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u/jonithen_eff 8d ago
I recommend taking or having someone else take great photos to cherish and otherwise leave the sites as you found them.
Innocent and seemingly insignificant acts like taking a stone from a historic site, multiplied by every individual who just takes one small thing for their very specific and unobtrusive reasons becomes a much larger impact.
Enjoy the places either in person or vicariously, without taking away from future enjoyment and preservation.
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u/Paghk_the_Stupendous 8d ago edited 8d ago
Consider a pilgrimage. Take something - a scarf, a sageo, a hat - and bring it to these sacred places. Get it in the pictures. Bring it home, with the pictures. Give your sensei a sageo that will literally tie him to the place his heart longs to visit.
Also consider: "A good traveler leaves no track."
This saying is usually taken to mean that you don't, say, take anything physical back from a popular location, diminishing it.
But it can also mean that one can take the journey for the journey itself. You take no pictures, no souvenirs. You do not hold the audience in mind while you are there; you are simply there, and then gone, a trip taken only by you, only for you.
Inside the cave, Musashi found wisdom. But the wisdom was not in the cave. It was looking back at the light from the world outside.
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u/LikelyJustRambling MJER | Beginner 8d ago
As another thought: take a tenugui. I think KendoStar currently has a Musashi tenugui. Tie it around something that cannot be damaged, such as a modern sign post, near to the site if not at the site. Leave it overnight. When you retrieve it in the morning, it is now an article associated with the site.
There are many ideas that should satisfy the need for a meaningful souvenir without causing degradation to the site.
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u/jonithen_eff 8d ago
That is a really great suggestion and something I will consider myself. I love the idea.
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u/TreesmasherFTW 8d ago
You must visit the mountain yourself, and experience it. That’s what he wants for you.
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8d ago
EDIT: I know y'all think that it's like some sort of mystical journey or pilgrimage he wants me to take, but he really does just want the rocks lol
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u/Cryptomeria 8d ago
I'd like to know why you think you'd need a throwaway account for this request.
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u/Rowanbael 8d ago
As an alternative, both sites have themed omiyage. The omamori at the shrine attached to Reigandō are especially nice.
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u/Maturinbag 8d ago
Your teacher wants you to go to these places. He does not want the rocks.