On the Yugawara to Hakone road, I passed signs to the Shitodo no Iwaya cave, and decided to bite. I parked the bicycle and hiked down a long trail lined with stone lanterns and dozens of identical statues of monks. Each monk was housed in a stone shelter, but when that had disappeared, someone had tied a scarf over the head.
At the bottom, in the middle of the silent forest, was the cave, water falling across the entrance. It was full of lanterns, and statues of Kannon, goddess of mercy. The cave is revered for its association with Yoritomo Minamoto, who, legend has it, escaped by hiding here after losing in battle 1000 years ago.
The story is that pursuing soldiers found the cave. When a bird flew out, they decided it must be deserted, didn’t bother to search inside, and Yoritomo lived to fight another day. He eventually founded the Kamakura Shogunate, died in 1199, and is buried in Kamakura.
--Julian
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