Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 20 (eBook)

Mai Mochizuki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
9781718376885 (ISBN)

Infos

During the summer break of her third year of university, Aoi is interning in management at the Kyoto National Museum when she receives a phone call from Yilin Jing, who found Ensho's paintings displayed at an art gallery in Hong Kong. What will Kiyotaka and Komatsu find when they fly there in search of the man who disappeared without a trace? And what did Ensho mean by his elusive parting words?

Textauszug

Chapter 1: A Birthday Stroll in Shiga

1

“Happy birthday, Kiyotaka! Thank you for everything. It’s not much, but I prepared a birthday gift for you—a voucher for Hino’s guest house. I thought it’d be nice to go on a little trip together, even if it’s not far from here. I made the car-shaped vase and hot-air balloon flowers with the hope that I can continue to travel with you on the journey called life. (I’m sorry for acting suspicious by glancing at you when I was trying to think of a present.) From Aoi”

On Holmes’s birthday, February 14th, I presented him with a voucher for a guest house on the shore of Lake Biwa. It had been given to me by Hino, Holmes’s senior from high school, whose wife’s family owned the property.

Since it was a birthday gift, I had wanted to redeem it right away, but between bouts of bad weather and us both having business to take care of, we ended up not being able to set out for Lake Biwa until a weekend in March.

I sat in the passenger seat of Holmes’s car, a Mitsuoka Viewt. We were currently on the Shiga-goe Pass, a route that connected Kyoto’s Shirakawa Street to Shiga Prefecture. It was also known as the Yamanaka-goe, meaning “mountain pass,” because it passed Mount Hiei on the way.

Along the mountainside, I saw an old-looking building with red flags and signs that said “Fudo-in Temple” and “Jizodani Fudou Onsen, Natural Radium Hot Spring.” I found myself bringing my face closer to the window to look at it.

“There’s a hot spring here, huh?” I remarked.

“Fudou Onsen is the oldest hot spring in Sakyo-ku,” Holmes explained. “It’s said that long ago, construction workers on the temple grounds discovered a mineral spring gushing from the granite. When those who injured themselves while working washed their wounds in the spring, they healed quickly, so the water came to be called ‘salvation water.’”

I looked at the building again. It had a unique atmosphere, as if it had assimilated into the mountain. “It does seem like it’d have beneficial effects.”

“Indeed. It’s also known as an energy vortex.”

“We’re at the foot of Mount Hiei, after all.” Suddenly remembering something, I took the guest house advertisement from Hino out of my bag. “Hino’s guest house says it has a private hot spring bath in each room. That means Lake Biwa has hot springs too, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. The famous one would be Ogoto Onsen, but there’s also a hot spring in Nagahama, where Hino’s guest house is.”

“I can’t wait,” I said, grinning.

We’d set out early this morning so that we could make the most out of our trip. The plan was to see various places in Shiga before arriving at the guest house in the evening.

Noticing some cherry blossom buds outside, I realized what season it was and felt apologetic. I clapped my hands together and said, “I’m sorry, Holmes. It’s already been almost a month since your birthday.”

“Don’t be.” He smiled and shook his head. “We’ve both been busy, and I was glad to have something to look forward to.”

“Holmes...” He always responds with words that ease one’s emotional burden—not just to me but to others as well. I love how thoughtful he is.

“I was so excited, I feared what would happen to my mental well-being after this trip was over,” he suddenly muttered with a serious expression.

I choked on my breath.

“Oh, but your birthday is in May. I can look forward to that next,” he continued, beaming.

It wasn’t an emotional burden, but his words took a different kind of toll on me. What am I going to do if he gives me something overly expensive for my birthday again? Then again, I’ve already warned him about it, so he should understand now, I thought with a strained smile.

“I’m sorry for always being so overbearing,” he murmured. “I’ll make sure my gift won’t burden you, but I still want it to be something heartfelt.”

I choked again. Holmes was an appraiser with a bright future ahead of him. Not only did he have a keen eye for observation, he also had sharp perception, to the point that it sometimes felt like he was reading my mind.

Regaining my composure, I straightened my back. “But before that, we’re celebrating your birthday today, so let’s enjoy this belated trip,” I said firmly.

“Yes,” Holmes replied happily. His childlike smile made my heart flutter.

We continued to drive up the mountain road. Before long, we passed through the gate to the Mount Hiei Driveway.

2

Our first destination was Enryaku-ji Temple, located northeast of Kyoto, on the southwest side of Lake Biwa. It was the first temple that came to mind when one thought of Mount Hiei.

We got out of the car and made our way toward the main building.

“This temple was founded by Saicho,” Holmes explained as we walked. “It is one of the sacred sites of Japanese Buddhism, along with Kongobu-ji Temple on Mount Koya, which was founded by Kukai. It is said that Enryaku-ji was built here in order to seal Kyoto’s demon gate.” Evil spirits were believed to enter from the northeast, hence the direction being called the “demon gate.”

“Come to think of it...” I looked up. “Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine sealed a demon gate too, didn’t it?”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “Enryaku-ji is the northeastern ‘demon gate,’ while Iwashimizu Hachimangu is the southwestern ‘rear demon gate.’ Both have been considered important guardians of Kyoto since ancient times.”

“But Enryaku-ji isn’t in Kyoto, right? It’s in Shiga Prefecture.”

He folded his arms. “Well, Enryaku-ji’s grounds cover about 1,700 hectares. It includes all of Mount Hiei and its foothills. In fact, ‘Enryaku-ji Temple’ is a collective name for the hundred or so buildings scattered across this vast area.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine how large 1,700 hectares was.

Holmes, sensing my plight, chuckled and raised his index finger. “It’s equivalent to roughly 363 Tokyo Domes or 500 Koshien Stadiums.”

“Oh, now I get it.” I giggled. “Why is it that even though I don’t actually know how big Tokyo Dome is, I can understand the sense of scale when you use it as a point of reference?”

“It’s certainly a very Japanese analogy.” He smiled. “Anyway, Mount Hiei is located right on the border between prefectures. The cable car station and observation deck at the summit are part of Kyoto Prefecture, while most of the temple complex is part of Shiga Prefecture. Enryaku-ji’s address is in Shiga because that’s where its office is. However...” He frowned slightly. “It doesn’t feel right to say that Enryaku-ji isn’t part of Kyoto. After all, it has a deep historical connection to Kyoto, and Mount Hiei is partially under Kyoto’s jurisdiction.”

Enryaku-ji Temple was part of Shiga Prefecture, but it also felt like a Kyoto tourist attraction. I’d always wondered why, but now I understood.

“Holmes, which prefecture do you think it should belong to?” I asked.

“Well, the main temple building is on the Shiga side, so it should be Shiga. The founder, Saicho, was from Shiga too.”

“That makes sense.”

“Now then,” Holmes said, looking at the path ahead, “The vast Enryaku-ji complex is divided into three areas: Yokawa in the north, To-do in the east, and Sai-to in the west. They each have their own central temple building. We won’t have time to visit all of them, though, so let’s go to To-do, where Konpon Chu-do is. That’s Enryaku-ji’s main temple hall.”

“Okay.” I nodded enthusiastically.

“Monjuro Gate is the main gate, which one would pass through first if they were visiting on foot.”

Since he’d mentioned it, we walked around to Monjuro Gate, which was quite far from the parking lot. It was a majestic structure. It had presumably once been a vivid vermilion, but the color had faded considerably. Still, this gave it a sense of history and culture.

“It’s named after Monju Bosatsu, a buddha of wisdom,” Holmes explained.

We bowed, passed through the gate, and cleansed our hands and mouths with the purification water before heading to Konpon Chu-do Hall.

“In the year 788, three years after Saicho erected a thatched hut on Mount Hiei, he built a temple at the site of the present-day Konpon Chu-do. That was where it all began.”

The thatched hut had come to be known as Ichijo-shi Kan-in.

“‘Chu-do’ in this case means ‘center hall,’ and the name is said to have come from the fact that it was originally located in the center of three buildings, Yakushi-do, Monju-do, and Kyozo. These three were later combined into one, but the name ‘Chu-do’ remained.”

We stepped into Konpon Chu-do Hall. It was built in shinden-zukuri style, with a courtyard on the south side and a corridor around it. It reminded me of a Heian-period noble residence. The hall was said to have burned down on numerous occasions, but it was fully rebuilt each time.

“The principal object of worship is withheld from public view, but it is said to be a statue of Yakushi-ruriko Nyorai carved by Saicho himself. Saicho placed a lamp in front of it, and legend has it that the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 11.11.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Holmes of Kyoto
• Übersetzer: Minna Lin
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• Schlagworte: Cozy Mystery • Drama • female protagonist • History • Japan • Light Novel • Slice of Life
• ISBN-13: 9781718376885 / 9781718376885