The Road to Oku-no-In

Sometimes it's the journey, not the destination

Anonymous Aug 19, 2012 - 1 min read

Oku-no-In is very well signposted. There's no mistaking the route

The path winds up past some nice old houses. Here's an old well with some flowers growing from a crack.

Very pretty against their concrete background

A little goat bleats a greeting. Hello little goat

Lillies sprout from a bollard. Yonder mountain looks dry and rocky

Yes indeed. I won't be climbing that today

This place is really well signposted! This is getting exciting!

Luxurious sago palms in an abandoned garden

The other Oku-no-In, and a sense of arrival

Oku-no-In means 'the inner sanctuary', and it's a name given to temples and shrines that are set back, away from the taint of the world. Behind Omishima's grand Oyamazumi Shrine, I found signposts to Oyamazumi Oku-no-In. I had to see this! I followed the path, and although I wasn’t impressed with what I found at my destination, the journey itself was marvelous.

Anonymous @rod.walters__archived

I was born in Bristol, England, and I came to Japan in 1991 … which means I’ve lived half my life in this island nation on the other side of the world. The theme of my career in Japan has been communication. I started as an English teacher, and moved into translation as I learned Japanese....