Saigyo who died in Hirokawa Temple in Kawachi

Saigyo who died in Hirokawa Temple in Kawachi


I was reading Shion Miura's The Great Passage, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Review and interview coming soon) when I came across this dictionary entry.


"Saigyo (1118–1190) A priest and a poet who was active from the late Heian period through the beginning of the Kamakura period. Born with the name Sato Norikiyo. Served as a guard to retired emperor Toba, but at the age of twenty-three, for reasons of his own and over the protests of his weeping child, he became a priest. From then on he traveled all over the archipelago, writing numerous poems. “Let me die in spring/ under the cherries in bloom/ and let it be/ in Kisaragi month/ at the time of the full moon!” This poem is familiar to one and all. Any Japanese person would be deeply moved by the scene Saigyo paints and share his wish. In his works Saigyo created a unique poetic style that skillfully evokes nature and human emotion, shot through with a sense of life’s ephemerality. He died in Hirokawa Temple in Kawachi."

― from "The Great Passage" (Kindle p96)



Wait a minute... I live in Kawachi, I mean Osaka... same thing. I wonder where this place is... google... south... hey... wait a minute... I'm working about 6km from there... what if I rode my scooter to work...

Spoiler alert: I rode my scooter to work and finished early enough to get to Hirokawa in the mountains on the south-eastern edge of Osaka (well, mid-south, but the eastern edge before crossing into Nara)

So, after climbing up and down and all around and around those mountain roads I arrived at Hirokawa and jumped up to start searching around and make sure that this was the right place. Didn't take much looking:

Here's the sign pointing the way to the Saigyo Memorial Hall, which will be open in 3 weeks, but not today. That's a shame... but, if the man died here... there oughta be a tomb of sorts, I'd think... and if I know Japanese tombs... I better start climbing.

I wander around the main grounds for a few pictures before my inevitable climb

First I find the Saigyo-Do... at least a little more climbing to go...

And, then there it was. Just about a 6 minute climb up from the main area and parking we have Saigyo's burial mound... just as Majime promised, "buried at Hirokawa Temple in Kawachi".

Certainly worth the extra 10 minutes of driving it took me after work today, with numerous hints that when the cherry blossoms bloom, this entire mountain side will be absolutely beautiful. As a bonus, the road leading me there had a great view as well:

A view into Tondabayashi in South Osaka. From here the PL Tower almost looks normal, but from up close it's a blemish on the sky:

So, that was how I spent 30 minutes of my day before heading back home on a windy cold Osakan... I mean Kawachian day.

Hope you are all enjoying/enjoyed the book