We had the pleasure of our first couchsurfing experience with the Higashi family in Sakurai, about an hour south of Nara. For those not familiar with couchsurfing, it’s a program where people open their homes to travelers who not only benefit from  a free place to stay, also get to know local hosts (and vice versa), share ideas and experiences. The Couchsurfing organization has a website, and lists available couches by area. They have a verification process for both surfers and hosts for safety. The family we stayed with consisted of a mother, father and their two young sons.  The mom, Yayoi, is well traveled, and speaks English very well. She wants her sons to learn English too, so she speaks English with them, reads to them, gives them English dvds and tv shows to watch, and gives them further exposure through the visitors they take in once in a while. The older son is almost 7, and his English is downright great! He plays a mean hand of Go Fish, and is very high energy. The baby, Taku is almost 2, and knows lots of animals in English. He seems to have it all worked out as to what language to use to make himself heard! We had such fun playing and chatting, and sharing a meal. Our free day in Sakurai, Yayoi gave us some wonderful tips on where to explore. She gave us a hiking map and we set off.

Sakurai is in the middle of the ancient Yamato realm. The most important and ancient route in Japan, Yamanobe-no-michi, runs through the area, around the foothills of Mt. Miwa. This is the one we walked for most of the day. There are five more major pathways through gorgeous natural scenery and dotted with cultural and historical landmarks as well as poetry markers with verses from authors of the Man’yoshu, a famous ancient text.

It was raining lightly, and a typhoon was in the forecast, so there weren’t many people out hiking. We barely saw anyone all day, in fact. We started on Yamanobe-no-michi near the house. It was fairly well marked, and took us along small roads, through neighborhoods, and down footpaths through woods and by farms, rivers and lakes. One of the first spots we came to was the Monument to the Transmission of Buddhism. Near here, in the 6th century, a delegation from the Kingdom of Paekche (Korea) arrived by boat with gifts of Buddha images and sutras.  Just beyond, was a really cool temple up on a hill where we sat to dry off for a bit. Up the road were two, two-meter tall images of Shakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya Bodhisattva. Each one of the historical spots and monuments had a place to contemplate or pray or leave an offering or wish.

When we arrived at Omiwa Jinja, said to be the oldest shrine in Japan, there was more activity than we had seen all day. The approach is through a huge stone torii, and then another, and another, up a long, wide path. It is said that the mountain (Miwa) itself is the most important to be honored here. There are a number of buildings and shrines, each different, with different focuses and decorations.  We stopped at one and drank and filled our water bottle with the lucky water springing out of the rock. Up further, there were several sets of stairs leading to more little altars and small shrines, some around a pretty lake. There were lots of the stone poetry markers along the stretch north of here. We were in the forest for a bit, and the air was filled with the sound of all kinds of frogs and insects chirping and croaking joyfully about the rain.

We continued along Yamanobe- no-michi another mile or so and came to the Genpian heritage, which appears in a famous Noh play. We joined another road at Hibara Jinja Shrine, which was lonely and silent in the now-blowing rain. This shrine venerates the deity Amaterasu Omikami, and offers beautiful views of the surrounding plains. There were lots of plum and version trees, as well as fields of rice and vegetables.

The alternate route took us past several kofun, or burial mounds marking the graves of Japan’s first emperors, which are also common in this region. The keyhole shaped mound at Hokenoyama was built in the middle of the third century. Nearby Hashihaka was from around the same time, and is supposed to hold the grave of Himiko, ruler of a major clan. The Nihon Shoki, one of Japan’s oldest texts, says this 280 meter long structure was built by men during the day and by gods at night. Another walk took us to the Makimuku train station. We picked up snacks to fortify us at the next station, before heading to the next destination.

South of Unebi station is Ofusa Kannon. This temple is for prayers for long life and relief from age-related ailments. We were lucky to visit at the time when thousands of roses were in bloom in every corner of the temple. There were countless varieties and colors. We arrived while a temple priest was chanting a prayer for some people gathered in the rain. It was a beautiful place and a beautiful day.

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