April 1, 2025 The Serendipity
© 安岡喜晴 (JoyShine)
Today we visited Fushimi Inari Shrine.
It was a clear, peaceful day.
People standing before the torii gate were smiling, taking photos, and probably came here with their cherished ones,
having wishes and hopes in their hearts, and etching the memories of the day into their minds.
Before entering the shrine grounds, we had lunch at an old restaurant.
It was like a place where we had fun with my relatives when I was a kid, a typical traditional Japanese house.
When I stepped onto the second floor of the restaurant, the atmosphere brought back memories of my childhood,
the tables placed there were very similar to the ones once used in my grandpa and grandma's house.
The memories of my grandpa and grandma once being there, though they have now passed away, embraced me with a sense of impermanence.
Things that once existed but are now gone, and things that did not exist but now exist, they blend together, and become a stream of impermanence that shapes the memories of history, I came to realize this.
We ordered the nishin soba. For me, since I loved nishin soba as a child, every bite felt nostalgic, its flavor reminded me of my childhood.
After finishing our meal, we entered the shrine grounds, and walked through the thousands of torii gates.
As we walked on, the boundaries of the torii gates seemed to grow ambiguous, and the world we walked through together, seemed to blend into a deep crimson world.
It was like a sensation of stepping into another dimension that transcends both time and the universe,
a resonance between our ancestors of the past and us living in this present world, looking as if it were echoing among the layers of history our ancestors had built.
When we reached Yotsutsuji, we could see the cityscape of Kyoto.
A serene atmosphere drifts here, which this ancient city has refined over a long long period of time.
When I stand here and think that many great figures who left their names in history also climbed this mountain and saw the same cityscape of this ancient city as we, living in this present world do,
I strongly sense that both we in the present and our ancestors in history have been sharing the same timeline handed down from the past to the present.
We took a break at a nearby teahouse, and we had matcha ice cream topped with sweet red bean paste.
With that, we were able to replenish our energy to climb the mountain further.
Fushimi Inari Shrine has always been a special place for me.
I have visited this place many times since I was a student, and at each turning point in my life, I felt as if I were encouraged.
One day during my student days, the omikuji my sister and I drew together coincidentally had the same number, "25."
The message written on the omikuji read, "You will soon see success in your academic pursuits."
And just as the message foretold, my sister passed the extremely competitive old bar exam, and I graduated from medical school.
This miraculous coincidence still lives in my heart.
We walked on further, climbing the stairs toward the top of Mount Inari.
Step by step, we climbed steadily as if confirming each footstep, and finally, we reached the summit.
We finally reached the summit, that was the moment we realized that the accumulation of small steps can lead to a great accomplishment.
Then, I vowed to myself, "I will surely make my dreams a reality."
I hope this vow soars as high into the sky as the invisible hand of the gods can reach.