Japan Navigator

A temple not more than a ruin, a visit made more for the sights on the way than for the destination – that characterizes my trip to Ryukakuji Temple. Ryukakuji is the oldest temple of Chiba Prefecture, and the way to it leads through a scenic park containing over a hundred ancient burial mounds. Although lying close to Narita, Tokyo’s International Airport, the thunder of jets does not reach here and the park proves remarkably tranquil.

From Shimosa-Manzaki Station on the JR Narita Line I follow the signs pointing the way to Boso’s Ancient Mounds. Even before reaching the park, the unspoiled landscape forms a pleasant surprise. Farmhouses lie nestled in groves of oak, cedar and zelkova. The tall trees rise up stately in the autumn mist. Some stand on low hills, which could well be still undiscovered regal tomb mounds.

[Grave with (copies of) haniwa in Boso Fudoki no Oka. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

Slowly the road curves upward along a pond covered with rushes and farms standing among vegetable plots. Sooner than expected I reach the entrance to Boso Fudoki no Oka, Boso’s Ancient Mounds, a historical park covering 32 hectares, laid out on a hill dotted with about 120 old tumulus graves. I enter Boso’s Ancient Mounds over a large meadow, where the wooden auditorium of a nineteenth century school has found a new home. The Chiba prefectural government has also relocated two old farmhouses here, but I pass them and continue on my way.

[Boso Fudoki no Oka. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

Ancient Tombs
Soon I see the first grave mounds, not more than small knolls, lying in the shade of large trees. The park is situated on a low ridge, and when the forest falls away for a moment, I see a lake, the Imba Marsh, glistening in the distance. The wide Kanto plain lies at my feet. It is as if the dead have been honored with first-class seats.

I visit the park’s small museum, to see the clay haniwa grave figures, potsherds and other items that have been unearthed in the area. There is also a picture of the Buddha of Ryukakuji temple. He has a friendly, but somewhat pockmarked bronze face. I realize this is all I will see of the statue, as the temple hall is not normally open to visitors.

After leaving the museum, the route takes me through the most beautiful part of the park, where large, grassy mounds lie sheltered under lofty trees. Here stand the most imposing tombs, both in size and number. The highland has grown bumps and warts, it is covered with a disease of tombs.

As if death has no sting for them yet, a young couple is playing badminton between the graves. I wonder who the people are who lie buried here? When did they die? As is the case with tomb clusters elsewhere in Japan, the tombs belong to clan heads and nobility, and date from the third to seventh century. Judging by their small size and large number, the mounds of Boso probably are from the end of that period, when tomb building was already in decline.

[Ryukakuji Temple. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

The Ancient Tomb Culture
There were several reasons why people went to the trouble of raising large grave mounds. In the first place the tumuli served the function of pacifying the souls of the deceased. The Japanese believed that souls would live on after death and might do harm to the living if not properly treated. The more important the living person, the better the soul had to be treated after death. Haniwa figures were placed around the grave as a magical means to keep the soul from venturing outside. The tombs ere cult places where prayers were offered for the repose of the dead.

A second reason why large and expensive grave mounds were built, was to honor deceased rulers and establish the social prestige of successors. Building the graves was a costly affair and meant the organization of large labor forces. The ability to do so, constituted a sign of power. It was the entry of Buddhism into Japan that caused tomb building to die out. Powerful clans switched to building temples instead of tombs to have the memory of their dead perpetrated.

Buddhist temples – which started to be built in Japan as clan temples, not as temples open to the “general public” – took over the functions of the tomb mounds. They were cult places where the soul of the departed was pacified, by holding services for his repose. With their imposing architecture and wondrous statues, they did a better job than the tomb mounds in showing off the importance of the deceased and his relatives. The final blow to the tombs was given when the Buddhist custom of cremation became generally accepted after the year seven hundred.

[Autumnal graveyard in Ryukakuji Temple. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

An Autumnal Cemetery
After following a quiet country lane I arrive at Ryukakuji, that derives its name “Dragon’s Horn” from the supposed founding in 709 by a dragon lady from the sky, who in only one night built seven temple halls. Pitifully little is left of this spiritual successor of the tomb culture.

There is only a simple shed, built against a concrete storehouse where the statue I saw in the museum must reside in the darkness. It is a 90 cm. high, bronze statue. Due to a fire in the Edo period, only the head is original, the body was repaired.

At the back of the grounds stand rows of stone grave markers, centuries old, slowly decaying under the red and yellow foliage. There is a strong smell of earth and wet leaves. The rays of the late sun strike a spider’s web. Autumn is fully upon me.

The whole world seems to be full of dying and decay and, strangely, this afternoon I feel resigned to that transitoriness, and even consoled.

Address: Ryukakuji Sakae-cho, Inba-gun, Chiba-ken
Tel. 0476-95-0648
Access: Ryukakuji: By bus bound for the west entrance of Fudoki no Oka from Ajiki Station on the JR Narita Line, then a 10 min. walk.
Boso Fudoki no Oka (now part of Boso no Mura): The above mentioned bus from Ajiki Station to the West Entrance; or a 30 min. walk from Shimosa-Manzaki Station on the JR Line to the park’s east or main entrance. Shimosa-Manzaki is about 1.15 hrs. from Ueno Station in Tokyo. Alternatively, one can take a Joban train from Ueno to Abiko and there transfer to the Narita Line (take a train going in the direction of Narita).
Note: If one walks from Shimosa-Manzaki Station, the whole round trip including viewing time will at least take a full half-day. Note that there are no lunch opportunities in the park. If there is sufficient time, a combination with Narita Shinshoji Temple (only a few stations away) is a logical choice, but there are other interesting destinations in the area as well, such as Sogo Reido, a temple dedicated to a local peasant hero.