Hiraizumi Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Hitoshi

Title: What Is a Private Hiraizumi World Heritage Temple Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji

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The guests were experienced travelers who had visited many places in Japan and abroad, with a deep knowledge of sightseeing, history, and culture, and a strong spirit of inquiry. They seemed especially interested in Japanese temples and shrines. At Chuson-ji's Sankozo treasure hall, they asked about the meaning of the mudra of the joroku Buddha statue, the actual number of hands on the standing Thousand-Armed Kannon statue, the meaning of the founding prayer document of Chuson-ji, the reasons for the Genji conquest of Hiraizumi, the types and differences among Buddhist statues such as Nyorai, Kannon, and Jizo, the reasons for its registration as a World Heritage Site, the reasons for the founding of Motsu-ji, the water source of the channels in the Pure Land garden, and the concept of mappo (the age of the Dharma's decline). At the Sankozo, they carefully appreciated national treasures such as the mother-of-pearl inlay work, the sutras written in alternating gold and silver characters, and the mandala paintings. They joined their hands in prayer for a while before the golden Shaka Nyorai in the main hall of Chuson-ji, the Monju Bosatsu in the sutra repository, and the Bishamonten statue at Takkoku no Iwaya. At the Mineyakushi-do of Chuson-ji, they purchased a protective charm said to bring benefits for preventing eye ailments. Inside the former covering hall, they carefully watched a video recording of the major restoration of the Golden Hall carried out in the Showa era. At Hakusan Shrine, after viewing the Noh stage, they passed through the shrine's chinowa reed ring and worshipped at the small shrine of their own zodiac animal at the shrine dedicated to the twelve zodiac guardian deities. They seemed to find the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism difficult to grasp — for example, that the principal image of the Benkei-do, the Shogun Jizo, is regarded as one and the same as Atago Gongen, and also the deity Matarajin in the Jogyo-do of Motsu-ji. They showed strong interest in the theory (one of several) that Matsuo Basho was a ninja. One of the guests was deeply interested in plants and looked up the names of the flowers blooming here and there using a smartphone app. They were amazed by the story of the Chuson-ji lotus, which bloomed in 1998 for the first time in 800 years. For lunch, one of the guests was fond of udon, but unfortunately the udon restaurant was closed for its regular holiday, so I guided them to a mochi cuisine restaurant, which was well received. They were surprised when I explained that the Hiraizumi and Ichinoseki regions have 300 kinds of mochi dishes. The weather was fine and perfect for traveling that day, and the guests seemed to fully enjoy the experience of the World Heritage temples of the Michinoku region. It was a fulfilling day, and the many questions from the guests also gave me a chance to reaffirm my own knowledge.

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Tour Report by Hitoshi

My name is Hitoshi Ohata. I’ve been an interpreter and guide for about six years since I retired. I live in Takizawa City which is at the foot of Mt. Iwate, the highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture. My hobby is playing table tennis once a week. I’m not a competitive player, I’m just having fun. I also play go, a board game. The main guides are a guide to Hiraizumi’s cultural heritage and a guide to cruise ship tours in Aomori and Iwate Prefecture. I’ve experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, so I can talk about things like that. I try to convey Japanese culture and society to people overseas in an easy-to-understand way as much as possible.