ishikiri

The Mount Ikoma trail is an old pilgrim trail. Long time ago, monks walked these trails across the mountain to Nara and beyond, seeking enlightenment, and gaining tax deductions.

The trail open grandly with a shopping street at Ishikiri. I followed the trail of ancient shoppers, but resisted the temptation of buying anything. My goal was far grander than small town shopping...

To reach Ishikiri: Take the Kinetsu Osaka Line from JR Tsuruhashi (which is on the eastern side of the Osaka Loop line) to Ishikiri station (about 15 minutes from JR Tsuruhashi), then walk east, then turn left at the 2nd or 3rd corners (both way is OK) there are plenty of maps around the area.

I passed a ceremonial dragon, trapped in the confinement of a small wooden hut. I've no intention of rescuing it. I'm not Don Quixote...

The Buddha of Ishikiri has been sitting here, meditating for hundreds of years.

And then I passed the thousand hand temple. It hosts the Kannon of a thousand hands, the one who always have a spare hand to scratch her back.

To prepare for my pilgrim trail, I had to collect food. The local vegetation around that area was these yellow potatoes. They looked eatable and delicious. They grow on stone pillars and cement roofing, easily reachable by hungry hikers.

This may look like cabbage but it's not eatable and thus cannot be a proper source of food.

Zero, the number of nothing. That's when all become one.

These flowers were outside the wooden hut of the ceremonial dragon. Too bad he can't see it from inside.

On my way, I passed the god of grumpy, one of the seven gods of fortune. He pokes people with his sticks if someone annoy him.

Walking east, I reached the Ishikiri Yume Kannon Do (or the Temple of Dream Kannon). The winged horse could be an inspiration from Pegasus, or it could also because Bellerophon dropped by this temple on his quest.

The temple of dream Kannon.

The temple is not equipped with a door bell, but I found this...

I also found this flower by the side of the trail. This reminded me I have missed my breakfast. The delusion of my hunger made me think this is a fry egg. So I picked it up and swallowed it like a fry egg. My delusion told me it tasted like a fry egg. And that was the story of my breakfast...

I continued up the trail. Up the thousand stairs to the Ishikiri shrine. A blind man was swiping the fallen leaves from the stairs.

When I walked pass him, he looked up and said, "you are followed by a ghost."

I turned back and saw nothing. I reminisced on his words and realized he spoke in Japanese which I didn't understand a word. He was probably just telling me not to step on the leaves. So I continued up, towards the Ishikiri shrine.

The holy cow Nandi and her baby cow.

The shrines were empty. The late autumn was not a tourist season. I walked through the empty shrines, talking to bored deities. They asked if I have some coins to spare, I told them I spent them all in the instant noodle vending machine.

I saw nobody. Nobody greeted me warmly. The shrine was full of nobody. They all greeted me warmly.

The yellowed leaf of late autumn, rest calmly on a red muddy stone, waiting for it's eternal decay.

I passed a pond of turtles. People dropped them in the pond, wishing for luck or love. The turtles fought among themselves, the winner would bring luck to their owner.

From far away, the pond of courtesy turtles looked very much like fallen leaves.

I stopped by a turtle pond. Looking closely, I could see they were alive. They bit my finger when I tried to touch them.

A leaf fall into the pond, causing a clamor of protest.

"You are not a turtle," the turtles shouted at the leaf. "You must leave at once!"

For that the leaf replied calmly, "it's not my will to fall in here. It's the will of the wind which blow me to this pond. Like it's the will of the people who dropped you here. We are both victims of fate."

The turtles accepted his explanation, and welcomed their new brother.