Japanese Ghost Stories: Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena Page 7
Geomancers purported to show that it was possible to divert or neutralize subtle influences which, for better or worse, could affect both the human psyche and thus society as a whole. Claiming that one of the most intriguing aspects of fusui is the timing of energy cycles, Mido Ryuji, a Tokyo-based fusui practitioner, consults a complicated chart of fusui energy timetables and announces that in 1984 Japan entered an energy-down cycle that he predicted will last until 2003. Right around the turn of the millennium, the energy flow should begin to improve, until Japan once again enjoys a strong energy surge starting in 2004.
Because both the Earth’s magnetic field and the constellations were thought to affect human well-being, fusui was critical not only in the siting of all buildings, from the simplest homes to the most elaborate temples and palaces. It also played an important role in the burial of the dead, a cultural practice especially important because of the emphasis placed by East Asian societies on ancestor worship and appeasement of potentially irate spirits. Even fusui experts have a hard time explaining how energy can flow from the dead to the living, although Mido theorizes that families share the same cycle or wave of energy. The location of a parent’s grave can thus influence a son or daughter. Mido counsels some couples to construct graves while they are still alive, especially in the case of an older man and woman who wish to marry. Since it is unlikely that they will have children, there can be no future energy flow from the union, so Mido selects a site of strong ki and has the couple construct a grave that includes their own hair, nails and items of clothing. From this “living grave,” the energy can flow out toward the couple while they are living, amplifying their positive vibrations and strengthening their ki. For Mido, even the Diet building exhibits fusui planning in the way the emperor’s seat is located in a special room positioned directly north—a fusui power position. On the other hand, he voices concern over the orientation and layout of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s dazzling high rise complex in Shinjuku, noting that its design and direction make it unable to harness the vital ki of its location.
As fusui and experiments with ki illustrate, Japan’s current forays into the mystic frequently draw on reserves of ancient knowledge that have, for one reason or another, been laid aside. Often, however, the advent of the new is actually a return to old awarenesses and strengths, to the archaic depths that may once again yield strategies and solutions for resolving the crises of the modern world. What is now considered supernatural may well be the everyday superpower of the future.
CHAPTER FOUR
Strange but True
Two wooden crosses mark the spot. Facing one another at the top of a shady hill reached by a short series of steps, each cross is surrounded by a white picket fence. Crosses are an unusual sight in Japan, a nation of Shinto and Buddhism where only about one percent of the population is Christian. But even more unusual is the story behind these crosses.
At the foot of the small hill are white boards with inscriptions in both Japanese and English, explaining that this site in a remote Japanese village is the actual grave of Jesus Christ. According to the information in English, Christ first came to Japan at the age of twenty-one to study theology. At the age of thirty-one he returned to Judea and tried to preach God’s message, but the people, instead of listening, tried to kill him. But it was Christ’s younger brother who was crucified, and he died on the cross in his place. Christ himself managed to escape, and, after a long and troublesome voyage, he returned to Japan and this village, where he lived until he died at the age of 106. The grave of Christ is marked by the cross on the right. The cross on the left is the grave of his brother Iskiri, or rather, the resting place of his ears, which Christ brought with him. These facts, says the board, are based on Christ’s own testament. Facing the crosses are the carved stone tombs of Christ’s Japanese descendants, whose Sawaguchi family crest is taken from the Star of David.
A large Star of David also adorns a tall sign pointing the way to Christ’s grave on the main roadway of the village called Shingo, in Aomori Prefecture. This hamlet, located between Gonohe and Lake Towada, was formerly called Heraimura, or Hebrai (Hebrew) Village, a name the locals say came about because of Christ’s long stay here. They point to a village culture which is a curious hodgepodge of beliefs and customs with Judeo-Christian links. According to village lore, passed on by those over eighty years old to the next generation, Christ came to Heraimura and decided to stay here quietly without bothering to spread any religious teachings. He did, however, travel all over Japan, visiting many towns, learning about language and lifestyles, and aiding people in various ways. Apparently he was balding, with white hair, a long nose, a red face, and habitually wore a long, crumpled cape. Villagers called him “ Tengu.”
Around the time of Obon, the summertime Buddhist festival honoring the dead, villagers perform a special dance and sing a song, “ Nanyado,” whose words make no sense at all in Japanese. Upon analyzing them, however, Kawamorita Eiji, a Japanese professor of theology, found the words of the song to be Hebrew; in that language, the song means, “We praise your holy name. We will destroy the aliens [literally, “the hairy people”], and we praise your holy name.” The Shinto ceremony here for new babies involves blessing them with the sign of the cross, and when a child takes its first walk outdoors, the parents draw a cross on the infant’s forehead for protection. Crosses are also drawn with saliva on the feet when they fall asleep. This ritual is repeated three times for effect.
Obviously, someone did come to Shingo long ago. The fact that villagers believe it was Jesus Christ is an intriguing version of the typical rural tale of “So-and-So slept here.” But, then, Aomori is filled with such odd mysteries and myths. Set at the northern tip of Honshu (Japan’s main island) and surrounded by sea on three sides, Aomori is the northernmost of the six prefectures that make up the Tohoku region. Geography has nurtured a hardy and tenacious people with a living tradition of fishing and farming. Villages still hug the shoreline, and centuries-old thatched roofs rise over rice fields. It is an expansive prefecture that offers vistas of unspoiled beauty that include virgin beech forests, cypress groves, sculpted cliffs, lakes and rivers, and even a habitat for snow monkeys.
As described in the first chapter, Aomori is home to Mount Osore and the itako. It is also a known location of pyramid power, UFO seekers, ancient ties with possible aliens, stone circles, numerous ghost stories, and all manner of other supernatural connections. With a land area of just over nine thousand square kilometers and a population of only 1.5 million, Aomori is one of Japan’s least crowded prefectures. Vast, uninhabited stretches may have much to do with the Aomori native’s fascination with nature and mystical phenomena. There is something magical in the beautiful but often lonely scenery that brings to mind things beyond the material world.
In 1935, the year the alleged grave of Christ was reportedly discovered, another Aomori phenomenon was stumbled upon by a Japanese painter. This is the stone pyramid on Mount Towari, in the Mayogatai Recreational Forest, near Sannohe. According to a written mythology of Tohoku discovered in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, and kept by the Takeuchi family, Japan has seven pyramids, all of which are older than the pyramids of Egypt. The Aomori stone structure is believed to be the fourth pyramid, and as such it is decidedly unimpressive, coming across as an overgrown mound rather than a deliberately planned stone structure. Examination of the pyramid has determined that the stones are set facing in the four directions. One very large stone, now lying on its face and half-buried, is known as the mirror stone. It is thought that this stone once stood upright and that it has symbols carved into it, but it toppled over in the Ansei Earthquake of 1855. The fact that the summit of the pyramid is aligned with the polestar suggests that the edifice may have been some sort of ancient astronomical calendar. The existence of a small shrine also indicates that the pyramid may have been a sacred place for religious rituals, and one British researcher theorizes that it could have been a location for sun worship. Ent
rance to the pyramid today is through a small, red Shinto gate called a torii, and visitors can clamber over the stones and ponder their ancient relevance.
An equally enticing question is whether Aomori may have been visited by aliens in the distant past. Some people think this may indeed have happened, especially when they look at the clay dolls known as shakoki dogu. Near the village of Kizukuri is a small field which a farmer was plowing as usual when he turned up a curious clay figurine resembling an astronaut. Its bulky, ornate costume, with elaborate headgear, has been described as a spacesuit from antiquity. The most intriguing feature, however, is its oversized goggles, similar to those worn by skiers today. In fact, shakoki means “goggles”; dogu is a clay doll.
Theories about these clay figurines, several of which have been discovered, abound. Some researchers say they were used for funerals, since most were found smashed and buried: the queer face of the shakoki dogu could have been a death mask. Others remain convinced that they portray visitors from another world, especially since the dolls are so unlike anything that might have come out of Japan’s Jomon era (8,000–200 B.C.E.), a neolithic culture based on hunting, gathering, and fishing, with pit dwellings for homes. Hints about the lifestyle and customs of the Jomon people have been gathered largely from the refuse heaps and shell mounds scattered around their settlements.
Throughout Aomori, as well as in neighboring Akita and Iwate prefectures, the relics found at various archaeological sites underscore this dynamically creative period of Japan’s Stone Age. For more than one thousand years, the northeast region now known as Tohoku was evidently a thriving cultural center. Most characteristic of the Jomon era is the intricate jomon (literally, “cord-patterned”) earthenware, of complex design and exquisite craftsmanship. According to a diary kept by the Kitajima family, who from their base at Nameoka Castle governed south Tsugaru in Aomori during the early seventeenth century, much rare pottery was found in their day. Enthusiastic collectors flourished in the Edoera, and buying and selling of pottery took place even in foreign countries, as awareness of Jomon artwork spread.
But first-class pottery fails to explain adequately the costume of the shakoki dogu, which could have been nothing like the everyday simple dress of Jomon people, who hunted with bows and arrows and fished with bone fishhooks and harpoons. Is this fantastic clay doll simply the product of an artist’s rich imagination? Or was it created to capture the memory of an alien connection that was celebrated thereafter in careful ritual? Today the 34.5-centimeter-tall statue fortuitously found by the farmer is showcased at the Tokyo National Museum, where it still retains its ancient secret. The field, on the other hand, has become an Aomori tourist attraction marked by a towering white plaster replica of the figurine, an enormous reminder of the world’s many unknowns.
Another mystery turns up at Oyu, a small resort in Akita, between Lake Towada and Hachimantai. In the foothills southeast of the town stands the Oyu Stone Circle, thought to date back some four thousand years, to Japan’s prehistoric age. Considered the best example of approximately thirty similar stone circles located throughout Tohoku and also in Hokkaido, the Oyu Stone Circle is actually two large circles, one situated inside the other. Between the perimeters of the inner and outer circles is a sundial, with rocks laid out like spokes radiating from this center. The stones were dragged from some twelve kilometers away, a considerable distance at the time. The Oyu Stone Circle was serendipitously discovered by government surveyors in 1931, and the site has since been designated as a historical relic. As with the shakoki dogu, there are numerous theories to explain the circle’s existence. More recently, the site was used to fuel military propaganda touting Japan’s cultural superiority during World War II. At other stone circles have been found pottery of rare design, such as collections of small-lipped vases. Often, dug under the stone circles, there are oval hollows with diameters of 1.5 meters and depths of seventy centimeters. These may have been used as graves or for special worship. Researchers also believe corpses may have been buried with arms and legs folded into the body with the head facing west. As a graveyard, the circle could have started out small and increased in size. The foundations of Jomon pit houses, partially underground dwellings that were once covered with straw roofs supported by poles, can still be seen at Oyu and other sites throughout Tohoku. Experts so far cannot agree as to whether the bones that have been found are from Japanese, Ainu, or even an older race. Others argue that the Oyu Stone Circle has nothing to do with graves, but is instead a primitive calendar that has astronomical significance only.
Going farther north, to Hokkaido, there is a stone mystery of a different sort. At the coastal town of Otaru is the Temiya Cave. Discovered in 1866 by a stonemason, the cave contains wall carvings that are now thought to belong to the Jomon era. The cave became famous after Enomoto Takeaki, a Japanese politician, stopped over in Otaru in 1878 after a stint of duty in Siberia. Visiting Temiya Cave, he sketched the carving and brought a tracing of it back to Tokyo. A British teacher at what later became part of Tokyo Imperial University traveled to Otaru the following summer and publicized information about the cave in the newsletter of the British Society of Tokyo. Soon, numerous scholars took up the trail, with one report in 1914 concluding that the characters were of Turkish origin, probably carved before Japan’s Nara era (646–794), and that the cave was a tomb. In 1918 the scholar Nakanome Akira published a paper stating that the carvings were indeed ancient Turkish, and meant “I crossed the sea at the head of my followers and fought and arrived at this cave.” He, too, believed the cave to be a tomb, and also that the cave writer had fought in battle with early admiral Abe no Hirabu in 660. Then, in 1947, a local historian and elementary school principal in Otaru, Asaeda Fumihiro, declared that the carvings were actually Chinese characters from around 1000 B.C. According to him, they meant “People came with many ships and built a shrine here. Our king died and was buried here. There was a battle and a religious service with sacrifice.” Critics such as Kono Jokichi and Kida Teikichi dismissed all of these opinions, asserting that the carvings were recent, made sometime during the end of the Taisho era (1912–26) or the early Showa era (1926–88). The most vocal critic was the president of Sapporo Hokushin Hospital, Sekiba Fujihiko, who claimed that the head monk of the local shrine at Temiya, a certain Shirano Kaun, had confessed that one of his disciples had admitted carving the figures for fun. This seemed to close the controversy until in 1950 a student at Sapporo South High School found another cave in neighboring Yoichi City, with similar carvings. The next year, the vice-president of Hokkaido University, Natori Takemitsu, began to investigate and discovered more than two hundred such carvings there, in a cave now known as Fugoppe, possibly from an Ainu word. Today the carvings at both Temiya and Fugoppe Caves are considered genuine, perhaps relating to the religious rituals of the multifaceted Jomon period.
The Jomon era is not Tohoku’s only enduring cultural legacy. Although in modern times the region has come to be regarded as a backwater, especially by people from big-city Tokyo, Tohoku boasted a “golden age” eight hundred years ago that was based on actual deposits of gold. Marco Polo’s account of Japan as a country of palaces with roofs and floors of gold is thought to have been inspired by rumors of Tohoku gold. A very real and lasting example of such legendary wealth can be seen in the Iwate city of Hiraizumi, headquarters in olden times of the powerful Fujiwara clan. Boasting in its heyday more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, Hiraizumi became widely known for its highly developed Buddhist culture and showy temples. At the Chusonji temple, the Konjikido, the fabulous golden pavilion constructed in 1124 to hold the remains of three Fujiwara lords can still be seen. Although small in size, the building is spectacularly wrought in gold leaf, inlaid mother-of-pearl, and lacquer, and is a convincing testament to Hiraizumi’s former splendor. Its beauty has been designated a “National Treasure.”
While gold wealth can be conspicuous in the extreme, Tohoku also offers a setting that showcases the mos
t stringent of ascetic practices. Toward the south, in Yamagata Prefecture, is a sacred mountain area known as Dewa Sanzan, a name that refers collectively to the three neighboring peaks of Haguro, Gassan, and Yudono. Dewa Sanzan has long been the religious retreat of a severely ascetic sect, the mountain priests called yamabushi. Rituals of the yamabushi combine mystic elements drawn from primitive animism and shamanism, as well as Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. They train their bodies to live on these slopes in the depth of snow country by purifying themselves through meditation, fasting, sleeping outdoors, and chanting while standing under icy waterfalls. Also known as shugenja, yamabushi were once discredited by the Meiji government, which denounced them as outright phonies, but they and their stringent training have survived to this day.
The most rigorous of practices, however, was undertaken by the “living mummies” of Gassan, who had to remain celibate and give up eating meat and also eventually rice, wheat, and other grains. For a time they subsisted only on mountain vegetables and fruits and nuts, with the quantities of food gradually growing smaller until the amounts dwindled to almost nothing. The body, too, shrank and dried out, and the monk would over time turn into a stringy “living mummy,” who, thus transformed, would die in his chosen holy spot. To prepare for dying, the monk usually retreated to a specially constructed chamber constructed below ground. The ceiling of the chamber was so low that one could not even stand upright, and it was connected to the surface by a bamboo pipe which let in air. There, the monk would sit cross-legged, chanting and ringing his prayer bell continuously until he died.