ABSTRACT
I first visited Tsukuba in the summer of 1976; it was hard to find. The people at the main railroad station in Tokyo were not quite sure why a foreigner wanted to visit a small, old village (mura) near the top of a mountain with a modest Buddhist temple and Shinto shrines known, if at all, for a poem about the area written by Emperor Yozei (869–949):
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Tsukuba ne no |
From Tsukuba’s peak, |
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Mine yori otsuru |
Falling waters have become |
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Minano-gawa |
Mina’s still, full flow: |
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Koi zo tsumorite |
So my love has grown to be; |
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Fuchi to nari nuru |
Like the river’s quiet deeps. 2 |
