Cable Ride up to Mt Hiei and Enryaku-ji: 1300 Years of History

8 October 2011

We decided to visit the ancient temple complex of Enryaku-ji early in the morning before the crowds (recommended to us by our old friend in Tokyo, Junko). It is perched near the top of the sacred Mt Hiei, and one way to get there is by a short cog railway, followed by a cable car. Unfortunately the cog didn't start until 9am, so we had a while to wait, but we were on the first train of the day, chugging steeply up through pine and larch forest to the cable. I will give only the simplest history of the area: it is said that in ancient times (788), crude buildings were built on the mountain top so that a priest could watch the northeast horizon day and night, from where it had been determined evil spirits would come. Then if evil spirits were sighted, the monks would beat drums and ring gongs. From these humble beginnings, the temple complex grew to vast size and power over the centuries. The emperor at that time was Shinto, but the Buddhist monks "found" Shinto gods on the mountain and incorporated them into their Buddhist beliefs. The powerful monk armies kept the emperors (and other Buddhist sects) at their mercy. Finally in 1571, the vast monastery was burnt down (some 3000 buildings and the monks); it was later rebuilt to have a mere 125 temples. Of which we saw a small but lovely handful, nestled into the sides of the mountain. Our favorite spot was Jodo-in (2nd photo), the mausoleum of one of the famous 9th century monks. A very austere and tranquil spot.

We thought maybe S, Q and E would like the dragon water spigot. I don't know its story, but Win was brave enough to rinse his mouth out which is for good fortune! We had a long hike back uphill to the top to get the cable. We were quite starved so had some sort of Japanese hot dog on a stick and Win had a roasted corn. You can see Lake Biwa (largest lake in Japan) from the top, and the view from the cable (above photo) shows Kyoto spread out in the valley. We had a great day and entirely avoided any study of Hiragana!

Love to everyone