I Was Supposed to Go to Hamamatsu Flower Park…
I hadn’t been feeling well all week and had been working remotely from home, so I decided to cycle for just over an hour to Hamamatsu Flower Park to get some exercise. I figured it would be quiet since the Hamanako Flower Expo 2024 had just wrapped up.
However, when I arrived at the park, I realized I had forgotten my wallet, and to make matters worse, the ticket booth cruelly displayed “Cash Only”… I’d made this mistake before at a different place while cycling. I seem to always forget my wallet when I go cycling…
To Kanzanji Temple
I’ve been to Kanzanji many times for its hot springs and to eat unagi (eel), but for some reason, I’d never actually visited the temple itself. Since I had no money and it was close to the flower park, I thought it was a good opportunity.
The area where Kanzanji Temple is located is like a small peninsula jutting into Lake Hamana, with Mt. Kanzan (館山) at its center, which is where the temple gets its name. Kanzanji Temple was founded by Kobo Daishi when he visited Mt. Kanzan from Mt. Koya to undergo ascetic training, so it was probably originally a Shingon sect temple. After being abandoned once during the anti-Buddhist movement (Haibutsu Kishaku) in the Meiji era, it was revived as a branch temple of Akihasan Akibaji Temple, a famous temple nearby, and it seems to have become a Soto Zen temple at that time. Come to think of it, when I was doing the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, I was also surprised to find Tendai or Soto Zen temples sometimes, even though they were related to Kobo Daishi. I guess they, like this one, converted for some reason after their founding.
What’s interesting is that Atago Shrine is right next to Kanzanji Temple. In fact, the road extending straight from the hot spring town leads to the torii gate of Atago Shrine, and you can pass through it to go up, so some people might mistake this shrine for Kanzanji Temple. Though, since they’re so close and adjacent, you’d probably realize “wait a minute!”
Kanzan Walking Trails
Behind Kanzanji Temple, Mt. Kanzan has walking trails, and I was surprised to find a denser forest than I expected.
Anadaishi is a cave-like place where a stone statue, said to have been carved by Kobo Daishi himself during 21 days of ascetic training here, is enshrined. It’s quite narrow, and I almost hit my head…
I was surprised when the Statue of Sho Kannon Bodhisattva, which looked over 10 meters tall, suddenly appeared, and a mysterious pot-like object adorned with an elephant’s head created an enigmatic atmosphere.
The coast of Mt. Kanzan is paved with many reddish-brown stones and rocks, and the scent of the tide reminds you that it’s the sea, making it a very peculiar place.
Walking along the circular path where there are hardly any people, I sometimes hear a “rustling” sound and get startled, but it turns out to be crabs. Crabs, a little smaller than a fist, sometimes scurry among the fallen leaves. Despite their rugged appearance, they move surprisingly quickly to escape.
I took photos of the flowers I found on Mt. Kanzan with the 50mm macro lens I had brought, thinking I might use it at the flower park. The colors of the flowers blooming this season are soft and create a lovely atmosphere.
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