Confessions of a Japanese Temple Gardener: (P.S – Who's from London, England)

by Ben Stevens

  Unki-san and I then set up a large, blue-painted and open-topped metal ‘drum’ (of the type used for storing oil – but now very much empty) in the car-park, placing it on top of some flat, heavy stones.

  We half-fill this drum with wood and some paper. It will be lit, later, for visitors to come and stand beside and warm themselves after they’ve rung the temple bell. Some extra wood is also placed on a plastic sheet near the drum.

  As usual, we break for lunch at noon – but today, we will not be returning to work until ten p.m. From then we will work until about three a.m., which is how long it takes for every guest to leave and to get everything cleared away.

  I take my eldest daughter out to play in the snow – last night’s fall is still settled on the ground – and then generally try to relax before I commence work again. It’s one of the temple’s busiest times, New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day, and I’m already feeling a bit worn out from having shifted all that snow earlier.

  Still, at least once today is finally over, there is a five-day national holiday. I will arise as late as possible tomorrow, and eat a traditional Japanese New Year’s meal with my extended Japanese family. This will contain such edible symbols of a long life as large shrimps, whose bent backs and whiskers are supposed to symbolize an elderly man.

  We will toast each other with toso, a sort of spiced sake. Legend has it that drinking toso will drive away any illnesses suffered the previous year, and will – naturally – ensure a long life.

  Interestingly, the kanji or Chinese characters of ‘toso’ literally mean ‘defeat evil spirits’. The practice of drinking toso originated long ago in China, and then came to Japan…

  …Work starts again, the wood and paper in the oil drum that’s sited in the car-park is lit, and people start to arrive at the temple. I know – or at least recognize – many of them; I see them on occasion throughout the year.

  The service in the main hall starts: the wood-and-paper windows glow from the inside with the warmth of the lit stoves, and the lights which shine around the large central statue of Buddha.

  I hear my brother-in-law priest and the three temple monks chanting…

  Unki-san supervises the ringing of the bell. This is allowed to begin about an hour before the New Year officially ‘starts’; otherwise there would be something of a backlog of people wishing to toll it. Already the queue extends approximately halfway down the temple’s one hundred stone stairs.

  People about to toll the big bell – with a large wooden log that is suspended just above head-height from three thick chains – are asked to remove any hats or other headgear. They strike the bell once, and sometimes briefly put their hands together and pray as it resonates.

  Some drunk Scandinavian Mitsubishi workers arrive (I know them), and apparently have a contest to see which one of them can smash the hanging log into the temple bell the hardest.

  The Japanese direct long-suffering smiles at them, once again humoring the sometimes disrespectful antics of the gaijin…

  The bell continues to ring. It’s gone midnight. People are now wishing each other ‘Oshogatsu omedetuo gozaimasu’ (‘Happy New Year’.)

  I go to the temple room known as the shoin. It’s full of people eating soup and drinking tea. Wrapped up against the cold although two stoves are burning.

  I empty the two big plastic bins that are already full; put in new plastic bags. I carry the two full bags around to the rubbish collection point, which is located towards the rear of the car-park – out of the way.

  Behind this point is a small rock face, and placed almost exactly in the middle of it is a small stone statue of Buddha. Eyes forever closed, seated in meditation.

  Why was this statue placed here? When – and who by? I noticed it the first time I ever came to Japan and this temple – nearly a decade ago, now.

  Perhaps the statue was put in that gap in the rock face when the temple was first constructed, way back in 1649…

  I’ll never know.

  …I ring the temple bell myself, as the number of visitors to the temple starts to decrease. Then Unki-san and I pour water on the fire in the oil drum, tip out the mess and shovel it into the wheelbarrow, the wetted remains of the bonfire wood and the ash being allowed to cool before being bagged and thrown away.

  The oil drum and the flattened stones it was placed upon are returned to their storage area under the main hall.

  The service in the main hall now over, the extra chairs are folded up and put back in their usual place. The Obasan assist in clearing any rubbish left in the shoin; the fires have already been extinguished in the temple ovens, although their dark-red surface bricks will remain too hot to touch for a while yet.

  The Japanese believe that gods reside in the old, brick-built ovens of temple kitchens, incidentally. That is why doing anything such as placing rubbish bags on top of such ovens is strictly dame – ‘unacceptable’.

  With everyone who is employed at the temple assisting with the clear-up – plus the outside helpers such as the Obasan – we realize that we’ve finished a little earlier than usual.

  It’s just gone 2.15 a.m.

  Unki-san, the monks, the ladies who work in the temple office and the Obasan all leave. The priest, his mother, and grandmother have already returned to the temple’s private quarters. My wife was busy looking after our two daughters this evening.

  I just have to close up the genkan, and I’m done myself.

  But before I do finish, I briefly stand out in the freezing night air. The moon sharp as silver glass in the inky blue-black sky. It is absolutely quiet.

  Then snow starts to fall again – the softest, gentlest patter on the still-white blanket on the ground.

  Perfect tranquility.

  You could almost believe that you’re entirely alone in the world…

  I treasure the silence and calm for a little while longer.

  Then I lock up the genkan and gratefully turn in for the night.

  ******************************

  Enjoyed this book?

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  Big Sound Temple

  By Ben Stevens…

  ‘…I really cannot recommend this book too highly… Five stars simply are not enough. Well done, Mr. Stevens…’ Lloyd Tackitt, bestselling author of A DISTANT EDEN and ADRIAN’S WAR

  ‘…A cracking novel… well worth a read…’ Scott Pack, Head Publisher, HarperCollins (UK) / The Friday Project

  ‘...This book is surprisingly powerful. It had a way of popping back into consciousness long after I'd closed the book... The story builds to a gripping conclusion... Big Sound Temple gets a well deserved place on the Awesome Indies...’ **** Tahlia Newland, author / awesomeindies.net

  ‘...Ben Stevens is a fascinating writer... it is a charming marriage of Japanese and English that makes this story sing...’ *****Grady Harp HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

  ‘...Absolutely engaging... a touching story... there is so much mystery here...’ ***** Joanna Daneman HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

  '...Sounds a bit f***ing awful, but it's not... Despite being written in a bit of a crazy way, the story moves flawlessly... It doesn’t take long to get to grips with how the language is used and once you do it is pretty f***ing cool...' bookc**t.blogspot.com

  ... Big Sound Temple (AKA ‘A Novel Told in Pidgin English’)

  OTHER TITLES BY BEN STEVENS:

  A Gaijin’s Guide to Japan

  From Lee to Li: an A-Z Guide of Martial Arts’ Heroes

  Genesis: The Last Man on Earth (and Other Stories)

  Kamikaze Attack: The Carp on the Chopping Block

 

 

 
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