“The city towers only see the color of the tiles. Kanon-ji only hears the sound of the ringing bells.”
The “city towers” Michizane is referring to is the Dazaifu Government Office.
First let’s just appreciate the sheer size of the building-- it’s massive. It was surrounded by a great wall with gatekeepers on guard. The roof was decorated with gargoyles to instill fear in outsiders, while at the same time inspiring a sense of patriotism.
When the nation's capital was being relocated to Heijō-kyō, the missions to Imperial China were increasing and Dazaifu was becoming the gatekeeper for inter-Asian diplomatic ambassadors.
One such diplomatic voyager was Ōtomo no Tabito, who served as Governor-General of Dazaifu from 727 to 730 C.E. He must have worked right in the center of the Dazaifu Government Office. Tabito was also known as a poet, and left us some poetry such as,
“The fog of my lament envelops Mount Ōno, the wind roars, the fog stands.”
This is a poem Tabito wrote on behalf of his mourning friend, whose wife had just died. Let’s take a look for ourselves, to the north of Mount Ōno. It looks just as it did back then-- They say you can see the rolling fog come in on rainy days. The only difference is the “Great Wall” that used to line the mountainside.
※Mount Ōno is now called Mount Shioji.
Next, let’s take a look to the south side. With a little imagination, you can see a Korean-style castle and a Chinese-style town.
Can you see the rugged mountain ridge? There lie the ruins of the Kii Castle, the walls of which remain as they were. Back then, the walls were actually connected to Mizuki and Ono Castles, meaning the wall stretched a distance of 10km in every direction, completely surrounding Dazaifu.
Straight ahead you can see Suzaku Avenue and the grid-like townscape, built in the same Chinese-style as Heijō-kyō.
The rugged mountain ridge serves as a sign, showing where the city of Dazaifu starts and ends. The Tang tradition goes, “Heavenly God of the north assigned the Emperor who shall govern all corners of the lands.”
Dazaifu followed that tradition when they built the town and worked from the south to the north. For anyone to visit the palace officials, they would have to start at the southmost entrance, going through Suzaku-mon, then Minami-mon, and finally to Naka-mon. By following the teachings and styles of China in the layout of Dazaifu, it served to show that Japan, too, was advanced and cultured-- something which spoke much more than words at that time.
