Japan: Day 4 - Tōno

Day 4:
With an early arrival in Tōno, we walked 1.5 miles back to Alex's apartment surrounded by snow & mountains! It was the perfect opportunity for Alex to give me a walking tour of her town. Tōno is known as the 'hometown' of Japan, so in other words, a very traditional, folklore town home to a common people that hold very traditional Japanese values. Their claim to fame appears to be this book of folktales called "The Legends of Tōno"; you cannot go into any museum in the area without some mention of the author, Kunio Yanagita.
We settled into her apartment for a quick rest before setting out to visit the Nambo Shrine that holds  seven of the deities of Buddha, the Tōno Municipal Museum, & last but not least, Gohyaki Rakan "500 Buddhist Disciples" hike! As the story goes, a famine due to poor harvest led to the deaths of 500 Buddhist priests, who all died of starvation. The only remaining priest dedicated his time to honoring the lives of those lost by carving a Buddha on over 500 rocks on this mountain side! It was absolutely mind-blowing to see all the carvings, which were ancient yet still very visible on the rocks, even though many were coated in snow & moss.

After this hike we slid, quite literally 😿 ,  down the mountain back to the car.
A quick shower & a top bun later, we headed to Keiko's, Alex's Japanese momma, to experience a REAL Japanese Tea Ceremony! Upon arriving we were greeted by three elderly women, who giggled & chattered in Japanese, with Alex translating when necessary. The amount of detail & precision that goes into this art of tea is absolutely astounding...! Every movement, step, stir, turn, & placement is carefully coordinated & calculated, nothing is done unplanned. Alex is practicing to be able to lead a tea ceremony, she took a turn performing the task of entering with the tools & pots, mixing the tea & serving the tea. Keiko led the ceremony while the two other ladies sat on either side of me & Alex to show us what to do. Our movements were just as precise & methodical, but very few compared to the amount that Alex had to do when leading the ceremony. It definitely blew me away, & I am so thankful I got to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity! Wearing the Kimonos & seeing the level of detail & layers (!!!!!) was also very cool & gave me a new appreciation for the time it takes for anyone dawning these on a daily basis!

We parted Keiko's with so much gratitude, exchanging gifts & then slipping back on our shoes to rush back to Alex's to meet up with Hinata to cook Okonomiyaki. This is a traditional Japanese pancake of sorts, made with finely chopped green onions & cabbage mixed into a batter of flour, eggs & water. On top it is glazed with Japanese mayonnaise & a type of teriyaki sauce & cheese. These pancake filled my entire plate & stuffed my tummy! We then exchanged gifts with Hanata & blew out candles to celebrate her 17th birthday! So thankful for her spending time with us to teach us how to cook this excellent Japanese dish! This is one I'll be making when I get home!

The city being surrounded by mountains densely packed with trees is something my pictures cannot do justice! The snow that accumulated made for some incredible pictures, but also my childlike heart loved simply stomping through the inches of dust below my feet! Definitely something I'm not used to!

Time for bed, as tomorrow is yet another busy day!