A note from Will:

This is the very first thing I ever had published. It appeared in the Daily Yomiuri, the English language edition of the Yomiuri, Japan's largest circulation newspaper.

Earlier, when I had hitchhiked across Japan from the southernmost tip of Kyushu to the northernmost point of Hokkaido, I had contacted the Daily Yomiuri about writing a series of travel articles about my trip. They were very keen on the idea and I was thus able to pass myself off as "a travel correspondent with the Yomiuri" (something that still unfortunately crops up in author bios now and then).

I took scads of notes while I was hitching, but when I handed in the articles the editor said - and here I quote for accuracy - "No." The pieces were too personal, too subjective and not 'journalistic enough.' I did manage to rewrite one article in a more 'journalistic' format, which the Daily Yomiuri did run (see: below).

It wasn't the most auspicious start I could have hoped for as a writer, but fortunately I was later able to expand the journals from my end-to-end trip across Japan into a book: Hokkaido Highway Blues.

Renewing the Faith

An insider's journey into one of Japan's holiest Shinto retreats

Will Ferguson

The scent of incense hangs in the air. A young woman in a white robe and mask performs a slow kagura dance to the rhythmic chants of the priests. The head priest steps forward and passes a wand of folded paper over us as we bow, our foreheads almost touching the floor. The ritual is then repeated with a staff of small golden bells that jingle like coins in a cup.

Kinkazan Island is dedicated to the gods of money circulation, and it is said that if you visit the island three years in a row all your financial worries will be over. This is one of the three holiest places in northern Japan, and until just recently, women were not allowed on Kinkazan because the deities enshrined were female and prone to jealousy.

The island is west of Sendai, at the end of the Oshika Peninsula, and is an easy side trip from the famed pine-covered island of Matsushima Bay.

It is a remarkably unspoiled place. Other than the ferry port, a few tawdry souvenir shops and a minshuku inn, the only structure on Kinkazan is the impressive architectural complex of Koganeyama Shrine that leads up into the forest.

Free-ranging deer are everywhere on Kinkazan, and they are believed to be messengers of the gods, although their main aim in life seems to be cadging snacks from visitors. In the mountains further up, colonies of wild monkeys roam uncaged. Unlike other "wild" monkeys parks in Japan, the monkeys of Kinkazan really are wild. They flee, screeching insults, as hikers approach.

The path to the summit begins behind the shrine and follows a mountain stream for part of the way. I set off in the early afternoon and had the trail all to myself. (Most of the visitors to Kinkazan are day-trippers who have to catch the last ferry back, and only a few people make the climb to the top.)

It is a one-hour hike from shrine to summit, without tour groups or crowds of schoolchildren to distract you. There is only the wind in the forest, the cries of the monkeys and--snakes.

No one said anything about snakes. I was just about to step on a long stick lying across the stream when it suddenly slithered away. After that, the hike was less serene. Every stick and twig seemed poised to strike and I found myself longing for tour groups and schoolchildren.

At the top, a small shrine looks out on a panorama of sea and shore. I had become so accustomed to the usual tourist-intense zones of Japan that I had assumed there would be vending machines or drink stalls at the top. There were none, and I was panting with thirst after the steep climb. The streams are not safe to drink from because of possible monkey or deer-borne parasites, to say nothing about snakes.

That evening, as I soaked with fellow pilgrims in the lodging's magnificently located hot-spring, I asked them about the snake I had almost trodden on.

"Was it striped?" they asked. "Or did it have circles on it, like a five-yen coin?"

When I said I thought it was striped and about a metre long, they said, "Don't worry. Only snakes with circles are dangerous, and Kinkazan doesn't have any of those. At least not that we know of. It was a good sign, crossing paths with a snake like that."

On Kinkazan, portents of fortune abound. The island is imbued with gods and desires and lucky omens. After the morning rites, the shrines are silent and heavy with mist and there is no doubting that this island is a holy place.

Westerners are fascinated with Zen, but the spiritual depths of Shinto are often overlooked. Shinto is usually only associated with shrine architecture and raucous festivals, but there is much more to it than that, and a night on Kinkazan offers Westerners a glimpse inside the living heart of the Shinto faith.

INFORMATION ON LODGINGS

Koganeyama Shrine has an inn connected to the main shrine, just a short hike up from the ferry port. A large torii gate marks the way and is impossible to miss.

Note that this is not a standard hotel, so observe proper protocol. Bathe before supper, and make sure you understand where morning rites will be held. Don't sleep in! Your name will be chanted during the blessings, so make sure you are there to receive it. Arrive at least 10 minutes before services begin, because you will need help putting on the pilgrim's vest. Sit up front, near the altar so that the priest does not have to walk across the room to touch the bells to your shoulder and head. (Watch the other pilgrims to know when and how to bow properly.)

The Daily Yomiuri
July 27, 1995