The Entrance to Shinrin Park

Today Ian and I took our regular Tuesday morning walk around Shinrin Park. (The character pronounced shin means forest or woods, and rin means tree.) We meet at a nearby station and walk to the entrance of the park, from where we do two 3 km counterclockwise trips around the park and then return to the station, where we stop at a Mr Donuts for coffee.

The picture on the right is at the highest point on our route. The station is about 1.5 km off to the left and the park entrance is immediately to the left. Behind me is a subway stop and a center for old people.

The tall building on the right is one of the highest around and it is an apartment building, actually a condo. Can you imagine being on the top floor during an earthquake. I heard that the horizontal movement during the big quake we had a couple of years ago was more than two meters. I get seasick in my apartment, I can not fathom what it would be like up there.

Also off on the left side, there is what looks like a white tower (not the lower white blob to its right which is actually a building). This white tower is a huge statue of the Kannon Bosatsu, an enlightened one just below the rank of Buddha. Kannon has changed his/her sex a number of times during the last 2500 years and is now the Lord of Compassion and Mercy, particularly in relation to childbirth and health. Kannon was one of the Lords who attended on Amida Buddha.

This statue is very interesting because it was put by one of the new Buddhist sects (cult?) and was part of a hotel complex. The problem was that they did not tell the city what it was going to be. Apparently the city thought it was going to be a large tower containing additional hotel rooms. The hotel complex was very cheap and has, I believe, been sold to a non-religious group who are trying to make a financial go of it. The city would like to remove the statue but no one can decide who will pay for the work and for the religious fees that would be necessary for some Buddhist priests to come do the necessary ceremonies to allow the destruction of the statue without everyone around having bad luck for years. It is going to be interesting to see what happens when statue starts to decay and fall apart.

This picture shows the entrance to the park. You can not see but there are about 50 old people exercising in front of the trees. Ian and I walk off to the right and return from the center of the picture. When the old people (many of them were born after me, by the way, but I am not old), finish stretching they go around the same trail that we use. Some go in each direction, so they are all over the place. It is proper etiquette to greet the other walkers, so Ian and I spend much of our time saying konnichiwa, or Good Morning.

So far today I have walked more than 13 km. In about an hour, my wife Masayo will drive me to Tohoku Gakuin U so I can teach two 90-minute classes. When I finish at 5:30, I will walk home, adding another 4 km to my total for the day.