NISHINOKYO STATION (NARA)

Humble stop reflects surrounding tranquility

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Satoshi Yokoyama

By Hajime Someya

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

The humble platform and ticket barrier of Kintetsu Railways' Nishinokyo Station in the western suburbs of Nara is next to the precincts of Yakushiji temple. The temple was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. The prestigious temple's west pagoda, which stands behind the station, adds the aura of the ancient capital to the ordinary station.

To photographer Hiroyuki Inoue, this is a familiar countryside scene--his mother was born in the neighborhood.

Although Nishinokyo Station is also a gateway to Toshodaiji temple, another historical temple that ranks alongside Yakushiji, the station and its front are modest compared with Kintetsu Nara Station, which is near the head temples of Todaiji and Kofukuji.

Inoue, 73, has spent his life photographing the nature and tradition of the city. One day, he realized that when he took photographs around Nara Station, he tried to capture the liveliness of the ancient capital, but when in Nishinokyo, he tried to seek tranquility.

"Whenever I see the temple's twin pagodas, I naturally feel at ease," Inoue said.

Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908), a U.S. philosopher and researcher of Japanese fine arts who came to Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912), called Yakushiji's three-story east pagoda "frozen music." Is this elegant structure, now designated a national treasure, an incarnation of healing music performed 1,300 years ago?

"As a photographer, I'm convinced that Heijokyo is designed to absorb the energy from the east where the sun rises and reflects a healing tranquility from the west where the sun sets," Inoue said.

His words make me think that the humble station matches its surroundings.