Kouya-san morning prayer rituals - Sun 13 May

A male guest slid back one of the rice paper doors and popped his head into our room by mistake in the morning, looking for the 6am prayer rituals. Morning!

The morning rituals were fascinating. Jeff is a dentist, so we can't show you his face on television, but I took a (shoddy) photograph of a photograph to give you some idea of what the scene looks like.


The observers sat along a wall, facing two low, dark rooms lit by candlelight. In one, a young white female monk was maintaining a small fire, whose sweet smoke gradually filled the air. In the other, monks sat cross-legged around a low table, chanting intensely in unison. To compare, it sounded a little like a sung latin mass, but more on the same note.

Occasionally, there would be a dropping "Yoooo", and a TA-onggg on a mid-pitched bell. At times, an irregular, speeding high bell or saucepan lid clattering sounds rang out over the voices.

At one point, all the observers were led single-file through both rooms. In the first room, each of us offered a cup of tea to the Buddha. In the second, we were told to offer three pinches of incense. I mistakenly went to take it from the receptacle, rather than the source, was interrupted by a hurried, "No, here!" by the guiding monk.

We were then seated again for the remainder of the ceremony, which lasted an hour. While tuning in to the drone of the chanting, I sketched the room for a visual memory. Take nicked off "to the toilet" (a cigarette).