We found the snow was even thicker on the other side of the mountain, but luckily not many hikers ventured here and the snow had not yet become icy. After a few minutes we came across a small fountain, where there was a sign with the name of the cave written on it. Unfortunately there was no indication of the direction in which it lay, so we were forced to use our extraordinary skills in orienteering (reminiscent of our days in the boy scouts). Here there were no footprints in the fresh snow to show us the path, and after getting lost on a couple of occasions we came across another sign with the direction to the cave.
The snowy path then descended more steeply, and a large rocky structure became visible on the left side of the path. We weren’t sure if this was the cave, but our expectations grew. In his excitement, Vibo slipped on the fresh snow and took a spectacular ushiro ukemi that the masters would have been proud of, and landed on his behind at the entrance of the cave! We were soaked in sweat and snow and just a little exhausted from our climbing, but we made it!
We stepped into the cave, with the hope of also receiving enlightenment. We sat inside, but enlightenment didn’t come so we tried to imagine what it would have been like for him to stay there. As you enter, the cave has a number of Bhuddist icons on the right side with offerings of coins and sake in front of them. On this side we could stand comfortably, but towards the left side the ceiling sloped down leaving only room for sitting or lying. The cave itself was a natural shelter, about 3 or 4 metres across, and 5 to 7 metres deep, and the Bhuddist icons had long been untended. We saw a flat space there which he must have used to sleep or meditate. The ceiling was not high enough to do any practice with weapons inside the cave, and as the only flat ground outside the cave was next to the entrance we imagined Muso Gonnosuke doing his austerities where we stood.
After musing on Muso, we retraced our steps to the peak of Mt Homan. And as is usual with these kinds of journeys, the descent back down to the main shrine seemed a lot shorter than the climb. We came to the main shrine, and searched for the friendly kannushi-san we had met earlier. We finally caught a view through to the back room to find him engrossed in his daily dose of NHK TV. After a few minutes of polite knocking, and coincidentally with the commercial break, we gained his attention and he waved us to come in. He returned our bags, and showed us the place where we could change.
Whilst changing we could again feel the chill of the day, and thought about the meaning of the embu we were about to perform. In English we use the word demonstration, but this word implies that you must be showing something to other people. Whenever talking about embu however, Nishioka Sensei takes a different view. In his case, he says he presents what he has learnt to Shimizu Sensei for his judgement. Sensei often laughs, as he imagines Shimizu Sensei looking down and saying back to him mada mada! (not yet, not yet!). In our case Nishioka Sensei always says mada mada to us in person, so we were hoping that Muso Gonnosuke would be more lenient!
We approached the Muso Gonnosuke Shrine, set in the gardens on the left side of the shrine grounds and presented ourselves to the kamisama there. We performed a large part of the SMR curriculum, and this created various responses in passers by. Most would totally ignore us, and a few others stopped, scratched their heads, nodded and kept walking. After finishing our embu, we thanked the friendly kannushi-san and as a gesture of appreciation we bought a good selection of omiyage (souvenirs) from the shrine’s store.
Heading back down to the car, we realised the sun was getting low and we still had a 2 hour drive to an onsen (hot springs) hotel near Mt Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture. Barely making it on time for dinner at the hotel, as we entered we saw hoards of ojisan’s and obasan’s (grandpa’s and grandma’s) heading to the dining rooms. We figured the baths would be empty at this time, so after check-in we made them wait just a little as we took a quick bath in the thermal waters. A well deserved kampai was enjoyed over a traditional Japanese style meal (you know, the style where it looks like you get more plates than food!). After dinner, we decided to soothe our tired bodies in the onsen again. But this time we took extra measures and brought with us a few beers knowing that all the ojisan’s would be catching their TV programs before going to bed early. Thus we enjoyed the entire rooftop bath to ourselves.
Part 3. Kyushu Jodo demonstration and Miyamoto Musashi.
