Taken away from Nihondaira, on my way to Mt. Kuno, I could do nothing but hold on to the handrail in the Gondola. Five-minute ride with Ms gondola-guide for the distance of 1065 meters between mountains. Carefully not to look down, I tried some pictures. See the magnificent panorama of Suruga Bay? It boasts as the deepest bay in Japan and accordingly is marvelously abundant in fishes that we can always enjoy them at dinner^^
Now, I’m getting to Mt. Kuno where a very famous man is believed to have been entombed at rest for about 400 years. Who is it? Read it through and find it out!

This is the guideboard of Kunozan Toshogu Shrine. Recognize the tiny gondola in the map that took me here? You have choices to get here, to take the gondola as I did, or to climb up 1159 stairsteps all the way from the foot of the mountain. He is enshrined at the top of Toshogu. Go on to the next article ^^

Be sure to purify yourself by washing your hands and mouth anytime you step in the site of Shinto shrines.

Each step is a little bit high. Please be careful in walking up or down the stairs.

Now, this is the beauty of Kunozan Toshogu Shrine. The man enshrined here said as his last word.

“Life is just like walking an unlimited way with a heavy load and you need not hurry. You never feel insufficiency if you only take it for granted. In case you want something, try to remember the old poor days. Mercy makes tranquility, anger causes adversary. You will get harmed as long as you don’t know how it is to be defeated. You blame yourself, not somebody else. Less is, in almost all cases, better than more.”

His name is Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Tycoon of Tokugawa Shogunate. He ended the Age of provincial wars to rule all of Japan and opened new political system, that is, the beginning of Edo Period. Ever heard of him? I’ll bet all JAPANESE know ^^v

You can read about the history of Kunozan Tosyogu Shrine through this Official Homepage.

Now, let’s go up to the highest point of the Shrine. The left sided pic is the very mausoleum of Iyaesu Tokugawa. It is believed that his body was carried away to Nikko Toshogu Shrine, according to his will, one year after he was buried here, to be enshrined with the name “Tosho-Daigongen”, a kind of god. Now, is it true? Was his body really transferred after the period of one year? Or they moved just his soul, without his body? Various theories have been crossed each other but never reached to a confirmed conclusion so far. Wanna find it out? Go ahead ^^

Japanese like to wish something with coins. Some throw coins to the water, others put them on the stone. Here, I came across a unique wishing form, I would call, “a wishing tree”. See many silver-like spots on the tree in the right-sided picture? This tree is worshipped as a “Money Tree” and people put, actually thrust coins into the huge but pitiful tree. I also tried it for writing an article about this, only to drop the coin to the ground because the bark of tree was too hard!
Who is next to try to stick to it?

Information about Kunozan Toshogu Shrine ※As of April 18, 2010
Access
From Nihondaira・・・5 minutes by Nihondaira Ropeway
From JR Shizuoka Station・・・40 minutes by Shizutetsu Justline
From JR Shimizu Station・・・40 minutes by Shizutetsu Justline
Admission ¥500 (or ¥800 with museum) for adults / ¥200 (or ¥300) for children
Nihondaira Ropeway
¥550 for one-way / ¥1,000 for round-trip

“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾