I’m hurtling towards Toyama on the Hokuriku Shinkansen reaching a speed of nearly 180 km an hour. I’m on my way to Hida Furukawa, Gifu Prefecture, perhaps my favorite place in Japan, maybe even the world. That sounds, even to me, like a preposterous statement but it’s true. I’ve been to Hida Furukawa twice now to cover the town’s attractions for two other Tokyo-based magazines but this time is different. I’m here to write about the town’s Santera Mairi Festival 三寺まいり, which takes place annually on January 15, for Voyapon — the website you are currently reading.
From the minute I arrive at Hida Furukawa Station it feels different. Very different. It’s an echt example of local and undiscovered Japan. Quiet, serene and snowing heavily, the air seems clearer and cleaner and as the snow falls, I feel a tension lifting like the snow was rising from the ground into the cutting air, as if running in reverse.
The beautiful Japanese word, kokoro, means heart or spirit but can also convey something a lot more profound — perhaps the connection between people or the care taken to love and please someone or the color or feeling of someone’s soul. Kokoro is a word used frequently in these parts of Japan. One of Japan’s most loved authors, Natsume Soseki, wrote a novel, in 1914, with the title Kokoro which is often translated to mean “the heart of things.” I digress, however.
Santera Mairi Festival
Santera Mairi is a festival that has been held for approximately 200 years and involves, ostensibly, visiting the three Buddhist temples that are located in Hida Furukawa. The town is decorated with huge snow candles which are set alight from 4pm and the stunning and picturesque canal area, which connects the temples and major thoroughfares, is an unforgettable sight. As the sun sets, kimono-clad young men and women flock to these waterways and pray for their future and love lives. These youngsters light white candles for fortune with future relationships and red candles for those who have seen success in previous years. Lanterns are also lit and floated down the canals and waterways creating a spiritual and indelible mise-en-scene.
For those visitors not particularly interested in relationships and fortunes then a visit to the central Monzen-ichi market stalls at Festival Square is essential. The Hida Beef croquettes are truly unforgettable. The town is beautifully illuminated and, this year when I visited, was knee-deep in snow and stunning to observe and explore. As a Scotsman, I’ve experienced my fair share of snow over the years but Hida Furukawa springs into life at this time of year and embodies the essence of winter.
I speak with Sumio Morishita, head of the Hida Furukawa guide group, and he tells me that the town’s three temples belong to the Jodo-shinshuu sect of Buddhism which is popular in northern Gifu Prefecture. The temples, Enko-ji, Shinshu-ji, and Honkou-ji, replete with giant bells known in Japanese as tsurigane 釣り鐘 (hanging bells) or ogane 大鐘 (great bells), are picturesque at any time of the year but when snow dappled and with the stars incandescent in the winter night, they sing of spirituality and a certain special and utterly profound humanity.
Prayer in Candlelight
After the main snow candle is lit in the main town square, in late afternoon, with the other candles being subsequently lit around the town, people flock, as the sun sets, to the canalside, and pray alongside the beautiful canal setting which are lined with candles. The three temples are only short walks away from each other and the canal acts as cultural, geographical and historic veins to connect and usher visitors to each location.
Attendees walk between temples and pray, of course, but it seems to mean more than that, it mirrors a local and meaningful attitude to religion and culture.
Sustenance for the Soul
When I first visited Hida Furukawa in the autumn of 2020, I was introduced to perhaps my favorite restaurant in Japan, the lovely and very cozy Fukuzenji Soba, run by the wonderful and always-welcoming Kawahashi family. After I eat one of the dishes I often dream about when I’m in Tokyo, the Hida Beef Croquette Soba, I speak briefly with Miyoko Kawahashi and ask her what differentiates their soba and food in general from competitors. She replied, “We have been here for 20 years and we serve every bowl with the concept of kokoro.” Enough said. She adds later, that vegan and halal dishes are always on offer as long as customers ask in advance.
The Hida Beef Croquette Soba is absolutely sumptuous and as the croquette slowly dissolves into the aromatic broth and I slurp, very happily, the soba noodles (that are handmade there every day), I rue the decision to live in Tokyo and not Hida Furukawa. However, I will always make a special trip here just to sample this beautiful and soulful cuisine made with a heart full of love and attention.
Before I head to the station to return home, I make a trip to Keta Wakamiya Shrine which sits, majestically, on the hills that surround Hida Furukawa. The huge torii gate which lies at the bottom of the hills welcomes visitors and is a reminder of the duality of mainstream Japanese religions.
Beautifully calm and painted with snowfall, we ascend the steps towards the shrine and wash our hands to purify our body and mind at the chouzubachi 手水鉢 or water basin (also known as chozusya in the Hida region) and then make our way to pay our respects at the shrine itself. It’s a deeply meaningful reflection of how Shinto shrines can live, harmoniously, side by side Buddhist temples and an example, perhaps to the rest of the world, of how religions can be respected and worshipped together devoid of any antagonism, aggression or misunderstanding.
The Wind Returns its Song
In the end, as I sit on the Shinkansen on my way back to Tokyo, a city that, although it still enthralls me, is beginning to slightly lose its shine, I think about a song by obscure Scottish indie band There Will Be Fireworks. The song in question is titled So Stay Close and its lyrical coda says something about Hida Furukawa and its people that perhaps I’m unable to. A stunning location in the bones of the country, with people that genuinely care and love and a culture that charms everyone lucky enough to visit — it’s a true gem.
And our here is where my heart is
Even though it wanders long
But the blood keeps on flowing
And the wind returns its song
