6 April 2025 - Day 35 - The loop to Iwayaji and back to Kuma-Kogen - 26,5 km - 1300 m elevation gain

This is one of the days I somehow dreaded. The hike to Temple 45 and back. It’s mostly trail and in the mountains with a lot of steep climbs and descends. But Marjorie told me yesterday that the trails are ok and the walk is nice. So I believed her and after a European breakfast Marjorie and I were headed off, but in different directions.

The Hostess waved me off and showed me a shortcut to the main road and at hardly 7:30 I was on my way to another mountain beauty. I had decided to take the road out of Kuma-Kogen but then to take mostly the hiking trails. Access to a Mountain Temple needs to be deserved.

The trails were mostly really beautiful and not too hard. Some very steep parts of course had to be dealt with but generally I was quite happy about my performance. I even doubled an elderly Japanese couple in the woods (haha).

I had chosen the loop that accesses the Temple from the top, leaving it from the bottom. So then, shortly before arriving at Iwayaji Temple according to the Henro Helper app, there starts a very steep descent and in every corner of the serpentine there stands a statue. The forest is an ancient one with enormous Cedar Trees that must be several hundred years old. While descending, I notice a huge rock formation with a big shrine in front of it, a shrine to Fudo Myoo, who is also the deity that Iwayaji Temple is dedicated to.

The descent continued along the statues and then I saw the wooden Gate to the Temple. Once I bowed and walked through it, my whole body was covered in goosebumps. I was not prepared for the sight of this exquisite temple that just stood there in the ancient forest next to these huge porous rock formations, waiting to be explored by this Henro from Luxembourg. I was totally in awe.

It was Sunday, a day when lots of Japanese people go to their temples to pay their respects. So there were a lot of people, which added to the magic atmosphere and I enjoyed listening to them chanting the heart sutra and other sutras. I explored the grounds of this temple thoroughly and even walked into a dark cave that was just lit by a few candles. I took a lot of time and also made my short lunch break at the temple (the hostess had given me two onigiri and a banana).

It was really hard to leave but I needed to return to my inn at a decent time so I finally left Iwayaji Temple from the bottom, which meant there were hundreds of stairs to walk down. I finished the loop around Temple 45 and after a while walked back the trails and roads I had come in the morning.

Josée, who stayed at an Inn right next to the path came out to say hi and we enjoyed a little more time together. I then walked back to my accommodation and was happy for a shower and to be able to have another laundry made.

But along the paths in the forest, today more then ever before, I couldn’t help thinking about the tens of thousands of pilgrims that had walked the same paths as I do in the 1200 years that this pilgrimage exists. Thinking of all the Henros that had possibly even touched the same trees as I had - many cedar trees must be several hundred years old - and wondering what their stories might have been, for which reasons they have taken this journey that used to be definitely way more complicated and dangerous than it is now. I guess I won’t get an answer…

On this philosophical note I leave you. Thanks again for reading and for your messages they do mean a lot to me!