The Hachiman Shrine

(Jan. 16, 2011) During our time in Beppu in November my wife and I visited a small town which the sign at the train station identified as USA. Actually, the name of the town is capital U which rhymes with Sue and lower case sa which rhymes with ha, or Usa. We went there to visit Usa Hachiman Shrine. It’s the headquarters shrine for the several thousand Shinto Hachiman Shrines throughout Japan, including the Hachiman Shrine in Kameoka, and it’s very impressive. The large number of bright orange structures spread across more than a hundred acres are very pretty but the setting on the lower slopes of a heavily forested mountainside is beautiful. As one crosses the orange, arched bridge and walks beneath the large orange torii with another only a short distance away and others dispersed along the way for couple hundred yards you sense that you’ve come to a special place. After walking under several large torri the slope on the path gets steeper and the forest becomes much more dense. All along the main path there are smaller paths leading off through heavy shaded forest to sub-temples .As one continues to climb very green, velvet moss seems to cover everything. You know there are others around but you feel alone in the very dense shade with the only sound being that of trickling water off in the woods. After some time the very large, orange, main structure of Hachiman Shrine comes into view in a clearing on the mountainside and it too is beautiful. The visit to Usa Hachiman Shrine was another very special day on a trip filled with special days.