Sound of the Woods

by Anett Pataki (Hungary)

I didn't expect to find Japan

You need to know, that even the Northern region in Japan can turn into a hot sauna during the summer. If you would like to move around with your dignity on, you need to move in the early hours - otherwise the sweat will wash it all off. The situation was just like that, when I've decided to visit a hidden temple in a nearby downy and woody area of the city, Minami-Fukushima. The Manganji temple has a 1200 years long history, and my goal was to see the Kuroiwa Kokuzoson building, as it has a statue of a cow around which you need to pet to gain wisdom. Well, it worths to ride on your bicycle for an hour at 6 am, doesn't it? I was also curious about the 16 arhat (a Buddhist, who has attained Nirvana) statues which were hidden in the wild vegetation around the temple. When I have arrived, no one was around. I could listen to the light morning fight of the birds in the dense foliage and the tingling sound which was the forest's own, I guessed. As the sun couldn't reach through, I felt chilly after getting hot by the pedaling and the hiking. I don't really know whether it was from feeling cold, from not getting used to visit remote places alone, or because of the news about some wildboar sighting at the neighbouring area, but I started to feel scared. After all, I was alone in the woods. Anyway, as I came so far, I couldn't simply turn back and run away. So the expedition has continued and shortly I have found the cow among some other statues. I could see some arhats as well, but I refused to step on the signed hiking path, even though they showed on a map where the little fellows have been placed. It's rather unbelievable, but as I was busy observing the temple and the statues closely, I didn't even look behind my back - until this point. When I turned around to leave, I finally understood where that deep, slightly disturbing sound was coming from; the Abukuma river was rushing just below that hill, and took a sharp turn to right. The rocky riverbed made the water to whir and the foresty hills made the sound to echo bluntly. The clear water was sparkling under the morning sunshine and it was splashing into the air when a stronger stream was hit against a shiney rock. It was calming and natural to look down on it from above, with the cow of wisdom watching behind my shoulder. It was beautiful.