Knowing Tranquility XXIII (Tamashima)

 

 

As we have the car, we detour over to Tamashima.  Donald Richie never made it this far, though it was historically an important part of the region.  The suffix shima hardly applies anymore, as nearby mountaintops gave their crowns to attach the former island to the outer suburbs of Kurashiki city. A narrow canal bisects the old town, though the proper sea is far off, out by those block-shaped man-made islands that extend to the south like a robotic prosthetic.     

All of this is visible from the heights of Entsu-ji temple, whose picturesque grounds are filled with ponds, thatch buildings, and stone statuary that climb the hillside, all beneath spreading cherry trees.  A torii-like gate formed by tree-trunks leads to an array of trails made for light hiking.  As we make our way through the shade, I imagine myself in the footsteps of one of my Zen heroes, Ryokan, who trained here two centuries before.  Stone figures silently watch as we spiral toward the top of the mountain, upon whose summit is a towering statue of Ryokan himself, at play with a group of children, as was his wont.  The scale of the thing seems out of place with the simplicity of his life, and of his haiku:  

 

The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

 

Down at sea level, we walk through what had once been the center of Tamashima.  The Saisō-tei was once the home of the Yunoki family, who ran the town on behalf of the Lord of Bitchu-Matsuyama, whose atmospheric and original castle still sits majestically in the mountains an hour from here.  Among the displays within the house, I discovered that the reclamation went back as far as 1671, creating a important port which at its height hosted over 200 warehouses.  None of these were visible today, but a handful of trade houses still existed across the canal in Nakaigai-cho, all repurposed into shops or trendy eateries.  We did a quick spin through the area, before excitedly crossing the canal again to buy a gelato at a colorful little shop near the water.    

On the turntable:  Grateful Dead, "1983-04-12, Broome County Arena"