Koyasan, Hiroshima, Amakusa, Kagoshima

The day 27/10/2004 was entirely dedicated to recovering physical strength and above all to updating our website, in view of the odyssey awaiting us for the weekend, a non-stop crossing from Osaka to the far south of Japan (Kagoshima).

This odyssey began on 28/10/2004 at six in the morning with destination Koyasan, a place lost in the middle of the mountains, a stronghold of Buddhism. It's an area rich in Buddhist temples and declared a world heritage site last July. The atmosphere you breathe everywhere is truly unique, full of mysticism, sacredness and serenity. But even more surprising was the meeting with a monk of Swiss origin: Kurt Kubli Genso. He was our guide through the twists and turns of Buddhist philosophy (also because he spoke good Italian and not only Italian, but seven other languages). An exhaustive explanation for our curiosity, and understandable even for neophytes like us.

Beyond the explanations, what really struck us is Kurt's personality, strange just the right amount, certainly not common and banal, all perhaps tied to the interweaving between the Buddhist religion and his personality as an artist.

Among the symbol places of Koyasan there is the cemetery immersed in a centuries-old forest, chock-full of Stupas (a sort of tombstones erected in memory of the deceased), where, whether because of the sacredness of the place, or the majesty of the very old trees, the atmosphere surrounding us seemed enchanted.

The legendary Kurt at the end of the day first took us to an old onsen lost in the middle of the mountains on an almost impassable road ruled by wild animals. He then unfailingly accompanied us to dinner at an inn, very rustic, where we ate very well. Incredible to think of Italian spaghetti with tomato and basil, which Kurt himself taught the cook to make. The cook, on Kurt's precise order, planted basil and tomato in his little garden exclusively for the Italian dishes... me cojoni!!! Very very good.

the odyssey continues

We left in the evening from Koyasan, and pointed the nose of our Cresta (the car, professor's) toward Hiroshima. The trip lasted about 8-9 hours, obviously without ever sleeping. Arriving around noon, we first headed to the spot where the first atomic bomb was dropped; in memory of the tragedy, the ruins of the Prefectural building have been preserved, which partially withstood the detonation. After the ritual photos, the second destination was the museum. Quite interesting and at times even shocking for the cruelty of the images presented. Negative note, in typical Yankee style, the air conditioning pervaded the rooms in a way that was nothing short of arrogant and we came out with one of the most classic headaches, except for our good friend Ironman Andrea: indestructible.

Having left Hiroshima, we headed toward the island of Miyajima, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island's peculiarity is the temple gate situated on the seafront: depending on the tide, both the gate and the temple get flooded. We did a long trek that took us almost to the summit of the mountain, but we had to give up because darkness surprised us.

Back in the car we headed to Amakusa to meet a Japanese television station broadcast over the internet, which became famous in Japan and the United States thanks to the presence of a particular reporter: a nice little old lady of eighty-eight who, after a life dedicated to farming, reinvented herself in this new role. The meeting with the TV station consisted of a brief and informal interview in which the nice old lady tried to cobble together a bit of Italian.

The last destination, in the Kyushu region, was Kagoshima. Reached in the evening, we finally made a stop to rest a little; instead of the usual Cresta seats, we took the opportunity to test our tent. Too bad about the slope of the ground and the rain that made our stay somewhat damp. Having woken up at a time we were no longer used to (10:30), we dismantled our gear and moved on to see the Kamikaze museum and the area dedicated to the Samurai. In this town (Chiran) we were able to understand the reason that led to the creation of the cartoon Sanpei. Along the entire main street there was a gutter inhabited by an innumerable quantity of gigantic carp accustomed to human presence (they even let themselves be touched, but no one would ever dare fish them). The same evening the long climb back toward Osaka began, broken only by some sporadic stops at service areas.