Nishida Kitarō's (西田幾多郎 1870-1945) famous poem is immortalized in stone on the path. It is an angry retort to blind nationalism.
people are people,
and I will be myself.
regardless,
the path I follow
I will follow on…
人は人吾はわれ也とにかくに吾行く道を吾は行くなり
Towards the middle of April parts of the canal beside the Philosopher's Path (哲学の道) become a river of petals.
The phrases 'hana-no-ukibashi' (花の浮橋 'floating bridge of flowers') and 'hanaikada' (花筏 'flower raft') both describe water thick with petals.
In Buddhism the equinox is known as 'Higan' (彼岸).
Higan translates as 'Other Shore', a reference to the far shore of the 'Sanzu-no-kawa' (三途の川 'River of the 3 Crossings'). Similar to the River Styx in Greek Mythology, the dead would cross the river to reach the afterlife.
SCATTERING EARTH
For 25 years Kurita Kōichi (栗田宏一) has walked the length and breadth of Japan, gathering small samples of soil from each settlement (whether hamlet, village, town or city) he passes through.
At Hōnen-in (法然院) he made a dedication of his life's work.
