Tea of Grace #18 At Yamanaka Onsen

I happened to visit Yamanaka Onsen (which appears in the Basho's "Okuno-Hosomichi" ("The Narrow Road to the Deep North") ) on the day before the typhoon 24th was arriving.

I brought a simple tea set, as usual, and made a cup of Sencha at the Ryokan.

In the continuous rain fall, surrounded by the deep misty air and the scenery of the mountain and the valley, I felt I was isolated from the reality and locked in the "time".

In the mountain,

only surrounded by the sound of the stream, the wind, and the rain.

I feel invited to the deep spiritual world.

I keep looking at the valley...

subtle swing of the leaves,

each branch which contains moisture,

the surface of the rock covered by the moss,

dragon fly... 

I hear the keen but thin voice of the birds.

Sometimes the laughter of children are delivered through the air.

My thoughts come and go.

My thoughts are melted into the stream,

and I'm isolated from the ordinary world.

The "time" which will never stay the same will travel forever.

山の中、ただせせらぎの音、風の音、雨の音に包まれて過ごしていると

精神の奥深くに誘われるような気がする。

ひたすらに渓谷を見つめる。

木々の葉の微かな揺れや、湿気を含んだ枝の一つひとつ、苔むした岩肌、とんぼ... 

かん高く細い鳥の声が聞こえる。

宿泊している子供たちの笑い声が空気を伝ってこちらに届いてくる。

思いは浮かんでは消え、流れの中に溶けて、日常から切り離される。

同じ状態を保たない "時" は、永遠に旅をする。 

Matsuo Basho was not only a renowned master of poetry, he was also the writer of "奥の細道 Oku no Hosomichi" (The Narrow Road to the Deep North),

a travel diary considered to be one of the major texts of Japanese literature.

He stopped by Yamanaka Onsen during his journey to the north, staying for eight nights and nine days, and in the process, composed a number of famous haikus evincing his deep love for the onsen town.

◆Yamanaka Onsen◆

【Link: http://www.koemagazine.com/2011/07/ya... 】

【Link: https://www.yamanaka-spa.or.jp/global... 】

【Link: https://www.yamanaka-spa.or.jp/global... 】