As we were getting ready to leave the temple grounds, we discover groups of little statues standing on the side of a hill. They were all quite old looking, the stone was weather beaten and stained from moss, but there were fresh flowers and clothing for them.
As always there were more questions than answers. For example, what were the statues wearing and why? The bib-like things were very similar to what the sumo wrestlers wear during their first, formal entry into the arena. Sumo, however, has deep roots in Shinto. Recently the Sumo association would not let a female minister of the central government step onto the dohyo, the dirt ring (and it is circular, as opposed to boxing rings which are square) on which the bouts take place. The reason was that in the center of the ring they bury a representation of the god who protects the wrestlers and that god is female. It is believed that, if a women enters the ring, the goddess will become jealous and cause problems.
A final look at a cherry tree that was in full blossom and we headed off to the next temple, which was on the other side of a wide, flat valley.
I was beat, walking slow and not paying much attention to what was around us. Ian said that we passed some coffee shops, which I did not even notice. He did not point them out as we had a long way to go and I was walking very slow compared to most of the other days. In the flat flood plain of the valley the wind was of almost hurricane, or I guess I should say
typhoon, force. It was blowing so hard that it frequently push our walking sticks to the side so that they slipped in between our legs and tripped us. Also keeping our straw hats from blowing away was a constant problem. Aside from the gradually warming weather, we knew that spring was on its way because the local farmers were preparing the rice paddies for planting. Most of them were already full of water and that meant that after one more plowing the inches high new rice plants would be planted.
As always there were more questions than answers. For example, what were the statues wearing and why? The bib-like things were very similar to what the sumo wrestlers wear during their first, formal entry into the arena. Sumo, however, has deep roots in Shinto. Recently the Sumo association would not let a female minister of the central government step onto the dohyo, the dirt ring (and it is circular, as opposed to boxing rings which are square) on which the bouts take place. The reason was that in the center of the ring they bury a representation of the god who protects the wrestlers and that god is female. It is believed that, if a women enters the ring, the goddess will become jealous and cause problems.
A final look at a cherry tree that was in full blossom and we headed off to the next temple, which was on the other side of a wide, flat valley.
I was beat, walking slow and not paying much attention to what was around us. Ian said that we passed some coffee shops, which I did not even notice. He did not point them out as we had a long way to go and I was walking very slow compared to most of the other days. In the flat flood plain of the valley the wind was of almost hurricane, or I guess I should say typhoon, force. It was blowing so hard that it frequently push our walking sticks to the side so that they slipped in between our legs and tripped us. Also keeping our straw hats from blowing away was a constant problem. Aside from the gradually warming weather, we knew that spring was on its way because the local farmers were preparing the rice paddies for planting. Most of them were already full of water and that meant that after one more plowing the inches high new rice plants would be planted.
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