Tranquility, Nostalgia, Dispair, and Hope
- Yamanobe no Michi – photo by Author
After visiting Omiwa Shrine with my mother, Yuri-san and I parted from her and headed north along Yamanobe no Michi 山辺の道.
Stretching north and south on the foothills of Mt. Miwa, Yamanobe no Michi is known as one of the oldest roads in Japan. Both Kojiki 古事記 and Nihonshoki 日本書紀, Japan’s oldest written documents, mention this ancient road. Japan’s oldest road passing by Omiwa Shrine 大神神社, Japan’s oldest shrine… That pairs well.
While walking about 6 miles along this ancient road from Omiwa Shrine to Tenri Station, different emotions evoked.
Tranquility
Yamanobe no michi – photo by Author
The path just off of Omiwa Jinja was unpaved, too narrow for a car to drive through. Tall trees stood on both sides for a while. Then the left side of the path became a little more open. But the path remained too narrow for a car. Yuri-san, who had walked this path before, led the way.
I was surprised by the quietness. What a difference it makes if there is no car passing by us! I heard birds chirping and tree branches swinging to the breeze. I heard a subtle sound my shoes made when making each step. These sounds were much gentler and more soothing than the noise of the car engine. In order to gain convenience, what have we lost from our daily lives?
Nostalgia
Stone monument of a poem by Kakinoueno Hitomaro – photo by Author
Here and there alongside the road were stone monuments with a poem and the name of the person who wrote it, engraved on the stone. Many poems were written by Kakinomotono Hitomaro柿本人麻呂. I found one written by Takechino Miko 高市皇子. Both names appear in Man’yōshū 万葉集, Japan’s oldest collection of Japanese poems.
After over 1400 years, I was stepping on the same road, looking at the same mountain, admiring the same beauty as these ancient poets did.
Monument of Matsuo Basho’s poem – photo by Author
Walking a little further, I found another stone monument with a poem. The name appeared as Munefusa 宗房, who is that? The wooden plaque that stood next to the stone monument stated that it was Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 (1644 – 1694)’s another name when he was younger. Ah, even a master haiku poet in the 17th century paid a visit to honor their ancient predecessors.
Honor system stand selling produce and sweets – photo by Author
Yamanobe no Michi mainly runs through the farmland. Although we didn’t see people around, we thanked their kind heart for leaving their produce and goodies they had made. A piece of mochi or rice cake for only 100 yen! Such an honor system seemed to remain the norm around here. Something that modern city life has long forgotten.
Dispair
The front gate of an abandoned house – photo by Author
The houses along the road were mainly old-looking. Single-story farm houses surrounded by board fences. Houses with a large front yard, with branches of pine, persimmon, or cherry trees hanging over the fences. These houses resembled those that once stood in my parents’ hometown in Tokushima 50 years ago. Perhaps similar houses also used to fill the cities, but are rarely seen nowadays.
Looking closer, I noticed the front yard of many houses looked unattended. Windows were half open or broken. There was no sign of anybody living there anymore. I may be exaggerating, but at least a quarter of the houses in the neighborhood seemed abandoned.
When you are in the middle of Tokyo, you can’t believe that Japan is losing its people. The depopulation of Japan, however, looks so real when you visit a countryside like this.
Signage on the tree – photo by Author
Along the road was also what used to be farmland, now abandoned. To whom does this land belong? To the family of that house, now nobody live?
The sign attached to a half-dead tree says, “Volunteers of Nakayama Town are maintaining the abandoned Satoyama 里山 woodland. Please tell us any idea how to make use of the bamboo trees that are cut down to clear the land.”
What is Satoyama? Below is an excerpt from Japan’s Ministry of Environment website.
“Satoyama are usually located in the rural areas of Japan where agriculture, forestry and fisheries are the main industries. They are known as socio ecological production landscapes and seascapes, SEPLS in short. They consist of production ecosystems like secondary forests, farmlands, irrigation ponds, and grasslands as well as human settlements.
They are created by human activities to produce food and fuels, but eventually become irreplaceable habitats for a range of fauna and flora. Moreover, Satoyama serve multidimensional functions, in a broader context, including national land conservation and headwater conservation, while providing places for healing or leisure and inspiring the creation of art and literature.
Those ecosystem services from Satoyama, including necessary resources, safety and comfort, are co-created by both nature and continued human interventions.
Therefore, it is crucial to sonserve their biodiversity as they are inseparable from human activities.”
In abandoned Satoyama, invasive bamboo trees become the threat to its biodiversity. Hats off to the volunteers of Nakayama Town for their laborious efforts to eliminate the bamboo trees. Have they found a good solution to utilize the bamboo?
Hope
Cofnia – photo by Author
We stopped by at what looked like a café. Unfortunately it was not open, but the shopkeeper came out and explained about the building.
A young woman acquired an old house by the road that had been unoccupied for more than ten years. She raised over 5 mil. yen through and by collaborating with various organizations, resurrected the abandoned house as an inn, called Cofunia.
Rapeseed flowers – photo by Author
We came across a vast flower bed, full of bright yellow rapeseed flowers. An old man just came out of the vegetable field on the opposite side of the road. “Do you also grow these flowers?” I asked him.
“No,” he said. “This land belongs to Tenri High School.”
“When the school bought this farmland, their initial plan was to convert it to an athletic field. But the land is sloped, as you can see. If the land were flattened, the neighboring fields would become unstable. So the school changed its plan. They decided to keep the farmland and have their students maintain it.”
“The students grow vegetables on lower two-thirds of the land. The top one-third, where it stretches along the Yamanobe no Michi, is used as a flower garden. Here Seasonal flowers bloom all year round, so that whoever hikes on this road can enjoy the beauty of the flowers.”
The unique inn and the beautiful flower bed… Both are initiated by young people in Japan. I felt a sliver of hope.
