Pilgrimage to disaster central
Journey begins thousands of kilometers South
Suddenly a glance to the right, not too fast to prevent the visor snapping, and there it was. The magnificent white massif of Mount Hakusan. It is one of the three Reizan of Japan. Being called a sacred mountain in a country of hundreds of peaks must surely signify a special soul. Mount Fuji is understandable since it is the highest and arguably the most aesthetic. It would later be passed on another motorcycle ride to pick up the truck. Mount Tateyama in nearby Toyama prefecture, from where the bike now sped through Ishikawa prefecture, was the third of the three sacred mountains. It had been recently climbed by an ardent group of young hemp growers who used a Mayan chant at the top to call on the sun. Now these three spiritual colossi have been silently dropped from the terminology sacred mountains by many politically correct and all so contemporary Japanese. These three ancient giants are now referred to in the Japanese wikipedia as ‘ the three great leisure spots for mounting climbing’. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms then welcome to Japan-land of the fuzzy, and home of the spiritually confused circa 2011. What, are you ashamed to admit you worship mountains as spirits now? And every shrine in the country is built on the sure belief that originated in sangakushinko, the worship of mountains as sacred beings no less? For the alien this was another troubling sign…
to be continued..
