Along the Beach to Gotsu

 

After the temple and shrines in Tsunozu, the next stop is a temple in Gotsu Honmachi and so head off down the small coast road rather than the main road.

When I can I opt to continue along the beach rather than the road....

It's late November and the sea is much more active than usual.

Most of this post will be shots of the wavy sea.....

I pass Majima where I had stopped and explored at the start of the days walk....

The final few photos are not seashots.... peering inside a collapsing wooden garage I found this incredible old American car of some kind..... so much rust that I doubt it could be renovated.....

As I get cose to the mouth of the river a Heron......

And then the final photo, one of the few traditional buildings left in Gotsu. A traditional confectionary-cake-dessert shop..... never actually been inside, though it does garner rave reviews....

The previous post in this series on day 37 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimge was on a couple of shrines in Tsunozu.

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Fumishima Sacred Island for the Birds

 

Down below Hinomisaki, the westernmost cape of the Shimane Peninsula, is a cluster of small islands, the largest being Fumishima.

Located less than 200 meters from the harbour in front of Hinomisaki Shrine, the island is topped by a small torii and shrine.

The small shrine is a kind of memorial to the shrine that stood here until 948, which enshrined Amaterasu. It was moved to Hinomisaki. Later, in early Meiji, Amaterasu became the main kami of Hinomisaki after swapping with Susano. More on that in the next post....

The island is a National Natural Monument because it is a breeding ground for black-tailed gulls.

In early winter, about 5,000 of the birds migrate here to overwinter and breed. They leave by July. I was here in late June, so most were still there.

Other than naturalists studying the gulls, the only humans allowed on the island are Shinto priests who come once a year.

The previous post in this series of my walk along the Japan Sea Coast was on the Hinomisaki Cape itself and the lighthouse.

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Tanoura Coast to Orii Coast

 

After the Tanoura Beach my route heads inland and then starts up towards another pass.

It's May so paddies are flooded and in some cases planted.....

Miniature farm machinery is one of the reasons rice is so expensive in Japan. Every farmer, who has a tiny farm , must buy machinery to plant and a different one to harvest. Each is used for just a couple of days a year. I my little village there is some sharing, but still Yanmar, Honda, etc are very profitable for a reason...

In many cases after the machine has planted humans must go in finish tings off....

A tiny narrow road over the pass..... I love these roads.... no traffic and wide enough....

Coming down into the tiny settlement of Imaura.....

Really, ormer settlement would be more accurate..... there was a couple of inhabited houses among the abandoned ones, but by now they too are abandoned.....

There is a substantial shrine, and a little harbour without any buildings....

The shrines name is Imoyama Shrine but I can find no sources on which kami are enshrined or any history.

It does have a kaguraden that is still in use, so I guess there are enough scattered farms in the surrounding mountains to support an annual matsuri.

There seems to be just a couple of small boats at the harbour, out of the water.

It is a popular spot for recreational fishermen ( and women)....

After climbing out from Imaura harbour I pass by the Orii Cliifs, top photo of this post. A little while later I look down on the Orii Coast and Mount Taima looms ahead.

Then I drop down to Orii Beach, well "protected" by lines of tetrapods. On the way down I pass another abandoned love hotel..... at Orii Station I hop on a train and head home.

The previous post was on the walk from Kamate to Tanoura...

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From Kamate to the Tanoura Coast

 

My route on day 34 of my walk along he Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage continues up the scenic coastline of Iwami, the westernmost section of Shimane. The last pilgrimage temple was in Hagi, and the next one is in Hamada, so this is a very long section without pilgrimage temples, but with plenty of other sights to see...

When I first came to Japan I was surprised how many temples looked like fortifications, until I learned they actually were....

Those buildings right on the waterfront are a traditional  hot-spring ryokan with great views of the sunset from windows you can lean out of and fish from...... with prices accordingly... Araiso is the name ....

In Tsuchida I stopped in at the local Hachimangu Shrine before climbing up and around the headland on the tiny, narrow road.

I passed by Okami and dropped down to sea level at the huge Misumi Power Plant.

It is coal-powered, shipped from Australia and China, I think.... Japan has reserves of coal but shut down their coal industry in the 1960's to switch to cheaper oil....

There was a lot of serious construction going on to expand the port facilities as the were about to start construction of a second plant..... coal seems to figure in Japanese future plans...

Offshore, seen here at maximum zoom, is Takashima Island, about 12k away.

With almost 4k of coastline, it was inhabited until 1975, though I'm guessing not a lot of people lived there....

After crossing the Misumi River, I stopped in at the interesting Reikoji Temple before walking back to the coast. Mount Taima ahead, and Tanoura Beach....

Along the beach at where another headland protrudes into the sea is Tanoura Beach.

Popular with locals in the summer, it has toilets and showers but nothing else....

There are a couple of nice rocky outcroppings, and plenty of concrete tetrapods....

and of course, excellent views of the power plant.....

I suspect this is wakame seaweed out to dry....

The previous post was on Reikoji Temple nearby with its cool komainu carvings...

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.