Uda Gawa

We decided that today would be temple and shrine day so that we could fill up our notebooks!It was also just a nice way to see different neighbourhoods within Tokyo and also visit very quiet hidden away shrines which felt much more authentic when the monks don’t understand what you are asking so I’ve learnt how to say “hello can you stamp please” for my notebook, extremely basic I know but it’s done the job so far! In a few of the temples they did the calligraphy in front of us and it really is beautiful I would love to be able to do that kind of thing but I’m pretty sure mine would end up more of a scribble than anything else!!

It was pouring with rain today all day so we stopped at a few vending machines along the way to get the staple coffee in a can which was hot to warm us up a little and improve morale ! Whilst we ducked inside to have a bite of lunch we then planned the journey to Odawara castle which is where we would meditate with a monk! This was our first experience with the over ground train system which was a little more complicated and a lot more expensive but we managed to secure our tickets and get on the right train - which was a double decker ! Such a bizarre thing but I guess it shouldn’t be that foreign of a concept, if we can have double decker buses then why not double decker trains?!

As we stormed out of the skyscraper horizon it quickly became rolling hills and small villages with extremely dramatic mountains looming in the background. Getting off the train with a gleam in our eyes we headed towards the castle. Odawara castle was the home of the Hōjō clan before they were defeated by Ise Moritoki of Izu and you could imagine a grand clan- Hōjō who ruled over the majority of the kantō region before falling like many empires have over the millennia.

We were extremely lucky that no one else had booked this experience today so it was just the two of us and this lovely monk who has had the most interesting life! Born in Germany and then raised in Japan he has now been a monk for over 30 years and spoke perfect English- which has been a first since we’ve been here and was just the most special man, he had such a lovely aura and you immediately relaxed in his presence. He spoke to us about meditation and what it meant to us, he then went on to explain how meditation is about bringing the mind and body together and to imagine our everyday lives as a bottle of water with sand in being shaken up all the time. He said the role of meditation was to stop the shaking and to let the sand settle so that we could have a clear mind and help with happiness.

He said the most important thing in meditation is your abdominal breathing and he took us through the best ways to sit, where to focus our energy and how to stay focused and “zen” during the meditation. We then meditated for 2 sets of 13 minutes with Leo- the monk ringing his bell and saying a few words of encouragement to help re centre us in the meditation when we needed it. It was tricky at first to get into the meditation with lots of different things fluttering across my mind but Leo said thoughts are like clouds, they come and go but you are the sky and this actually really helped me focus. Once I got used to the idea and got in the “zone” I think I could have sat there for HOURS. My mind was completely clear, I didn’t think about anything at all not a single thing which is rare for me as I always struggle to stay focused in meditation at home. Leo was brillaint and guiding us through and also answering all my questions and giving tips when I struggled with anything. Definitely my favourite experience so far to date!

We took a night stroll along the beach before heading back to the station and we are currently on the train heading back to Tokyo and I’m very ready for my bed but what an incredible day - how lucky we are to be in this beautiful country- truly blessed.Read more