Tsuwano Catholic Church

 

I have photographed quite a few churches in Japan, simply because they are rare and therefore exotic.

Of course, none of the churches in Japan are very old as Christianity was outlawed until the late 19th century.

It is thought that in 1601 the daimyo of Tsuwano flirted with Christianity. Missionary records claim him as a convert, but he seemed to have renounced the religion soon after. There are said to be a couple of Christian gravestones at Yomeiji Temple.

In 1870, 153 "Hidden Christians" from Nagasaki were imprisoned in Tsuwano and tortured to recant their faith. 37 died. A lovely chapel has been built on the hillside above Tsuwano... see this post for details.

The Catholic church in Tsuwano  was built in 1934 by a German priest. Built of wood, the Japanese carpenters came from Nagasaki. In 1892 a mission was established in Tsuwano, and so the church dates its foundation to then.

In early November every year a procession goes from the church up to the chapel.

There are said to be about 70 parishioners at the church. There are several other churches now in the Tsuwano area, although official statistics say only 2 per cent of the popukation of Japan are Christian, however, there has been quite a lot of Christian Prime Ministers....

The church is usually open to visitors from 9 to 5, unless services are taking place.

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the childhood homes of Nishi Amane and Mori Ogai.

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Abandoned Love Hotel

 

Right on the beach in front of Iwami Hagi Airport stands an abandoned hotel.

The main building is standard 5-storey structure and was a regular hotel. However, attached to it was also a Love Hotel, I suspect operated by the same company. I believe the Love Hotel stayed in business longer than the main hotel

I dont remember ever seeing it open, suggesting it has been closed for some years.

The 2nd and 3rd photos show inside what appears to be the Love Hotel's managers' living space.

The first of the rooms I explored just seemed like a fairly standar room.... nothing exotic...

The price list suggested there were several classes of room though...

Certainly the next one I explored was larger and with more facilities....

A karaoke machine and specialized furniture were available... Another abandoned Love Hotel I explored near Matsue, and then yet another near Yamaguchi.

The previous post was on the walk here along the Kohama Coast....

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Childhood Homes of Nishi Amane & Mori Ogai

 

Nishi Amane and Mori Ogai are two of the most famous sons of Tsuwano, the small castle town in the mountains of Shimane.

Though located a little outside the main tourist area of the town, their childhood homes are still standing and in close proximity to each other, and offer visitors the opportunity to see some traditional architecture.

Nishi Amane (1829-1897), was born to a family of physicians and spent the first twenty years of his life in this house. Actually the main house burned down, and this in the ancillary building where he had his study. He is known as the father of Western Philosophy in Japan and spent time as a bureaucrat in the Meiji Government.

Said to be a child prodigy, he studied in the local domain school before heading to Edo in 1853 to study "Dutch Learning". Along with Fukuzawa Yukichi and others, he was a champion of Western Learning and in 1863 went to the Netherlands to study and, incidentally, was inducted into Freemasonry.

He came back to Japan in 1865 and was a tireless advocate of Western philosophy as the basis for Japan's future. He was a staunch anti-Confucianist.

Mori Ogai (1862-1922) was an Army Surgeon and writer, and credited with introducing Western poetry into Japan. His former home and an attached museum to him is across the river from the Nishi Amane House.

The Mori were also a family of physicians, in fact, head physicians to the daimyo. Mori Ogai also studied at the local domain school, but in 1872, the family moved to Tokyo. He stayed with Nishi Amane for a while to study German before attending medical school. He graduated with a medical license at the age of 19 and became an Army doctor.

The army sent him to Germany to study for 4 years, and he eventually became Surgeon General. he is perhaps most well known as a writer. The only work of his I am familiar with is Sansho Dayu, and Edo Period story which he rewrote. His version was made into a movie by Kenji Mizoguchi and was the movie that introduced me to Mizoguchi's awesome movies.

Both houses are along the river, south of the main tourist area. When I last visited they were  both free to view but could not be entered. Another of Mori Ogai's homes can be seen in Kokura.

The previous post in this series on the delights of Tsuwano, was on the samurai quarter.

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Kohama Coast to Sanrigahama Coast

 

Toda is a fairly large village at the western end of Kohama Beach. Big enough to have a Junior High School, as well as an Elementary school.

It only has a tiny fishing harbour, so I am guessing it is primarily based around agriculture. It is, like everywhere else, on the Japanese coast, well protected against the sea by concrete fortifications.

On my way out of the village, I stopped in at the village shrine, a fairly standard Hachiman Shrine with nothing special to see and no signboard with info. Actually, at some point, I crossed the boundary into Kiami.

The road continues alongside the beach for quite a way....

Kannon Rock is apparently a popular sunset photo spot. There are countless rocks that share the name Kannon Rock. Some have a resemblance to the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. Many, like this one, do not

The cormorants seem to spend a lot of time here, judging by the amount of guano....

Now Sanrigahama Beach begins....

Sanrigahama Park has this large stone sculpture. Seems to have been influenced by Stonehenge. Up ahead an abandoned resort hotel.....

The previous post in this series on day 33 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the scenic Ebisu Shrine in Todakohama.

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namBa H!PS

 

Though sometimes I make spelling mistakes, the title of this post is not one of them.. .... this is really how the building is named.

It was designed by one of my favorite Japanese architects, Shin Takamatsu, a Shimane- born architect.

It is an entertainment complex and opened in 2007.

The red structure running up inside the hourglass-shaped cavity is actually a free-fall type of amusement park ride called YABAFO.

The complex is home to restaurants, spas, pachinko parlors, and karaoke. There is even a golf studio and the exterior of the building is used for rock climbing events.

The above photo seems to be a love hotel. I spotted the composition while walking around Namba Hips...

The previous post in this series on Osaka was on Namba Hatch, the nearby music venue...

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 most recent posts.