Hokokuji: The Bamboo Temple

Bamboo grove at Hokokuji Temple

Today was a great little adventure to Hokokuji (ho-ko-koo-gee) Temple in Kamakura. This temple is also known as the "Bamboo Temple" as there is a beautiful bamboo grove behind the main temple with more than 2000 gorgeous stalks of bamboo reaching up to the sky. It was definitely one of the most serene temples I have been to here in Japan. This place was tucked in this tiny little neighborhood up a winding road (definitely not wide enough for passing cars) and I never would have found it on my own and probably couldn't find it again by myself. (VERY thankful for our "Let's Explore Japan" group for putting this together and getting us all there!) 

The bamboo grove was somewhat magical to walk through and the sun shining through in little spots was so pretty! After walking through the bamboo grove you come to a little teahouse tucked in the back of the temple grounds. There for 500 Yen (about $5) you get a bowl (not a cup) of green tea made fresh for you there with the green tea powder (called matcha) and a whisk like brush they use to mix it. Your tea comes with 2 candies (basically sugar cubes); one for before you drink the tea and one for after. The tea was ok- I'm sure you have to have a sophisticated Japanese palate to enjoy, but it was definitely not my favorite tea. I mostly did the tea part because it's all part of the experience which is what I love here... plus now I can tell you that one time I drank green tea in a tea house in the middle of a bamboo grove in Japan! Boom! Plus we sat on the benches and looked out on some beautiful scenery which made the tea go down a little smoother. 

Green Tea!!!!

So, someone mentioned something about a Japanese folk tale about bamboo so of course I looked into it further because who doesn't love a good Japanese folk tale???  The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter... also sometimes called Kaguya Hime (Princess Kaguya)- this is one of the oldest known folk tales in Japan dating back to the 10th century AND one of the first texts of any culture to discuss the moon as an inhabited world and traveling between the two! (I loved this folk tale already- I knew it was going to be a good one) It's sort of long so I am going to summarize the best I can without leaving anything important out! OK here goes: An old bamboo cutter was wandering through the bamboo forest and he noticed a stalk of bamboo that was shining. He cut it open and found a tiny beautiful baby girl; he took her home to his wife and they raised her as their own and called her Kaguya Hime. After finding her, every time the bamboo cutter cut down a stalk of bamboo he found a piece of gold inside and he became very rich. Kaguya hime grew up to be a very beautiful woman and the news of her beauty spread across the land! 5 princes came and wanted to marry the beautiful Kaguya hime and she devised impossible tasks for each one to complete and the one who managed to complete it would take her hand in marriage.... She asked for 5 different things (absolutely ridiculous things like a jewel from a dragons neck was one of the tasks) and all of the princes failed the tasks. After that, the Emperor of Japan came to her and fell madly in love, but she would not marry him either. 

Kaguya hime

When Kaguya hime saw the full moon her eyes filled with tears and eventually she told her adoptive parents she was not from the Earth and must return to her people on the Moon. ( I found a few different adaptations of why she was sent to Earth... one was that she was being punished and that the gold in the bamboo was to pay for her keep on the Earth). The day came for Kaguya hime to return to the moon and her people came to get her in a blinding light, but before she left she sent the Emperor a letter and attached to it the elixir of life (immortality). She returned to the moon to be at her true home. Her adoptive parents were heartbroken as was the Emperor. After receiving her letter, the Emperor asked, "which mountain is closest to the Moon" and he sent his army to the summit to burn the letter in hopes his message would reach the distant princess, they were also ordered to burn the elixir as he didn't want to live forever without being able to see her. (Here comes the BEST part of the story) The mountain was of course Mt. Fuji and the word fushi (or fuji) means immortality... AND the kanji (Japanese writing) for Mt. Fuji is:富士山 (literally meaning "Mountain Abounding with Warriors") which is thought to signify the Emperor's army climbing up the mountain to carry out his orders and the smoke from the burning still rises today (this tale was written in the days when Mt. Fuji was still an active volcano and continued to smoke)... Isn't that such a great little story. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did... I'll have to remember this one for our kids someday!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:

Take (ta-kay): Bamboo