Over the Mountains to Susa

 

After leaving Utago I pass by the relatively famous Sogogawa Bridge.

Built in 1932 it is 189 meters long with a slight curve, and carries the Sanin  Rail Line across the mouth of the Sogo River. Each time I have passed by, there has been a few train enthusiasts who travel from all over the country to snap shots of trains passing over the bridge with the sea as a background.

It's quite a buzz to travel over it by train too....

Now the narrow road heads over the high country before dropping down into Susa Bay.

There were many examples of the concrete grids that replace mountain slopes that have slipped. many were quite new indicating there were some storms recently.

Right at the high point before the road starts to wind down to Susa, was a single farm. No other people lived along the road.

Susa Bay is delightful. On the west side of Mount Takayama, the bay is formed of numerous inlets.

Mount Takayama is the highest mountain in some ways up or down the coast, and according to the curator at the local history museum, it was the landmark used by Susanoo as he sailed up the coast to Izumo on his trips to and from Korea. This is the origin of the town's name.

Across the bay in the mouth of a small inlet is an island with a substantial shrine on it. The island's name is Nakashima, and a gentleman walking his dog told me Benten is enshrined there.

The main harbour and port of Susa comes into view.

In the town, I stop in at a Miho Shrine. Enshrining Kotoshironushi from Mihonoseki, a secondary shrine has Susano as the kami. In the early 20th century with the "shrine consolidation" program, Sugawara Michizane, Konpira, and Ryugujin shrines were added.

The shrine building dates to 1984 following a major storm that destroyed it in 83.

The previous post in this series on day 31 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the shrine in Utago, the last settlement before the walk over the mountains.

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Iwakuni to Obatake a Pleasant Walk Along the Seashore

 

11th November, 2014. After a good sleep in a hotel I am up before the sun and on my way down the Yamaguchi coastline on day 18 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Winter days are so short that I need to use all the available light. I am past the industrial areas when the sun comes up.

Usually where a river enters the sea will be a settlement....

The main Sanyo Line railway hugs the coast....

Someone getting ready to look for breakfast.....

Much of the route the road separated steepish slopes from the water....

Nice to see some sea defenses made out of stone and not concrete....

Beach used for school gym or sports class....

Every settlement has a harbour,,, usually with plentiful concrete...

A constant stream of planes heading in to land at Iwakuni. Both an American Marine base and a Japanese SDF base. American fighter jets from Iwakuni regularly buzz our village..... way below the legal altitude, something they would not do in a more populated area, they shake my house.... I guess the pilots are imagining themselves as Tom Cruise...

The Local History & Folklore Museum in the town of Yuu was intriguing.....

It was not open the day I passed by, but I believe much of their content is sea and fishing based...

Roadside attractions in Japan often veer towards the surreal and bizarre... As I approached my first thought was that it would be a restaurant and gift shop...

Sea defenses..... In general, I find the predominant Japanese attitude towards the natural world to be that it is an enemy. Something to be tamed, and controlled... like in a Japanese garden....

Not sure what plant these red berries are of.... though I have one in front of my house....

The Inland Sea is dotted with dozens and dozens of islands, many too small to have inhabitants.... in the far distance is the coast of Shikoku....

The channel between the mainland and Suo Oshima Island narrows. Stretching halfway across to Shikoku, Suo-Oshima is one of the bigger islands in the Inland Sea...

The Oshima Bridge crosses to Suo Oshima Island, a distance of about 1 kilometer. Time to start looking for a place to set out my sleeping bag.

The previous post in this series was on the previous day's walk from Miyajima to Iwakuni.

Down the Ota River, Colonel Santa, & Kogoijima Island

 

After descending from Mitakidera I reached the Ota River, one of the main rivers passing through Hiroshima.

Not far from where it enters the sea is Miyajima, site of the next pilgrimage temple, so my route was easy,... along the embankment of the river....

First bridge was the one carrying the JR Kabe Line trains from downtown up to what is now  the northern suburbs.

The left-hand bridge is the Ryuo Bridge for pedestrians and cycles. The Shinryuo Bridge for moter traffic is next to it.

The older bridge on the left carries the JR Sanyo Line, while the newer one is for the shinkansen.

Japanese Pampas Grass, or susuki, is one of the major symbols of Autumn in Japan....

Old-style shopping streets all over Japan are increasingly shuttered as modern Japanese shopping habits change...

I was quite impressed with the architecture of the Hiroden Nishi Hiroshima streetcar station.

Built in 2001, trains from here go to Miyajima-guchi Station. Hiroshima has a very large and well-used tram network.

Though still only early November, Christmas advertising has been underway since Halloween.

Passing under the main expressway bridge...

Though now a little over a kilometer from the sea, this little island was originally just offshore.

Now called Kogoijima Island, the area between here and the current shoreline has been reclamied in the 20th century.

The water around the little island is still seawater though and sea fish can be seen in the pool.

Originally it was paired with a smaller outcropping on the shoreline and they were considered a pair of "married islands" The smaller one disappeared to make way for the main road.

This was originally called Okimi Myojin, hence the floating torii..... 

The previous post was on Mitakidera Temple further up the river in central Hiroshima.