Yumeminato Tower

 

Japan has a lot of observation towers, a few, like in Tokyo, are not on the coast, but the vast majority are.

Yumeminato Tower is located in Sakaiminato, the port town in Tottori, now famous for Yokai.

At 43 meters in height, it is one of the smaller towers.

On clear days there are great views of Mount Daisen, the highest mountain in the Chugoku Region. Unfortunately, on the day I took these pics, it was cloudy, and Daisen could not be seen.

However, there was a good view down on Yumeminato Park.

The park, tower, and adjacent exhibition building were all built for the Japan Expo Tottori 97, which ran over the summer of 1997.

While not huge, I did enjoy the interior structure of the tower with its steel interior and wooden exterior.

It was designed by Hirofumi Sugimoto.

There is a cafe at the observation deck level. Entry is 300 yen for adults....

This is the first post in a small series on the delights of Sakaiminato. Earlier posts of mine cover the huge number of yokai statues along the Mizuki Shigeru Road. Yokai 1, Yokai 2, and Yokai 3.

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Across the Ou Plain

 

The first part of day 44 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was in Higashi Izumo, and I walked across the Ou Plain, once home to the provincial capital of Izumo.

My first stop was Kamosu Shrine with its National Treasure main hall. Just across the road from the entrance to the shrine was a rice paddy with black rice.

I don't remember ever coming across black rice before. Red rice I have seen growing and have eaten, but not black. I wonder if it is just a coincidence that it is grown next to the shrine, or if it is grown for a ritual. I have not seen mention of such a ritual in my readings on Kamosu Shrine...

Between Kamosu Shrine and Rokusho Shrine there was a roadside altar with this delightful, aged statue. I think it may be a Dainichi.

A line of giants march across the land from the nuclear power station NW of Matsue. I am reminded of Kurosawa, one of the great Japanese film directors, and a favorite of mine, who stopped making historical movies in Japan because there were so few places where power lines could not be found intruding into the view.

My route roughly followed the course of the Iu River, which empties into the Nakaumi Lagoon.

A small tunnel cuts through a hillside as I start to turn East and head over  some low hills.

It is early October, and some of the paddies have been harvested, some not yet. The paddies in this area, being a plain, are so much larger than in my area where the valleys are narrow.

As I gain a little elevation, I can see the Nakaumi Lagoon and the eastern end of the Shimane Peninsula beyond.

Not completely sure, but I believe this Praying Mantis, Kamakiri in Japanese, is nearing the end of its lifecycle....

Whereas this guy has a few more months before needing to hibernate for a while.

Across rural Japan are thousands and thousands of construction company yards filled with scaffolding and other equipment,.... many of these yards are abandoned....

The previous post in the series was on Rokusho Shrine....

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Paradise Bay Jodogaura Coast

 

At the end of my first day walking around the coast of Dogo Island in the Oki Islands, I arrived at where I would be spending the night, a free campsite on the Jodogaura Coast, a scenic spot that could be translated as Paradise Bay.

It was the first week in October, and I was the only person staying at the campsite.

There are several inlets, a cape, and islets of various sizes.

A well-maintained path leads to several different scenic viewpoints....

Being part of the Oki Islands Unesco Global Geopark, there is plenty of information for the geologically inclined.

There are ten different types of rock and geologic features spanning 26 million years.

I remember enough from my junior high school geography class to understand that all 3 classes of rock are found here, sedimentary, volcanic, and metamorphic.

I had the whole place to myself....

I did walk back into Fuse, the nearby fishing village, to see if there were any eateries or shops, but to no avail.

There is a Candle Rock, the 3 photos above. It seems to be a smaller version of the Candle Rock on the opposite side of the island where I plan to be tomorrow.

With no people, no TV, no radio, and no phone to distract me, I settled in to enjoy the show as the light slowly faded.

The previous post was on the shrine in Fuse, the nearby fishing village.

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Rokusho Shrine

 

Not far from Kamosu Shrine is Rokusho Shrine, one of the 6 Shrines of Ou and the main shrine of the Provincial Government Offices in the Nara Period.

For me, however, the most interesting thing here is the 5 different Kojin altars with their serpents made from rice straw. An earlier post on the Kojin here.

The vast majority of shrines in Izumo have at least one Kojin altar. The five here would have been brought in from nearby areas during the "shrine consolidation" program of the late Meiji government.

The Kojin here are not as impressive as some of the ones at Adakaya Shrine, a few kilometers away, but still have the stylistic head and jaws. In Iwami, the similar kami is called Omoto, and our serpents have much smaller heads and narrower bodies.

Rokusho means "six shrines" and refers to the six kami enshrined here: Izanami, Izanagi, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukiyomi, & Okuninushi.

There appear to only three secondary shrines other than the Kojin altars, but in ancient times when the provincial government was in operation Rokusho Shrine was the Soja Shrine wherein all the kami from the shrines in the province that the governor should visit are collected together in the Soja Shrine so he didn't have to travel.

Behind the shrine is a historic site where the layout of the government offices can be seen.

The previous post was on Kamosu Shrine with its National Treasure main hall.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.