【short story collection vol,2】Kamakura Thousand Tales ～ Far beyond the tunnel
7 Mistress Tunnel
The hermitage is located with Mt. Kinubari on its back and is protected by an orderly hedge. The wood grain of the entrance, which is lit by the bonfire, has been polished to oxidized silver over the years, and the copper plate covering the eaves has turned greenish blue due to salty wind and rain. The guide pulls the door with a low head, followed by a slow step, brushing off the fine cloth, and ascending the steps to the door. As he get closer, his profile appears in the light of the bonfire. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the great shogun who conquered the barbarians.
The hermitage is already warm and incense is burning. He take off his shoes, go up the stile, and enter through blindfold cloth that hangs so that noone can see the back room. The small flame of the candlestick reflected the silhouette of one person on the wooden wall, but another silhouette appeared and eventually overlapped.
From the seat of Okura Shogunate Yoritomo, which borders Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, he can see the mountains up close. In the summer, Yoritomo spread a white cloth over the top of the mountain to make it look like it was covered with snow, so the mountain was named Kinubariyama. Although it is called a mountain, it is a low mountain with an altitude of about 120m, but it is a special landmark for Yoritomo. For there was a secluded villa at the foot of it. Yoritomo opened a new road branching to the right on the road leading to Tosho-ji Temple in Kasai Valley, east of Kamakura, which is a horseshoe-shaped land, and had a tunnel dug at the end of the steep slope. As if he were going to Toshoji Temple, he passed through the tunnel and secretly made it possible for him to go to the hermitage at the foot of the mountain. Every time you pass through this tunnel, which is still used as a road for daily life, such a legend evokes a realistic image. By the way, there is a strict monastery since 1950 in the place where you turn left in front of the ruins of Toshoji Temple, opposite to the direction of the tunnel.
8 Quark in the bamboo forest
"I'm 56 years old, so I'm halfway through, but if you look at the average life expectancy of the company's retirees, it's 70 to 80 years old, so at most I have 20 to 30 years to live. It's the year."
Upperclassman Okubo slurped up the matcha left in his bowl and suddenly started a serious topic. Whenever something inspires him, he start talking about things that inspire people. I'm sure he must have felt something in the bamboo grove of Hokokuji Temple. While visiting a client in Kamakura to say New Year's greetings, the two of us came to this teahouse in the bamboo grove with the idea of ``Let's go matcha suitable for New Year's.
"I've been a member of society for 34 years so far, but the rest of my life is shorter than that. Do you understand? When I finish working, the rest of my life will be shorter than the number of days I worked. Moreover, about 5 years of that considering that it will be a battle with an illness, I have less than 15 to 25 years left in my life.
"If you think like that, don't you feel like you're shortening your life? Let's think more happily."
"What do you mean by fun? If you live with such an exhilarating feeling, you'll miss out on important things in your life. First of all, when you have time, think about your purpose in life. Surviving with the person you love. Do you want to do something that benefits society? Are you able to get everything you want? I feel something is wrong. Life is a miracle.In the universe that took hundreds of millions of years to create Then, we live on the earth, which is not even a grain of sand, and spend only about 100 years living on it. You know, it's starting to feel insignificant."
"That's extreme, Okubo. Humans are different from single cells like bacteria."
"That's just the difference in the number of cells. What's more, cells are made up of many elementary particles, so it's just that a lot of them gather. In other words, the purpose of life is to find out what you will enjoy in the 100 years that the product, the body, exists.I can't believe that the countdown to the rest of my life has begun while I'm busy moving according to people's instructions. Do you feel like you can't forgive yourself?"
“Certainly I can’t forgive myself.
“It’s because you don't move spontaneously!”
"Well, if you say that, I can't say it back, but... Well, I would like to see various things. Rather than the world, I'd like to see every corner of the earth."
"That's true. Whether it's natural or artificial, what the retina takes in is sent to the brain as an image, so while you're alive, you should fully enjoy the functions your body has. The purpose is not to eat, sleep, or love, it is not the physiological desire to maintain such a body, nor is it the mundane desire to feel satisfied with owning it. For example, the intuitive actions you take when you wake up in the morning and think about how you want to spend the day may be unexpectedly close to that. Others may be cleaning and washing their personal belongings.”
"If everyone does what they want, won't the world become chaotic in no time?"
“The bottom line is that order starts to crumble when you try to own what you want. If I remember correctly, you bought a car last year. Everyone wants to own it."
"It's great to drive while listening to music without the sound of the engine."
"Look, you want it, so there will be people who will make it. More and more people will come out and start competing."
"If there weren't things, the world wouldn't be a convenient place, would it? You wouldn't be able to live 100 years in a primitive way, would you?"
"Well, I don't want anything like me. Mr. Ryokan also said, 'The more I cook, the more the wind blows the fallen leaves.'" You know. It's enough to know
"Why do I have to learn such life lessons in such a refreshing bamboo forest!"
"What an idiot. The bamboo grove is the perfect environment for meditation, just like the seven sages of China wandered through. In the forest where you can see the sky through the gaps in the leaves covering your head, you close your eyes loosely like half your eyes in meditation. Even so, if you continue to "see", you will notice that the back of your eyelids reflects a grainy scenery like a screen.Opening your eyes is different from the back of your eyelids.Give it a try."
“Hmm, I feel like I can see what I’m thinking in my head, even though I can’t see it, and I feel like it’s different from what I’m imagining.”
"Hey. That's what meditation is. Isn't the rustling sound of bamboo leaves a good feeling? Right now you're not dreaming, you're sleeping soundly, or you're awake. It's not such a narrow range, but it's gone to a more cosmic place."
"Isn't it your senior who's gone? It's quite occult-ish."
"Don't make fun of me. I'm talking seriously. What you felt was the Atman in Indian thought. It's about the providence that constitutes each individual. It is Brahman.People call it God.It is the conclusion that human knowledge has reached so far, but then there must be an existence that gave birth to such things.In other words, what was it before God? From now on, future generations will explore and find out about it.
The small leaves swaying in the breeze, the fractal silhouette of the branches against the blue sky, the gradation from light green to dark green that gets denser the further you go, the bamboo grove is filled with a sense of life that you shouldn't be able to see there. I feel like I can see the existence of elementary particles. Elementary particles connect to atoms and molecules, and individual species are born through DNA chains.
"According to what I've heard, we've entered the 'Era of the Land', where people scrambled for and possessed things, and entered the 'Era of the Wind,' where they cooperated and connected. They argued, invaded, fought, lost each other, and then realized, "This earth, where miracles are gathered, is neither mine nor anyone else's. It is something that will be passed on to future generations. Over the next 200 years, the consciousness will gradually rise and reach its climax, heading for the next age of water. It's already a story beyond my great-grandson."
I wonder if the tea ceremony at Takedera Hokokuji, which made Upperclassman Okubo talk about cosmology, leads to a black hole in another dimension...?
9 stray turtle
The Iwaya Cave at the southern tip of Enoshima is connected underground to the Narusawa Ice Cave at the foot of Mt. Fuji, and it is said that the airway carries the power of Mt. A long pipeline mystery with a distance of about 90km. There is certainly romance. During the Edo period, pilgrimages to Enoshima were popular. The pleasures of Sagami Bay and the power spot experience are always attractive.
Well, there is also a small pipeline mystery in Kamakura. It is said that the cave runs from Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Genji Pond to Namerikawa river. However, I don't mind going there, it's a big turtle. During the spawning season, he suddenly appear on the road around Namerikawa Toshoji Bridge, about 1km away, and head for the spawning grounds.
***
I almost ran over you, but you came again this year.
If you crawl in the middle of the road like that, you can't stand a driver who looks away.
You're here to lay eggs, so be careful.
Are you mostly the same turtle that came last year?
I don't think there are many turtles who can grow to the size of a basketball.
They may have laid eggs at the base of the hedge and covered fallen leaves with them, but the wind blows it away, and we can see the precious egg in full view.
This area is a wild kingdom with not only stray cats, but also crows, raccoons, Taiwan squirrels, blue general snakes, and even copperheads.
Even if you hide in your shell, the eggs are defenseless.
Where are you coming from anyway?
There is a turtle of similar size in Genji Pond, but is it that one?
If so, there is no waterway from the pond to this area, so are you walking along the road?
Or is it connected by an underground tunnel somewhere?
If you're living in Namerikawa , how do you go up the five-meter stairs next to Toshoji Bridge?
There's no other place you can get out of the river. Isn't climbing up there harder than climbing a carp waterfall?
In the old days, there were no seawalls like this, so it was a gentle slope from the river to the mountains, so you could go anywhere?
That's true, 30 years ago, such a seawall did not exist.
People wanted to live by the riverside, so they arbitrarily hardened it with concrete.
They brought soil from somewhere else and made land.
I'm sorry, but if you don't mind, should I put a little more dirt on top of that egg?
Be careful and keep warm.
10 Shakado time slip
From a small Okinawan restaurant near Jomyoji Temple, you can hear the sound of the sanshin(stringed instrument) followed by the applause of several people.
"I've been praised so much, maybe I should drink more."
"Mr. Maa, shouldn't you just leave it at that?"
Masao, a regular customer, has been looking forward to showing off his sanshin, which he has learned by himself, while drinking awamori(okinawan sake) after retirement. Although the repertoire is few, he was able to respond to each customer's request because it was generally limiteded. Shima Uta, Nada Sosou, Tinsagu no Hana, Asadoya Yunta... After the song is finished, they will feel as if they are in Okinawa just by plucking the strings after having a glass in his mouth. The store manager also welcomed Masao's visit.
"Maa-san, you're drinking more than usual today. It's not good to drink too much."
"Hey, I've been drinking it for decades, so I know my limits. If I was served such delicious sukudofu(smallfish pickles and tofu), wouldn't I go back several times?"
“Is that my fault? If I put out another special one, I'm sure you'll drink until morning"
"What's my favorite?"
Masao repeats the prelude to "Nineteen-old's Spring" and questions the store manager.
“Don’t be like that broken jukebox. it's a nuisance to the customer"
"Then tell me!"
"I can't help it... this is it"
Masao was already so drunk that he couldn't even read what was on the TV in the store, but he could tell just by looking at his silhouette. Irabu. The official name is Erabu sea snake. A pitch-black sea snake is dried while still coiled up. It is a luxury item eaten by the royal court for its nourishment and tonicity.
"Hey, Irabu-chan, you're here! I never thought I'd meet you in Kamakura. Hurry up and feed me!"
"I thought so, and I made one soup."
When the store manager opened the lid of the pot, an unimaginable fragrance spread throughout the store. Masao showed the bowls that were first served to the customers at the two tables in the store.
"Wow~, stop it, stop it"
"You seem to have energy, so why don't you try eating it?"
"Skin like a brand-name wallet."
After enjoying the mixed reactions, Masao took a sip,
“Hmmm, delicious, another cup of awamori!”
After that, the excitement was like an Irabu soup festival.
"yeah?"
Masao was completely asleep. He remembers leaving the store, but he wakes up in a strange place, neither at home nor on the street. He can't open his eyes much because he's drunk, but even if he manages to open them, he can tell that it's already dawn. The joints of his body were so painful that he could not move them, so he thought he would stay like this for a while.
"I've crossed the limit. It's Irabu's fault. With that kind of look, that scent, and that deliciousness, no one can stop me. Damn it... But what is this smell? It's sweet and a little tangy. It's like... I was in Okinawa just now, but now it feels like I'm in a foreign country."
In his daze, he tried to think of a way out of the situation, but his brain wouldn't work either. He managed to open his unopened eyes a little more and looked a little to the side within the range where his head could move. There is something that cuts out the night sky at dawn in a mysterious way.
"What is that point? Two triangles stretched into the sky. Did I see something like that?"
With a little more effort, Masao opened his eyes and saw that it was the roof. But as far as Masao knows, he's never seen a landscape with two conical roofs like this.
"If I remember correctly, there was something like this in the countryside of Italy. It had a name like Berobero, but there's no way it's in such a place..."
A new caramel-like scent begins to overlap with the scent of cinnamon.
“No matter how I think about it, this scent in such a scenery, isn’t it a foreign country?”
The more he tried to think, the more headaches he had, and the more he got drunk, the more he lost consciousness.
"I can't go to Italy in one night."
"No, I can't go wrong. I went to Alberobello. No doubt, the shape of that roof. I looked it up, what was that roof? And then Italy. I wonder, too. I had an appletart there. The cinnamon works well and the surface is crispy with caramel, and it's delicious."
"So, when you woke up, you was sleeping on the futon at home..."
"My wife was angry."
"That's right. Don't go home in the morning and say something that doesn't make sense."
"She told you to lie about it, too. Well, the first thing I woke up was the Kamakura police, and my wife came to pick me up and put me to sleep on the futon."
"How did you go to the police?"
"I don't remember that."
Conversation with the store manager tends to get cut off today, and I can hear the two girls at the back table talking.
"The cake over there is really delicious, isn't it? It's peach this season, but the standard apple tart that's available all year round is the best."
The two men reacted strongly to those words.
"Oh yeah, cinnamon works and tastes like an adult."
Masao tilts his head toward the store manager.
“Maa-san, cinnamon is Nikki.”
Masao gave a big nod.
"But well, that space is nice too. It feels like I'm in a foreign country... What country is that feeling?"
"What are you talking about, that's Alberobello, it's Italian!"
Hearing that far, Masao couldn't help but turn around from the counter,
"Where is that cake shop?"
While the two girls were on guard against the sudden incident,
"It's in the back of Omachi."
"It's like a hideout, just down a small alley from the main road."
Masao took out a map on his smartphone and had him point out the location. The store manager also came out of the kitchen curiously and looked at the screen. Looking at the place pointed to, the two old men nodded slightly,
"Maa-san, how often did you pass through the Shakado tunnel while drunk?"
"Indeed, my whole body hurts here and there. I managed to get over that fence somehow."
The girl knows very well that she is raised in Kamakura,
"Eh, the cut through the Shakado hall became impassable a long time ago, didn't it?"
"When I was childhood, I could pass through. It's true that if you go through that passage from this shop, it's quick to reach that cake shop, isn't it?"
The manager is half dumbfounded
"Maa-san, you can't drink today."
Saying that, he returned to the kitchen.
"I just remembered that I was laying down and smelling that Nikki, and a big black snake was crawling next to my face and I passed out."
11 Yoga mat dream trip
Tsugumi grabbed her yoga mat and went to Zaimokuza beach. Even in August, there are still no beachgoers early in the morning, and the only people there are surfers who are trying to swim outside of swimming hours and people walking their dogs. As usual, when I stood on my mat, I chanted a mantra as I looked towards the distant island of Oshima, and then slowly moved from sun salutations to standing and sitting positions. I woke up from a deep sleep and went into a state of wakefulness while heading to the beach, and now by doing asanas (yoga poses) She has entered a state of meditation. Deep, dreamless sleep is said to be the supreme state in the Upanishads, but meditation is a state that surpasses it by keeping the mind and subconscious memory inactive while keeping the conscious mind active, so it confronts the atman (true self). It can be done. After completing a set of asanas, Tsugumi's routine is to meditate on the mat. Place her right foot on top of her left thigh, then place her left foot on top of her right thigh. Her hands are interlaced so that the tips of her thumbs are lightly touching. Instead of closing her eyes completely, she keep her eyes half-closed and let her breathe. Meditation reaches its climax.
"What's this? It's not a photo!"
When she finished her morning yoga and took off her mat, a regular-sized photo was half buried in the sand, the face sticking out, although she didn't notice it when she arrived. She is so damaged that it's hard to tell what's in the photo, but it appears to be a commemorative photo with the family lined up. The background is a small station in the countryside, and although the signboard cannot be seen clearly, it can be read as Yamashita Station. “Which Yamashita station is this?”
She also thought that throwing it away on the beach would probably get hit by a drumstick, so she put it in the basket that she had put towels and water in.
When she looked back at the photos at home, she noticed things that were not reflected under the sun on the beach. A restaurant with a curtain hanging next to the station. A steel tower on the mountain. This was enough information to narrow down the location of Yamashita Station. When Tsugumi opens Google on her desktop PC, she sees images that show hits for "Yamashita Station."
``Since I brought it home, I think I have to return it to its owner anyway, but I wonder how many there are in Miyagi, Tokyo, Hyogo, Nara, Osaka...Anyway, the car in this photo is no longer visible. It doesn't look like it's there.If the color is not only faded, but the photo was taken from an older time, it's likely that the station building has been rebuilt as well.''
Tsugumi sensed that this search would not be easy, so she lay down on the bed next to her desk and took a deep breath.
"It's not easy to find out where a photo was taken. Oh, wait... Just because I did a Google image search doesn't mean there aren't other people doing the same!"
Thinking so, Tsugumi took as many beautiful photos of her as possible with her smartphone and uploaded them to her own SNS.
She said, ``I found this photo on the beach. If you have any ideas, please reply!''
She immediately posted a comment on Pinterest.
“I can’t believe you uploaded such a private photo without permission!”
She certainly was. She regretted that she had acted on a sudden thought.
After a while, she received a reply on Twitter saying, ``This station is Yamashita Station, which is in the town next to ours, but I don't know this person.The station building is also quite old.''
They thought she was looking for someone. That's okay though. There's nothing wrong with that. But where is the next town?
When Tsugumi replied to that comment, she replied, ``I can't tell you the name of the town, but I think there's only one Yamashita station in Miyagi Prefecture.''
Yay, this is definitely it.
She thought that she should just send Tsugumi by mail to the station, but now that things are like this, she feels like going there.
I think I'll go on the Joban Line if I have some free time.
Tsugumi placed the photo on the bedside table and dozed off.
＊＊＊
A one-car train runs through a field of rape blossoms. It has a shiny brown body and each window frame is painted thick white, giving it a somewhat Scandinavian feel. As we approached a bridge over a small stream, we heard a whistle that was too loud for the size of the vehicle. The vehicle slowly moved forward and eventually disappeared into the rape blossoms. A light breeze causes the rapeseed flowers to wave gently, like the waves of early spring, creating waves that add a dynamic element to the scenery. The familiar cry of a skylark also adds a beautiful effect to the scenery. I can't tell if the scenery is real or a video. The wind certainly didn't caress my cheeks, nor did it carry the scent of rape blossoms. I'm sure he's watching the video. However, it does not have a frame, which is the fate of monitors and screens. I'm confused and want to bring my hand in front of me, but I can't. As I did so, the yellow field of rape blossoms gradually lost its color, and eventually turned completely black. But after a while, I realized that the black was not pure black, but rather a bit gray, and when I paid closer attention, I noticed that it was filled with small white particles. It looks like an image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope that I saw online some time ago, but it has now become clear that the white particles are not stars, but rather elementary particles that cannot be seen with the naked eye. What does it mean to watch that? Have I already died and gone to some other dimension? That's sad, very sad, I don't want to die yet...
＊＊＊
The strong morning sun penetrated through the gap in the blackout curtains that hadn't been closed and illuminated Tsugumi's toned thighs that were exposed through her shorts, and the heat woke her up. Well, he's not dead... Even though I was half-asleep, I was relieved that what had just happened was a dream.
"Tsugumi-sensei, that pose is so difficult that I can't do it easily!"
``Azusa-chan, it's time to call it asana instead of pose.Yoga is not about stretching.You feel the prana from the earth, feel the elementary particles, feel the universe, and know providence.The prana you feel is transferred to your body. Passing the electricity upward is like energizing elementary particles.After much trial and error, we came up with that acrobatic movement.Start with the feeling before the shape.''
“I understand…Ahtatata…”
Every morning, on my mat at Zaimokuza Beach, she comes face to face with a creation called the "sea," which can be said to be a kind of foreign object in the universe. The ocean is an essential item on Earth, which can be called a biotope surrounded by the atmosphere. A metronome of waves that come and go, a routine work of the tides... She's been feeling the prana here, but this morning it's different from usual. she started to feel like that dream was one in which the ocean in front of me showed its true form, transcending dimensions. Although humans cannot walk on the ocean, elementary particles carry electricity and connect the entire earth.
``That photo wasn't a lost item, but something that was washed ashore during a disaster. No, it's just a physical phenomenon. It must have sent a message to him. According to the Upanishads, dreams are a state in which the consciousness turns inward. Dreaming of scenery that you have never thought of means that that photo moves my heart. It means there's something going on there. I just have to go there as soon as possible."
12 song of farewell
Listen to the song of farewell
Because now you realize it's rose-colored
Listen to the song of farewell
There are friends even in the depths of the abyss
It's better to sing a farewell song
Because the surroundings gradually become visible
It's better to sing a farewell song
Because the regrets of this world will disappear
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