(Leaf 41) – Reflection
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This poem could have been titled
‘Spring in Mitake Gorge’, as a companion piece to the poem featured in Leaf 40.
But really it is a separate piece entirely, linked only by its location. This
poem is about a visit to Mitake-san, a mountain which has a funicular railway
that takes you up a steep incline to a Shintō shrine with some lovely
views. We visited during Golden Week, when the cooler heights of the mountain meant
that cherry blossoms were still in full flower. Lots of people bring their dogs
to the shrine because one of them is dedicated to Okuchimagami, a wolf deity.
It’s a nice place to enjoy a picnic, although we later found out there are
bears in the region, hence why a lot of walkers we saw there had bells tied to
their backpacks. At the end of the day, we had dinner in a soba restaurant near
Mitake railway station. The poem is striving to do two seemingly contradictory
things. On the one hand it is attempting to convey the feeling of being
isolated, and far-away, out in the countryside; whilst also subtly hinting at
the hushed presence of the long queue of customers, all waiting patiently outside
this very popular, rustic gem of a traditional inn. And it certainly is worth
the wait. The soba noodles with mountain vegetables are delicious.
Tall yellow flowers crowd
the mossy thatched roof
– the wayside inn, selling soba.
Tamagawa-ya,
Mitake, Ome (May, 2025).
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