Narrow Road To The Deep North 3

At dusk, Sizuo drove us through the mountains. Shadows of monkeys danced in the tree branches along the winding road. We arrived into a dark courtyard in the forest. Sizuo led us up a steep path made up of large irregular stones, towards a dim light. I thought I was going to break a leg.
“Gyoshintei.” He whispered, ringing the bell beside the noren entrance curtain hanging over the door, decorated with a white three-peaked crown. An elderly lady opened the curtain and Sizuo, after exchanging a few words with her, bowed and disappeared into the darkness. She ushered us in, and gestured sharply to a young pixie, dressed in a pink and grey-striped kimono, who bowed and motioned for Robyn and I to follow. Through sliding shoji screens we came into an elegant interior, pure, like a ryotei traditional inn, or a tea ceremony room, facing a carefully tended serene garden on our right, and an alcove of hanging calligraphy scrolls, ikebana and porcelain pottery, at the far end of the room. A long black lacquer table was line dark hardwood legless chairs upholstered in green velour, on the all-tatami mat floor.
Pixie spoke no English, but the fixed menu would solve any chance for choice. 
“What kind of food do they serve?” Asked Robyn.
“Shōjin Ryōri.” I said. “It means ‘devotion’ or ‘self-discipline’ cooking, meant to ‘progress the spirit.’ A kind of Japanese Buddhist monk vegetarian. The seasonal freshness of the food is supposed to put you in the best frame of mind to appreciate Buddha’s teachings, in flow with nature. Bitter spring buds and shoots help remove body fat accumulated during the winter. Summer melon vegetables, tomatoes and eggplants and cucumbers, have a cooling effect. Fall provides sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkins and fruit, which revive bodies fatigued from the summer heat. And winter root vegetables, daikon radish and turnip and lotus root, provide warmth and sustenance. Nothing is wasted. Every last lettuce leaf or radish top finds a place in a dish and each dish, despite the humble ingredients, is exquisitely presented, a complex and tasty embrace of the essence of everything it includes. Just to make the perfect gomadofu sesame tofu, a blend of ground white sesame, kuzu and water, can take up to ten years, not because it is a difficult dish, but because of the need to learn how to respect the ingredients you are working with, and treat them with care and contemplation, in a simple harmonious balance Other ingredients include local yuba bean curd, miso, grains, seasonal vegetables, mushrooms, and sea vegetables.”
Pixie produced two sets of rough-hewn chopsticks, and a feast for the senses. 
“Itadakimasu.” We said. I humbly receive. To thank the animals and plants who gave their lives for the meal and everyone who played a role in cultivating, hunting and preparing the food. 
A dish of wasabi and beans and cabbage came first.
“We'll set the mats on fire tonight.” I said. There followed squid and sardines with their long axes dotted with some kind of red oil, green broccoli raab, and pink, white and green turnip balls on skewers. A red lacquer tray and white plate held flared sashimi with wasabi and flowers and shosu leaf that tasted like mint soap. Herb bread, covered in egg, jade and black curled fern fronds and coral and white daikon, rested in a kidney-shaped white bowl lined with a banana leaf. Bright vermilion bowls and plates of green viscous vegetable arrived with white rice and picked lettuce, and something tempura, accompanied by a clear broth full of shiny green leaves. The green tea ran blue.
At the end of the meal Sizuo had magically rematerialized, instructed us to put our payment in the envelope provided, and drove us back to the minshuku. The other travelers had used up most of the hot water in the onsen, but we had a soak anyway.
The winds came up overnight. I could barely get off the tatami, out from under the futon, to look, because of my stiffness. Outside, in the courtyard, the cherry blossoms were flying, up into the night sky.



                               ‘Outside, like flowers bursting into bloom,
                                The night was bright:
                                So bright that it brought stars.’
                                                                 Tsuboi Shigeji, Butterfly