Chasing a Recluse: Kamo no Chōmei
12th century Japanese author Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明) is most famous for the Hōjōki (方丈記), a classic work in which he describes his retreat from the world and subsequent experience living in a hōjō – a ten foot square hut – in the wilderness of Hino (日野山), a mountain outside of Kyoto. Chōmei’s Hōjōki is thus often compared with Thoreau’s Walden. After having recently completed reading the Hōjōki, I set off on an attempt to visit the alleged site of Chōmei’s famous hut.
As I began to climb towards the mountains of eastern Kyoto from the nearest station, signs marking the way to Chōmei’s hut began to appear every few hundreds of meters. Slowly, the ubiquitous convenience stores, apartment blocks, and vending machines that characterize urban and suburban Japan began to gave way to rice fields and small single-family homes. After hiking a few kilometers, past bemused locals – why is there a foreigner out here? – and an abandoned public sports complex, I arrived at the foot of Mt. Hino.
Traces of civilization abruptly disappeared, replaced only by worn markers reassuring visitors that the overgrown dirt path ahead of them was indeed the way to Chōmei’s hut. After scrambling up slippery hillsides, past several suspicious-looking giant centipedes, and being feasted upon by several dozen mosquitoes, I finally arrived at the site of Chōmei’s famed hōjō.
I’m not sure what I was expecting. I was, after all, traveling to the site of a tiny, wooden hut from the 12th century. But in Japan, almost anything with the slightest potential appeal is readily converted to at least some form of a tourist attraction. Buildings from past centuries are frequently reconstructed, complete with the requisite souvenir shops and dining opportunities. Surely there would be somethinginteresting to mark the site at which one of the most famous pieces of classical Japanese literature was written?
Instead, I found nothing more than a faded signpost resting askew against some rocks. I snapped the requisite picture (at right), and turned to stumble back down the trail before Mt. Hino’s insect population could inflict any more damage.
If for some reason you would like to repeat my journey, take the Tōzai Line (東西線) of the Kyoto City subway to Ishida (石田駅) and head southeast from the exit, passing a Seven-Eleven and following the turns indicated on the signs along the way. More detailed information on Mt. Hino and the surrounding area can be found (in Japanese) here.
Hi AW,
Having just read the Hōjōki for the first time, I was please to find your blog. The travel directions you wrote seem adequate for finding the location, but the link you posted for more detailed directions, I think, creates needless confusion. I think you will find that the Japanese site you link to provides a map, descriptions, and photos of Mt. Hino in Fukui Ken (Latitude 35°51’33.03″N, Longitude 136°12’24.75″E). Since your blog page is linked to from the Wikipedia article on Kamo no Chōme, I suspect I’m not the first person who did a lot of head scratching while trying to resolve the information in that site with the description you provide.
I couldn’t find a better internet site to replace the link with, but perhaps you might consider posting a placemark in the Google Earth Community and linking to that.
@LeRoy
Thanks for pointing this out (and sorry for not seeing your comment earlier — as you can see, this blog is often ignored for long periods). I’ve replaced the link with the correct one (http://www.sam.hi-ho.ne.jp/uji-kimura/19kenkou.pdf) which has accurate information on the area.
I had both links saved in my bookmarks, and when migrating the blog to a new server a few months ago, all the original links were lost and I had to add them back; evidently I added the wrong one!
Thanks again for your feedback! =)
i m pleased to see ur this small note regarding hojouki.
i m looking forward to know about houjouki? actually i m reading houjouki, but its difficult to understand sometimes.
can u please help me to find out some good sites, sothat i can understand it smoothly..
thanking u:)
i am sumit from delhi , india…i always wanna go to japan as its a beautiful tourist place with wonderful people .. no matter what happen i still love to go thier… its a natural disaster thier which results in human loss .. but we r not sorry as i know japanese are brave enough .. they built themselves again n one day ill definately come to meet the wonderful people n beautiful land… hey japan my condolence with the human loss n i love u….