There is a stele at the top of the east road at 555, right around where I think the old road branched down the hill to the next village. This stone tablet was hidden by weeds until this week, when someone in the work crew uncovered it. It’s a bit of a mystery.
大日如来 (Dainichi Nyorai) is carved into it. This is the Japanese name of the buddha Vairocana. The name is flanked dates, I think, but I can’t really make them out. One of the 政 eras, perhaps, that would put it somewhere between 1800- 1860. But that’s a guess. Kawasaki-san says he doesn’t know much about it; it’s always been there.
There is a lot of lost and forgotten history at 555. This place has been here a long time.
While gathering things to burn, we found an old board that had the local village names written on it in sumi ink. And I “rescued” a wooden signboard from the Meiji era that was likely used at Oyama Fudoson, its purpose unclear. The sumi ink is mostly faded away, but we made out a date – September 1st. I wonder what it signified. I’m planning to restore the signboard and use it around the property somehow – a historical marker for a real or imagined history.
