YAHIKO STATION (YAHIKOMURA, NIIGATA PREFECTURE)

Doppelganger shrine marks end of the line

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Masaaki Nakajima

By Tadashi Yamauchi

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

As I made my way to JR Yahiko Station, first on the Joetsu Shinkansen outbound service from Tokyo and then on the two-carriage train of the Yahiko Line from Tsubame-sanjo Station, I could see Mt. Yahiko loom as I looked out the left window and then the right as the train weaved through the valleys.

The Yahiko Line carries visitors to the foot of Mt. Yahiko, where Yahiko Shrine is located. The line is often referred to as the "Sangu Line" — the line for visiting the shrine.

Yahiko Station, the terminus, celebrated 88 years of operation a little while ago. The design of the main building resembles a shrine with a vivid contrast of reds and whites. A purifying basin, like ones found at shrines, is positioned in front of the station house, encouraging people to wash their hands.

The roof of the station is particularly interesting as the end tiles use rabbit faces instead of the typical demon face found on shrine roofs.

On the path from the station to the shrine there is a sign that reads, "Tama usagi." Tama usagi — jewelled rabbit — is a coin-sized confectionery rice flower cake and is a famous souvenir made at the shrine.

As legend has it, rabbits living around Mt. Yahiko a long time ago wreaked havoc on nearby farms and farmers were devastated, and so the god of Yahiko gathered the rabbits for a meeting and admonished them for their behavior.

The tama usagi is in the image of the rabbit who, according to the story, first humbled himself before the god.

Kazuko Hoshino, 62, a housewife from Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, won the first annual grand prize at the Drawing Yahiko competition two years ago.

The contest asked people to paint the scenery of Yahikomura. Hoshino chose the station as her theme.

Her painting shows the station on a dark and rainy night as the only place filled with light. In front of the light is the silhouette of a person hurrying home carrying an umbrella. Waiting in front of the station house is a mother with her child, waiting for her husband.

The quiet atmosphere of the station and its surroundings is punctuated by the activity bathed in light. Hoshino titled the painting "Arrival Time."

"I was surprised with the beautiful vermilion building. I sat down at the foot of a stone lantern and just looked around for a long time," she said. "I also occasionally came all the way from Nagaoka at night to see the station and the area around it in the rain."

On Oct. 23, Hoshino took her work to Yahikomura for submission in the second annual exhibition. That evening, after she had returned home, the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake struck. Some of her acquaintances were forced to evacuate and she too had times of pain and struggle.

Now, six months later, Hoshino is set to participate in a sketch event in Yahiko to be held later this month.