This is a story about my experience in April 2011. I had long forgotten about it, and I felt hesitant to talk about it, but I have decided to share it publicly like this.
[Rainbow-colored Clouds Appearing in the Sky over Tokushima]
Shortly after the earthquake, I was in Tokushima with my children. Amidst ongoing disputes, there was one morning when we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
I had read in a library book that to feel refreshed, it is good to bask in the morning sun around sunrise. So, on that day, I woke up early and looked at the sky from my room. Suddenly, something small spun around, and from the western sky, several thin cloud-like objects soared high into the sky, one after another, creating a scene as if a painting were starting in the sky. It was like a festival, lively and bustling. I was delighted that I could feel this way just by looking up at the sky in the morning.
When I told my children about this morning’s events before noon, my second daughter said: “It would be nice if it were rainbow-colored.” At that moment, rainbow-colored clouds began to appear outside the window to the south. Shapes appeared and then disappeared. At first, it was the shape of a rainbow-colored celestial maiden, as if wearing a feather mantle. Then, a couple of whales. Finally, a UFO.
It was such a fascinating sky show that I couldn’t help but go call my relatives. On impulse, I also took some photos. Since I had been so uplifted by this experience, I actually shared this story with the local newspaper and had a small article published with a photo.
I spoke to the newspaper because this was not just our own experience. On that day, rainbow-shaped clouds appeared multiple times until evening. Every time I looked up at the sky, they were there, and it got to the point where it felt a bit uncomfortable. The next morning, the elementary school principal was talking with the children while looking up at the sky at the school gate. Since it was a holiday the day before, many children who were practicing soccer or something outside also witnessed it.
Actually, I witnessed these rainbow-colored clouds, or rainbow-colored lights, several times afterward. They are scientifically known as circumhorizontal arcs, but I remember that there were many phenomena that clearly could not be explained scientifically. About half a year later, I understood the meaning of the celestial maiden.
The rainbow-shaped clouds appeared just above an area called Kamiyama. It appeared in the sky above a mountain where Kamiyama is located. There is a legend of a celestial maiden in Kamiyama, which is written to say that when you go to the hot springs in Kamiyama, it is said that a celestial maiden descended and the hot spring was created.
And there is the Kamiyama Shrine, which enshrines the deity of Tokushima Awa, Oogetsuhime. Oogetsuhime is also a deity depicted in Japanese mythology and is a god of agriculture. I recognized that Oogetsuhime and the celestial maiden were the same entity.
Until then, I had no interest at all in shrines, Japanese mythology, or history, but I would later be shown various phenomena.
When I researched about whales, it seems there are various interpretations in the spiritual field. Including UFOs, it could mean they came from space. If we interpret the first day’s sky drawing, that swirling thing was a UFO, then it all makes sense.
Furthermore, it was connected to the events of that early morning on the first day.
For some time after that day, I woke up early in the morning before sunrise and went for a walk. One day, when I took my second daughter for a walk, a long cloud appeared right above us. Upon seeing it, she muttered, ‘It’s a dragon.’ I could indeed see scales-like shapes. I only knew dragons from TV shows about ancient Japanese tales, but at that moment, I thought it might be possible.
Some time later, when Mr. Akisora Kimura, who grows organic apples, came to give a lecture, I had the chance to have a meal with him after the lecture, and I happened to sit next to him, so I told him about the dragon. Mr. Kimura had written about dragons in his book.
Then, the person sitting across from us said that if we wanted to know about dragons, they could take us somewhere.
Several times after that, that person took us to see someone who lived on top of a mountain. In their room, there were photos of clouds in the shape of dragons, just like the ones I had seen. One day, we drove along a long mountain road to a place where there was a small shrine and a large pond at the top of the mountain, even though it was a small shrine. It was said that Kobo Daishi once prayed for rain here. The person who lived on the mountain also said that they protected the dragon here. Indeed, shortly after hearing such stories, it suddenly started raining, so I found it interesting. Dragons are symbols of water.
The clouds that rose thin on the first day were undoubtedly dragons. It certainly appeared in the direction of the mountain where I was taken. Although I don’t know about the many colors that dragons have, it might be interesting to investigate further.
Dragons are symbols of water as well as symbols of material. Without water, material cannot exist in this world. I was once given a prayer to the dragon god.
Seated in Takamagahara,
The Dragon King, who reveals his work in heaven and earth,
Is the messenger of the great root of the universe, the ancestor of the gods,
Giving birth to all things and nurturing them,
He is the king god who rules over all things.
It was like a spell that my daughter, who was in the lower grades of elementary school at the time, and I chanted every day, so I remember it well. Dragons are described as messengers of the creator god of the great universe.
Because they rule over the material world, dragons also have a side that symbolizes power. They are the top of the material world. In other words, you could say they are the top of the visible world.
If the balance between the material world and the non-material world, between the visible and the invisible, is disturbed in today’s society, then perhaps dragons are appearing in this form to convey a necessary message. It seems that there is a need to think deeply about it.
I will say it again, but I had never been interested in such things before. I was in Tokushima for two years, but during that time, I had the opportunity to meet people who taught me about these things, and I learned a lot. I still don’t know much about the contents of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, so please forgive my rough expressions.
Izanagi and Izanami. They are the gods who gave birth to Japan, the birthplace of the gods. According to the myth, when they stirred the sea with a spear from the sky, Awaji Island was created first, then Awa, which is present-day Tokushima. Although Awaji Island seems to be more famous in relation to Izanagi and Izanami, as it is said to mean “the island that leads to Awa,” from the name, it may actually be that Awa holds more significance.
By the way, I recently had an epiphany. As a symbol of the creation legend of Awaji Island, there is something called Upright Kamiishi on Numajima. It has a shape resembling the tip of a spear or even a pillar of heaven.
I think this shape resembles the first stroke of the kanji for “heart.”
From one point in the heart, the birth of Japan began. It’s evidence that this world of material existence was created from the invisible world of the heart. Isn’t it a sophisticated arrangement?
There are many shrines dedicated to Izanagi, but there are limited shrines dedicated to Izanami. I have heard that there is one enshrined on the top of Mount Takagoshi in Tokushima, but there is only one Izanami Shrine listed in the Engishiki, and it’s the Iyanami Shrine in Mima County, Awa Province.
When I was in Tokushima, I also went to the festival at the Iyanami Shrine. I actually had a mysterious experience then, but I’ll keep that a secret.
The various experiences condensed into my two years made me deeply contemplate Japan as a country. The saying that a nation that forgets its myths will perish within a hundred years, attributed to a British historian (although there seems to be no actual record of such a statement), holds true. It’s been almost 80 years since myths disappeared from post-war education. A teacher at a Japanese school I attended in Germany when I was young tried to teach mythology in class at that time, but they were met with fierce opposition from parents and it never happened, as I was later told.
I don’t think of mythology as mere fairy tales. I probably believe they actually existed.
When the creator god created this world with humans, there must have been beings that could lower their vibrations and work as material existences. Saying they came from Takamagahara might just be a way of expression, and maybe they came from space, and perhaps they were called gods because they were beings far beyond human capabilities. They are referred to as gods, not as the gods of creation, but as beings with roles.
If we position dragons as symbols of the material world, it fits that Emperor Jimmu, the first emperor, was associated with dragons, and serpents appear in myths. From someone like me who had no interest at all, receiving such phenomena may indicate that it’s time for us to know about their existence.
And I also think it’s a wish not to forget Japan and the heart that cherishes everything, as a Japanese person.
Their envisioned blueprint must surely be coming true.
That’s why I think it’s now.
When I was in Tokushima, I also had experiences related to the Awa Ikoma tribe, which venerates Ame no Kunitama no Mikoto. It was so profound that I can confidently say that without them, we cannot talk about Japan’s history today.
Tokushima was indeed a mysterious place.
I think there is something in Japan.
Before moving to New Zealand, after visiting New Zealand on a reconnaissance trip and heading to Japan on a plane, I saw rainbow lights again through the window. Near Japan, the rainbow light seemed to follow the plane for a while. Just as the plane began to descend, at that moment, the shadow of the plane I was on appeared in the middle of a large rainbow ring, creating an indescribably fantastical scene. (I don’t have a photo, so this is an image.)
And on the last day after leaving Tokushima,
Until passing Awaji Island, it was impressive that the rainbow light continued to see me off until the end.
It’s been 11 years since then, and I have never been shown such things again.
