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Things were starting to take on new dimensions across the globe when I made this trip to the wilds of Ibaraki, but I was still on course to finish the Fujis and then leave Japan for the greyer climes of the United Kingdom.
(At least, that’s what I thought. )
Fujishiro is way out in the sticks. If you know anything about Japan at all, I probably just need to say it’s in Ibaraki and you’ll nod your comprehension.
It was your fairly standard Fuji: a station that’s not been updated for several decades, but still isn’t quite old enough to carry off its old-fashioned air with dignity. It feels like it needs modernized, but I feel if you just wait another twenty years, it’ll have transitioned into retro chic.
It would be a bit difficult to say that for most of the businesses near the station. Time hasn’t really been kind to most of these rural towns in Japan. The population decline coupled with a steady exodus to the delights and convenience of the big city take a toll, but Fujishiro really seemed to be showing it:
There was very little to see or do here. A pleasant stroll through some trees, sans dog, some old school shops, a peculiarly styled security company.
I was sure that Fujishiro wouldn’t have much to report on, so I’d planned in a detour, via Ushiku, to a statue of Buddha, up on a hill. I had done my research and knew the transport options were a bit limited.
I took a taxi. The taxi driver explained to me that you couldn’t go all the way to the top of the statue because the elevators were closed.
(I really didn’t understand this at the time. Now it seems like the most obvious social distancing 101 piece of information ever.)
In Japan, the school year had finished earlier, and people were being asked to be careful; to avoid crowded places, poorly ventilated areas, those kind of things, but life had largely continued as normal. There wasn’t really a sense that this was going to be a prolonged state of affairs. There was definite uncertainty, but I’d never have guessed that it would be October and I’d still be wearing a mask everywhere I went, scrubbing my hands with alcohol more times a day than I have digits, and getting twitchy when people stood too close to me.
Way back in March. everything was in such a state of flux that the reflection and contemplation of being in this incredibly spiritual place was a welcome breather.
(Despite being a godless heathen myself, I think you have to be pretty obtuse to not find something worthwhile in places where quiet & stillness permeate the air. Where better to find that than in a church, a mosque, a synagogue… or inside a giant statue of Amida in the Japanese countryside?)
It turns out that this statue is actually one of the 5 tallest statues in the world. He’s almost 3 times the height of the Statue of Liberty, fact fans, and for about fifteen years, he was the tallest statue in the world.
While it was a shame I didn’t get to see the view from the top, I think just being within this chap’s commanding presence was worth the visit alone.
#51 FUJISHIRO GALLERY
FUJIS LEFT AT THE END OF MARCH 13th, 2020:
9/60
CityHillsAndSea 