OTSU (Japan New/ANN) — An increasing number of foreigners are coming to Japan to experience its unique spiritual culture.
Late last year, a tour was launched that gives foreign tourists the opportunity to meet the Dai-Ajari, a master who has completed the 1,000-day kaihogyo, a rigorous ascetic practice of Enryakuji in Otsu, the head temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, on Mt. Hiei.
In December, a man and woman from overseas hiked a five-kilometer section of the kaihogyo route on Mt. Hiei. On the walk lasting about two hours, a guide told them about the practice in which the ascetic will not eat, drink, sleep or rest for nine days while continuously chanting mantras. The pair gasped, saying things like “amazing” and “unbelievable.”
The 1,000-day kaihogyo is a pilgrimage that takes about seven years and covers about 40,000 kilometers, roughly the circumference of the Earth. People who complete it are considered to be embodiments of the Fudo Myoo deity and are granted the title Hokurei Daigyoman Dai-Ajari.
After their walk, the pair descended to the Ogi district of Otsu at the base of the mountain to meet 44-year-old Endo Mitsunaga, the chief priest of the Kakushoritsuan temple and the 50th person recorded to have completed the 1,000-day kaihogyo since the siege of Mt. Hiei by Oda Nobunaga in 1571.
With the guide interpreting, Mitsunaga told the pair, “During the ascetic practice I injured my right leg and was prepared to die, but many people watched over me and an unseen force supported me.”
The pair listened intently. Afterward, Mitsunaga recited an incantation, touching their heads and shoulders with prayer beads.
“I felt the sacred atmosphere of Japan. Meeting a Dai-Ajari, someone who underwent something so unbelievably harsh, made for a memorable trip,” said Carly Scothern, 30, a company employee from Britain.
The tour was run by a study group on foreign tourism organized by the prefectural government that includes travel agencies among its members. The tour was designed by Otsu-based Tour du Lac Biwa, and Mitsunaga agreed to take part out of a desire to convey the teachings of Buddhism to anyone who is interested.
The company had several inquiries for the spring mountain climbing season. A staff member in charge said they hoped to gain attention as an “unknown spiritual journey.”
Surge in foreign pilgrims
The number of foreigners attempting the Ohenro pilgrimage in the Shikoku region is growing rapidly. There has even been notable foreign interest in the three mountains of the Dewa pilgrimage in Yamagata Prefecture.
In fiscal 2017, 416 foreigners were recognized as “Henro ambassadors” for walking to all 88 sites, according to the Henro to Omotenashi no Network, a nonprofit organization based in Takamatsu. This is about 10 times the number in fiscal 2007.
Tokushima University Associate Prof. George Moreton, who studies Ohenro, spoke to 95 foreigners who attempted the pilgrimage last year.
Many of them expressed inward-looking motivations and sentiments, such as the opportunity to think about life while encountering lots of different people and places.
“Ohenro allows people to forget differences in nationality, social position and language. It’s been spreading as a way to experience “deep Japan” by the media and through word of mouth,” he said.
The Haguro Tourist Association offers ascetic tours related to the three mountains of the Dewa pilgrimage that include activities such as praying under waterfalls and fire-walking. The association had one group of five foreigners in fiscal 2014, but five groups of 52 foreigners in fiscal 2018.
About five years ago, Yamagata Prefecture launched a multilingual website that says the visit to Ise Shrine in the west and the three mountains of the Dewa pilgrimage in the east have been known since the Edo period (1603-1867) as a symbol of Japan’s spiritual culture.
“Real ascetic experiences are rare and are especially attractive to those from the United States and Europe,” said the person in charge of the matter at the association.
Yoshiyuki Ishizaki, professor of tourism marketing theory at Ritsumeikan University, said: “When Westerners come all the way to Japan, they really want to understand it deeply. There is a strong pilgrimage culture there, particularly the Santiago pilgrimage across northern Spain, which probably has a strong impact on them. But there needs to be a balance. If things become more touristy, the solemn religious practice will be lost.”
