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.

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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.

A Seaside Walk from Onomichi to Innoshima

 

Late August, and day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and the next temple is located on Innoshima Island in the Inland Sea.

From Onomichi I take a sunrise ferry across the narrow channel separating Onomichi from Mukaijima.

Then I hug the coast road around the western side of the island.

I have walked this before when I walked the whole length of the Shimanami Kaido, but this time my route will differ after I cross over to Innoshima.

What is noticeable is the much bigger tides than what we get on the Japan Sea coast...

On the Inland Sea low tide reveals mud flats extending some way out.

I am passed by several cyclists clad in spandex and going hell-for-leather.... obviously going to do the 70k crossing to Shikoku in one day....

I reach and pass under the bridge that connects Mukaijima Island with the smaller Iwashi Island.

I carry on down the west coast and enjoy the views which are fairly typical for a lot of the Inland Sea area....

As I head around to the south side the bridge over to Innoshima comes into view.

It's a pretty major bridge, a suspension bridge about 1,339 meters long with a central span of 770 meters.

When it was built in 1983 it was the longest centre span of any suspension bridge in Japan.

Pedestrians and cyclists cross on the lower level below the road section. It was also the first suspension bridge on the Shimanami Kaido.

A very curious sight awaited on the opposite side, last photo.

I highly recommend the Shimanami Kaido, not least for the amazing views you get from the bridges. Obviously walking is best, but even driving would be worth it if you stopped at all the viewpoints.

The previous post in this series was on Senkoji Temple which I visited the day before.