Fertility Shrine at Koyasan

Ann Marie over at Come Undone wrote today about the fertility symbols/artifacts that she has collected, and it reminded me of my adventure to a fertility shrine in Japan.

I travel a bit for work and usually it is to Asia. The two week trips are often so jam-packed with meetings that I have little time to do anything else. Where ever I go, however, I try to take at least one day off for sightseeing just because if you are going that far, you might as well see something. Besides, my workplace is very reasonable and they figure that if I am going to work 14 days straight with no weekends and be away from my life, the least they can do is cover one day of free time.

So last time I went to Japan, I planned to visit a place that my friend had told me about. The location sounded very beautiful, but what really attracted me to it was that there was supposed to be a fertility shrine in the cemetery there and I could use all the help I could get.

From Osaka, I took a train about an hour away from the city towards the mountains. The train actually came to the last stop and I was a bit uncertain as to where I was, except that there were a few other people there too (October, so not a huge tourist time there). I don't speak a word of Japanese and spend most of my time there lost and wondering if I am in the right place.

My final destination was a place called Koyasan, or Mount Koya, where over one hundred temples stand in this small wooded town. My intention was to stay overnight in a temple in order to have a more traditional Japanese experience, and of course, visit the fertility shrine.

Once I had traveled up the mountain via a rickety cable car, I caught the bus that goes through the town and got off at the right stop (first time ever that I didn't get lost there) and walked to the entrance of the temple. At this point, the rain had started to come down quite hard and my umbrella was really taking a beating. At what appeared to be the entrance from the shoes in the cubby holes outside, I waited, unsure of what to do and not wanting to do anything sacrilegious since this was a temple. Finally a monk found me standing in the very cold hallway and invited me in to the office where we both sat on the floor at a table. I paid for the evening's stay in cash (which included two meals) and then he took me on a tour of the temple through what seemed to be winding hallways, larger halls, then back to smaller hallways. He pointed to where the bathroom was and provided instructions on taking insdie slippers off before you step into the bathroom and slide on the special bathroom slippers. Got it. Then off down another hallway, turn right, turn left. All I could think about was oh my God, I better start leaving breadcrumbs or I will never find my way back to the bathroom from my room.

Finally we arrive at a small room. The paper door slides open revealing a room straight out of "The Last Samurai". There really weren't any instructions about where we would go for dinner or anything else, and their English was really limited, but they did mention that dinner would be at 6pm sharp. That would give me enough time to head out to the shrine and get back. He did say something else and pointed to outside, but I couldn't figure out what he said, so I ignored it.

Now the rain was really coming down and the small travel umbrella was bending under the power. Not only that, but the wind had picked up and was starting to dangerously sway the large trees surrounding the area.

Sometimes things don't click with me, or at least it takes a while, and when I am traveling in a strange land, even more so. I suddenly remembered hearing people on the train talking in Japanese..."blah blah blah typhoon blah blah blah". As my umbrella turned inside out, I realized that they had been talking about an impending typhoon that was about to hit Japan that night and realized that the monk might have been warning me about going outside. Of course, I had also heard that on the news, but being from the west coast of Canada, when we hear about bad weather in Toronto we tend not pay it too much attention because it is thousands of miles away. Not so in Japan.

Nevertheless, I hadn't come all this way for nothing, and I was determined to make it to the shrine, so with the rain flying sideways soaking every inch of my body and my head down to the wind, I make my way into the entrance of the cemetery. It was so cold that I had my yoga pants which I was going to wear as pjs wrapped around my head and neck and every piece of clothing on in attempts to stay warm. Normally, this scene would have been something out of a horror movie, "Young girl enters the dark cemetery never to return", but oddly I wasn't too scared. There was no one else around, but this is Japan, where you honestly can't go too far without running into someone.

The cemetery is filled with thousands of graves and shrines. I believe that even some famous Samurai are buried there, not that I could read any of the gravestones. But I did try and not too far into the forest I saw on my left a black marble shrine of a woman. It looked like she was
holding a baby in a uterus and I thought, that must be it!

There was a small box in front where you are supposed to deposit money and then take a candle to light. I made a donation and grabbed three candles: one for the baby I lost, one for my future
fertility and one for my friend who was (and still is) battling infertility. Somehow, I managed to extricate a package of matches from my soaking wet pocket and with the wind whipping at me from every direction miraculously the candles lit. I placed them carefully in the sand and closed my eyes. I am not a religious person, so I am not sure exactly what I was supposed to say or think, but I just stayed still for a few minutes and tried to clear my mind.

Shortly after, I realized that the storm was not easing up at all, and I was a bit afraid that I really hadn't seen anyone else out walking. So back I headed back to the temple where I was served the most delicious dinner in the solitude of my room. I contemplated the fertility shrine and the candles that would burn there that night symbolizing my hope for the future.

If you are ever traveling to Japan, I'd be happy to give you the name of the temple and more specific details. It truly is a special place to visit, despite being a bit out of the way. Recently it was named a UNESCO World Hertiage site and it is not at all touristy. You need to be willing to make the trek and stay in humble accomodations, but the journey is well worth it.

*UPDATE*
2nd beta results are in = 2800
Nurse said that this is good. I'll believe her for now until I convince myself otherwise. Ultrasound #1 is on June 19th, so we'll have to wait a while for that final hurdle.