Hakusan Heisenji Temple Historical Museum Mahoroba 白山平泉寺歴史探遊館 まほろば

Hakusan Heisenji Temple Historical Museum Mahoroba　
白山平泉寺歴史探遊館 まほろば       

Part 10 of the series: Satoyama Concept in Fukui

The Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines of Japan have a special relationship to nature.  Although their landscapes are managed, this is done in a very different way than Christian churches as there is a stronger natural element to them.  In urban settings, the temples and shrines are refuges for nature, and in the countryside they often provide a glimpse into historical cultural landscapes. 

Heisenji Temple in Echizen is the site of a medieval mountain temple that was traditionally the start of the ascent of Buddhist worshippers of the sacred mountain Hakusan.  200 hectares of land that the former temple stood on have been a designated Historical Site since 1935 and archeological excavation of the site is ongoing. 

The temple was affluent and prosperous from the Muromachi period (室町時代/Muromachi jidai c.1337-1573) until the Warring States period (戦国時代/Sengoku jidai, c.1467-1603).  It is believed that during this period, the temple rivaled major warlords in terms of its powers and boasted 8000 warrior monks and 6000 dwellings including 48 shrines and 36 temples.  Sustaining such a large temple put a great strain on the local population who were taxed in order to maintain it.  This led in 1574 to the Echizen Uprising by followers of the Honganji sect of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism and Heisenji was burned to the ground.  The temple was rebuilt at a tenth of its former scale.  As part of the 19^th century Meiji government’s program of separating Shinto and Buddhism the temple name of Heisenji was abolished, and became Hakusan Jinja (shrine). 

A still from My Neighbour Totoro (left), Hakusan Heisenji (right)

In addition to the fascinating history of the area, the remnants of the holy mountain path at Echizen are terrific for hikers.  The holy site has beautiful ancient trees, many of whom are over 300 years old.  Some of the trees have been designated as holy with shimenawa – rice straw ropes used in the Shinto religion.   This reminded me of the camphor tree in My Neighbour Totoro (となりのトトロ, 1988).  My kids were delighted by the variety of flora and fauna, discovering cicada shells and even a live millipede.  There was some concern that it might be an example of the millipede’s poisonous centipede cousin (mukade), but close examination of its legs reassured us that we were in no danger. 

The Hakusan region is working towards gaining UNESCO World Heritage Site status under the title “Sacred Mt. Hakusan and the Cultural Landscape at the foothills of Mt. Hakusan.”  Learn more about it here.   

Hakusan Heisenji Temple Historical Museum Mahoroba　

白山平泉寺歴史探遊館 まほろば

Tel. +81 779-87-6001

Fax. +81 779-87-6002

email: mahoroba@city.katsuyama.lg.jp

Museum opening hours: 9am to 5pm (last entry at 4:30)

Closed on Wednesdays and during the New Year’s holidays

Closed the day after a federal holiday. 

Address: (Google Maps)

66-2 Heisenjichō Heisenji, Katsuyama-shi, Fukui-ken

〒911-0822

福井県勝山市平泉寺町平泉寺 第66号2番地12

（平泉寺市営駐車場すぐ近く）

For more information:

白山平泉寺歴史探遊館 まほろば, Katsuyama City website (JP only)

Historic Site: Former Temple Precinct of Hakusan Heisenji, Japanese Archaeological Association

Morimoto, Yukihiro.  “Ecological Dynamics Of Urban And Rural Landscapes - The Need For Landscape Planning That Considers That Considers The Biodiversity Crisis In Japan”, Ecological Issues in a Changing World, 2004, pp 325-336 (link).

2015 Catherine Munroe Hotes

Japanese-German Satoyama Research Forum / 日独SATOYAMA研究フォーラム

Japanese-German Satoyama Research Forum

日独SATOYAMA研究フォーラム

Part 9 of the series: Satoyama Concept in Fukui

On Saturday, August 27, 2014 a Satoyama Research Forum was held in Japanese at the Mikata Training Center (三方青年の家).  This event was open to the general public and well attended.  Speakers included Prof. Izumi Washitani (Tokyo) on the concept of ecological infrastructure in the outreach work of the Science Council of Japan, Prof. Tomohiro Ichinose (Keio) on ecological infrastructure in Europe, Dr. Stefan Hotes (Marburg/Gießen) on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Germany, and Prof. Takehiko Yoshida (Tokyo) on nature restoration, biodiversity and restoration services at Mikata-goko.  A welcome address to attendees was done by Andreas Kirchner, director of the Science and Technology division at the German Embassy in Tokyo.

To learn more: 日独で里山保全の知恵を共有　若狭町で研究フォーラム (Fukui Shimbun, JP only)

In the evening all participants in the Japanese-German Satoyama Research Forum were welcomed in a reception, where they were able to meet with local community members interested in sustainable landscapes and cultures. 

The following day, speakers from Germany and Japan participated in an English-language forum:

Perception and valuation of satoyama ecosystems:

Approaches from natural sciences, economics, and the arts

里山生態系の認識と評価－自然科学、経済学、人文科学からのアプローチ

Date:  Sunday, August 26, 2014, 13:30 - 18:00

Location: Fukui Prefecture International Exchange Meeting Hall

日時：平成26年8月31日（日）13:30～18:00　

場所：福井県国際交流会館（福井市宝永3-1-1 ）

Full program and extracts: 発表要旨（PROGRAM ＆ ABSTRACT) (PDF 3,625KB)

Opening Speech

Spatial economic modelling as a tool for integrating ecosystem services into land management

Amanda Eigner and Ernst-August Nuppenau (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)　　　　　　

The challenge of sustainable use and continued biocultural diversity in a satoyama landscape on the west side of Lake Biwa, Shiga, Japan

Katsue Fukamachi (Kyoto University)　　　　　

Ecological restoration of the Five Lakes of Mikata: Current status and future challenges

Takehito Yoshida (The University of Tokyo)　　　　　　

Cultural and social changes impacted by the environmental conservation in the coastal region of Kilwa, Tanzania

Ryo Nakamura (Fukui Prefectural Satoyama-Satoumi Research Institute)　　　　　　

Using ecosystem function models as tools for integrating ecosystem services into landscape management decisions

Andrea Früh-Müller (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)　　　　　　

Characterizing cultural landscapes from an ecological viewpoint: An example from central Hesse, Germany

Keiko Sasaki (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)　　　　　　

Vegetation restoration in a floodplain wetland, Watarase wetland, Japan

Jun Ishii (Fukui Prefectural Satoyama-Satoumi Research Institute)　　　　　　

Local revitalization through sustainable use of satoyama resources by involving urban citizens

Sora Fukushima (Fukui Prefectural Satoyama-Satoumi Research Institute)　　　　　

Detecting the exact timing of paddy field landscape formation using varved sediments

Junko Kitagawa (Fukui Prefectural Satoyama-Satoumi Research Institute)　　　　　　　

Ecocritical views of satoyama in Japanese popular culture

Catherine Munroe Hotes (Nishikata Film Review)　　　　　　

Funding opportunities for research collaborations and mobility through the programmes of the DAAD

Franziska Kekulé (German Academic Exchange Service [DAAD] Tokyo Office)　

Discussion and Closing Remarks

Awaiting (待つ, 2012)

They say that “absence makes the heart grow stronger”, but the time one awaits for the return of one’s beloved can be filled with agony.  Hakhyun Kim’s first year film project at Geidai’s graduate programme in animation is a short study of the agony of waiting. 

A man sits hunched in a small boat, seemingly adrift in a black sea of misery.  His suffering is expressed in a series of overlapping mini-vignettes through his body language.  He quivers curled forward in the fetal position, he covers his eyes with his arm, and he holds a smaller even more impatient version of himself in his hand, his body tumbles from the sky.  He stands awkwardly in the boat, a forlorn figure in a sparse landscape of barren trees. 

In the distance, the sound of a ringing bell grows louder and the man’s bleak face slowly transforms into one of shock.  He then closes his eyes, his tiny ears still moving as if reverberating with the sound of the bell, and imagines the return of his love.  His face broadens with a smile as he embraces her, and the dark sky alights with the colours of a sunrise.  It is a poetic, moving short-short that promises great work to come from this young animator. 

awaiting from Hakhyun Kim on Vimeo.

Hakhyun Kim (キム・ハケン, 1982) was born in Seoul, South Korea. He did his BA in Animation at Tokyo Polytechnic University (2010) before coming to Geidai for his MA in Animation (2013).  You can follow him on vimeo.

Cathy Munroe Hotes 2015