The Dean's Spiritual Hometown | Shohei Onishi (Dean, Graduate School of Health Management)
2007.11.22
My hometown is Himeji City in Hyogo Prefecture. I grew up gazing up at Himeji Castle (also known as Shirasagi-jo or White Heron Castle), a national treasure and World Heritage site. I have a deep attachment to it, having once won an award for a watercolor painting of Himeji Castle when I was in the fifth grade. Since entering the School of Medicine at Keio University, I have remained here without returning to Himeji. I go back home maybe once a year, if that, but when I do, I always jog for about 20 minutes to Himeji Castle and stroll through its grounds. There, I feel the flow of time and the movement of the air—a flow of time and movement of air that I cannot experience in Tokyo. The elements that nurtured me as a child are still there. These include the blessings of nature, such as the setting sun, crows returning to the mountains, catching cicadas with sticky rice paste, and the pond snails, giant water bugs, crayfish, whirligig beetles, and water striders in the rice paddies, as well as the leisurely passage of time. Living a hectic life, I feel impoverished by the fact that I've lost the ability to physically sense the passage of time. Recently, I've been feeling a strong desire to return to my hometown as much as possible, even if only for a short while. Perhaps my age is making me feel this way, but the environment of those good old days, where I could walk through a relaxed and peaceful space-time, is the most comforting thing for me.
For me, Himeji Castle is my spiritual hometown.
(Posted on: 2007/11/22)