by Nicola, staff writer of japan-guide.com
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I read recently that staying at a temple is something of a trend among Japanese professionals seeking a break from hectic work schedules. "Temple holidays" often involve overnight temple stays, meditation with monks, religious exercises, lectures and more. Intrigued by the idea, I got the chance to try a temple stay in the Dewa Sanzan area of Yamagata Prefecture.
Saikan has over 300 years of experience as an inn. It used to be reserved for high ranking Buddhist monks and now offers lodging for pilgrims and tourists visiting the mountaintop shrines of Dewa Sanzan. It is connected, via a long passageway, to the main shrine hall on top of Mount Haguro, or Haguro-san.
Saikan may not be the typical temple lodging experience; it is not actually a temple, but connected to a Shinto shrine. Yet it can be difficult to draw firm distinctions between some aspects of Japanese Buddhism and Shinto as the two religions have coexisted for so long. For example, Saikan is connected to a shrine, but it used to service Buddhist monks. As well, guests can watch an early morning shinto ceremony, but they will dine on vegetarian Buddhist fare.
Just walking onto the grounds of Saikan, near the top of Haurgo san, is a pleasant experience. The entrance is lined with tall cedar trees, like the rest of the 2446 stone stairway leading up to the top the mountain. While the rooms are simple and basic, Saikan is friendly, clean and utterly quiet. The road up to the top of Haguro falls silent after day-visitors to the shrine have departed; not that these sounds could penetrate the dense cedar forest.
Exhaused and sweaty, having walked up and down the 2446 steps of Haguro-san and then completed the 4 to 5 hour round trip hike up nearby Gas-san earlier in the day, I was relieved to be checking in and looking forward my hot bath and dinner.
Besides the usual rice and miso soup, the dinner table was full of treats. I was relieved, having expected considerably more Spartan fare, with great concern that it would not dent my hike-induced hunger. Dinner included various wild mountain vegetables gathered from around the shrine grounds, as well as a new favourite, goma tofu, made by hand grinding the sesame seeds for over an hour until a milky paste forms.
The following morning at 7:00, guests were invited to watch a ceremony in the main shrine. We got there early and settled into seiza, (the seated position with your legs tucked underneath your body), following everyone else's lead.
The shinto ceremony was a nice start to the morning, however, I was largely occupied with how to stand up after it was all over. Indeed, this was a somewhat embarrassing spectacle as sitting in seiza can cause your legs to "fall asleep" from lack of blood flow. A young priest came over to give us an English explanation of the ceremony, and he further explained that it was not necessary to hurt ourselves by sitting uncomfortably. I still think it's a worthwhile exercise in pain endurance, and hardly worth complaining about given the comfort Saikan offers otherwise.
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