appeared as if they were men with pig like faces holding their arms and hands in various attack positions. Others were clearly Buddha, some with a ring just above his head or a crown adorning his brow. From what I was told not many foreigners were able to have a chance to see the statues. I was very privilaged and felt honored to be given such an opportunity. It was told that these statues were carved right in the the tree while the roots were still in the ground. Then once completed were moved to their various positions. The art work was exquisite! After about 30 minutes we left and sadly enough, pictures were not allowed. I did however scan in some pictures from some pamphlets I was able to pick up though. |
We then headed, unbeknownst to me, to the
2nd stop where another set of statues were. We arrived at about 12pm.
Our group entered the courtyard through a large torri in the front.
Inside was a little booth with incense in it like the one I saw in Asaksa.
I pulled the smoke up and over my  head
and walked on. Once we were up to the shrine we looked inside.
I was a little disappointed to find a large mural with a Buddha that had
many arms, surround by about 20 other minature statues, hanging in front
of us. I thought I was going to see an awesome statue but instead
I had to look at an artists painted version. To my great delight
though, this was not the end of our journey. We were able to go inside
for about 200 yen. I paid, took off my shoes, and entered.
Behind the Mural was the actual statue. My breath was taken from
me. A statue of Buddha about 10 meters high stood in front of me.
It had 13 pairs of hands on it. Each containing a symbol that characteristized
enlightenment. My heart leapted for joy. I stared into the
face of the statue and tried to focus on the person behind the image.
My eyes began to fill with tears as I began to tap into the energy of the
being that this statue was constructed for. I was surrounded in love
and compassion. The energy was very similar to a very famous religious
figure in the western world that I had experiened before. My
being was full of peace. The statue itself was carved out of only
1 tree, to my astonishment. All of it! 1 tree?? The tree
must have been huge, because this statue was 10 meters high. I was
told that there used to be trees that big in this area before they were
all cut down. (UGH, another example of destruction of the land).
I was told that if I had a wish and held it in my heart while I rubbed
a certain wooden post and looked into the eyes of the Buddha that my wish
would come true. We left about 30 minutes later after we walked around
and gawked at all that we wanted to look at. |
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The Castle
Tsuruga-jo Castle has to be the
most impressive thing that I was able to see while I was in Japan.
It was huge! There were 3 main entrances and I took the front.
Once inside the main stone walls,  which
were about 20-30 feet high, there were 2 sets of tennis courts, one on
each side, surrounded by an abundant amount of trees and other small bushes
coming up out of the gravel. Following the path I came to a large
bridge that spanned over a 10 foot wide moat. The castle walls stretched
at least 120 feet up from the bottom of the moat. I continued across
the bridge and into the main courtyard. The castle and all the parts
inside covered so much area. There was too much to see! In
the courtyard there
were shrines, playgrounds, tourist booths, the actual castle, a tea ceremony
house, and many sets of steps and little clearings where I could sit and
think. It was such a beautiful place. I spent many times up
at the castle just thinking and getting away for awhile during my time
in Aizu. |
| Here is some information about the castle
that I was able to find when I visited it. "Tsuruga-jo Castle means crane
castle. It looks like a white crane. It is a famous landmark
in the Aizu area. the original castle was built by a feudal lord,
named Ashina Naomori in 1384. Late in the 19th century, during the
Boshin Civil War at the beginning of the Meiji period, the castle was attacked
by troops of the government and finally destroyed. In 1965 the castle
tower was rebuilt with the support of the citizens in the area.
"The 5-story castle is 36.15 meters tall and serves as a local history museum and observation platform. A pair of Shachihoko, which look like dragons, on the topmost roof is 1.5 meters tall. Their eyes are made of two carat diamonds. "On the 1st floor, you can learn about the
history of warrior culture; on the 2nd floor, you can see the art of the
time; on the 3rd, you can learn about the Boshin Civil War; on the 4rth
you can see portraits of the last "In front of the castle, there is a tea-ceremony room called "Rinkaku" built by Sen Shoan about 400 years ago. Around in the courtyard there are many stone walls and 1,000 or more cherry trees." |
| The beauty of this castle is indescribable. Please take a look at the pictures I have taken and placed on this page and decide for yourself. |
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If you would like to see more pictures or the
ones on this page larger...
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1- The first
room that I came to was the guest room. It was the guest room for
the Lord of Aizu. The design was simple yet dignified. In the
courtyard outside of this room there was an awesome Garden. A little
pool filled with gold, orange, black, and white carp was surrounded by
a vast selection of ferns and trees. A few stone posts were place
in various spots in the garden. 
3- The rice
cleaning mill was next on the list. This mill was 180 years old.
It was a machine brought from Shirakawa City. It worked by using
water power and had 16 stone mills. With it the people pounded 960kg
of rice each day. Talk about your daily allowance of fiber!
It smelled like old railway logs. I was totally impressed by the
size of the machine and it's mechanics. I spent about 15 minutes
just gazing at the contraption. It must have been at least 20-30
feet high.
the shop,
inside the kitchen, explained to me, in Japanese, that the large beams
were put there to support the roof at times of heavy snow fall. Quite
impressive! Inside this room I could also see where the large pots
were place over fire pits and the area's where the food was served.
I actually started to feel a little hungry. 
Nakahata
Jinya, this was the Judge of Aizu, Gunjiro Matsudaira's, house. He
was the direct Retainer of the Shogun. It was built about 158 years
ago, moved from Nakahta Village. It was said that this was an important
piece of cultural property. It was quite beautiful.
8- The last
place that I stopped was the Buddha Museum. It cost too much money
to go inside so I looked around the outside of the muesum and at the shrine
placed there. There were also various shops placed around the Bukeyashiki
that I wandered through. There were many different displays as well,
but most were all written in Japanese so it was hard for me to understand.
Over all this experience was awesome and one of the best that I had while
I was in Aizu. I had always been interested in the Samurai and Ninja.
This was a good chance to see the actual living style of the Edo period
where the Samurai and Ninja flourished. 
lord
Matsudaira Katamori and the young warrior group, Byakkotai. The 5th
and top floor there is an observation platform. From here, if the
weather is good, you can see Mt Bandai to the north. This mountain
is 1,819 meters high. It erruprted about 100 years ago and now is
dormant. There is a hexagon-shaped building in the east, the Tsuruga-jo
Castle Gymnasium.