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I live in the city of Kawachinagano, which is located in the countryside, in the south-eastern part of Osaka prefecture, at the foot of the mountains. Now Kawachinagano is a dormitory town of Osaka and has a population of 120,000. The capital city of Osaka prefecture is Osaka city, where the population is 2.5 million inhabitants and is 25 km from Kawachinagano.
Early in the ninth Century, the great Buddhist priest Kukai established temples of his school at Mt.Koya, about 30km south from Kawachinagano.His school is called Shingon-shu, an esoteric branch of Buddhism, which teaches that the truth can be realised through chanting mantras, feeling the spirit of Buddha, and physical exercise. According to the school, Buddha shows secretly the world to everyone through the natural phenomena, like the murmuring of a stream, wind blowing in mountains, and the movement of stars on the heavens. Monks must perceive the truth through spiritual and physical training. Kawachinagano is located on the way to the holy temples at Mt. Koya . Therefore some temples in Shingon-shu school were built in Kawachinagano. As the number of people visiting Mt. Koya increased during the medieval period, the town of Kawachinagano became a more flourishing place to rest, with many inns being built. In the 14th Century two families of the Emperor struggled to become orthodox. One family lived in the Kongo-ji temple in Kawachinagano for a while.The Kongo-ji had many monks and secular power during that era. In those days Japanese Sake, a rice type wine, was often brewed at temples. Kongo-ji was famous for its high quality Japanese Sake. The Sake was called Amano-sake. Now a brewery has succeeded to this traditional Amano-sake, and it is one of my favourite drinks. Would you like to have a drink with me in Kawachinagano? |
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