A Walk to Mine

 

Where I grew up, December 26th is known as Boxing Day. On Boxing Day, 2014, I began my 26th day walking along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

This was a symbolic point in the journey as I had been moving primarily west for the previous 25 days, but now I turn north and then start to head East.

I had started in Okayama, then headed west through Hiroshima and then into Yamaguchi. Though there had been many detours, it was primarily along the coast of those prefectures. Now I head to the Japan Sea coast of Yamaguchi and then head east, primarily along the coast, through Yamaguchi, then Shimane, and then Tottori.

I had just visited the 19th of 37 temples, the 33 main temples plus 4 "extra" temples, so I had passed the halfway point in that regard. My route now would be much straighter than the first half, so I am well over halfway in terms of kilometers and days. The next half of the pilgrimage will be far less populated.

The next temple was in Hagi, and on this day I would get as far as Mine.

My destination was to the NE so I started out walking up the Koya River, passing under the Shinkansen Line, before crossing over to the Hara River which ran into the Asa River heading into Mine.

Not sure what kind of bird this was that was unfortunate enough to have been hit by a vehicle.

It was fairly typical rural landscape, with plenty of paddies and plenty of dilapidated buildings...

I stopped in at a couple of interesting shrines, and will cover them in the next post in the series...

I would have thought that the small, unmanned, rural buildings that sell porn and related products through vending machines would be dying out with the prevalence of online shopping and online porn, but Pink Joy seems to be very new, so obviously still worth investing in... I have noticed that the ones I have encountered in Chugoku have much more advertising on the exterior. The ones I came across in Kyushu usually just had a small nameboard.... no flags nor bright posters like here

Two of the most common birds I come across in the countryside are the heron

and the egret...

The previous post was on the fascinating Imimiya Shrine I visited the day before.

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 It will not be published or made public.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.

Along the Sanyo-do

 

26th November, 2014, and I set off before sunrise on day 24 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

I stayed the night near Shin Yamaguchi Station, formerly known as Ogori. My route is SW towards the next temple near Ube.

Instead of taking the main road I take the old Sanyo-do, the imperial highway from ancient times that ran from Yamato down to Shimonoseki along the southern coast of Honshu. This roughly corresponds to todays National Highway 2

Looking back to the built-up area around Ogori.

The old road retains some of its historical charm with plenty of examples of older-style architecture...

There are numerous roadside Buddhist altars...

As is usual for me, I stop in at most of the shrines that I pass. I will cover some of them in the next post...

The only Autumn Colour I encountered was at one shrine....

At times, my route parallels the Shinkansen Line.

It is most pleasant to be away from all the traffic and commercial establishments on the newer Route 2  not far away.

From one shrine that is on higher ground, I catch a glimpse of the Inland Sea...

Economically, the Sanyo region is doing really well compared to my region, the San-in, but there are still some empty and decaying houses, though a tiny number compared to my area.

A heron proved not so skittish...

After passing Hon Yura  Station I pass a newly rebuilt Buddhist "chapel", Mikage-do, part of Bodaiji Temple.

The previous post was on the last temple I visited yesterday, the amazing Ryuzoji.

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

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.