This afternoon we made a quick decision to visit the very famous forest that inspired Prince Mononoke landscape in Hayao Miyazaki's movie. Because it was a rather spontaneous outing, we didn't realize how "serious" the hike was going to be... but after 15 minutes in, we knew that this would be a beautiful but quite strenuous trek especially with our little roo on my back... and sun quickly going down.
The trail was 300 years old... and we were walking through a forest rather than a trail. In some areas, it felt like there was no trail... just a little pink strip of tapes to indicate that we were still following the path. Since it was close to end of the day, the trail was quiet and filled with the low afternoon light. Everytime I looked up, the view took my breath away. It was that beautiful.
As we climbed steep steps made of rocks and tree roots and crossed small creeks that were pouring through a hollow channel of petrified trees underneath our feet, the word "満ちる" came to my mind. It might loosely translate as "fulfill" in English... like something that continues to fulfill life to the fullest.
It felt that this place was the origin of life.
