Showing posts with label kochi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kochi. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2026

Dark & Stormy Kuroshio Coast

 


December 2nd, 2011, and day 21 of my walk around Shikoku on the Ohenro Pilgrimage begins under a cloudy sky, though the rain of yesterday has abated.


Kuroshio is the name of a north Pacific current that passes along the Pacific Coast of Japan.


Here at the southern extreme of Shikoku, where the current passes, there is also a town called Kuroshio, where I will mostly be today.


As usual I tried to stop in at every shrine I passed, but this one was too far off the main road so gave it a miss.


On this section of coast the sea was much calmer than yesterday evening when I reached the coast.


Passing through Ida Port I did visit the next shrine.


It is a Tenmangu enshrining the ancient courtier, Sugawara Michizane.


Often used by students praying for exam success, Tenmangu shrines increased somewhat in the late 19th century as a preferred "national" shrine....


There was no signboard so have no info on the history.


Nearby was Kannonji, a very small temple.


There was a tsuyado here, free lodgings for walking pilgrims, and I had thought about staying here but it got dark too quickly yesterday so instead of chancing it I stayed in a henro hut.


Next up a small Ebisu shrine. As kami for fishermen, Ebisu is very common on the coast.


While it is not actually raining, the air is more than damp.


The way ahead looks like darker , windier weather....


It costs a lot to have old cars disposed of in Japan, which is why in the countryside you can often see abandoned cars slowly begining to decompose...... very slowly....






This small shrine is a Yaku Shrine..... no details....



The Sunahama Museum is a little free museum on the beach.


The skeleton of a Minke whale was impressive....


Across the Minato River....


And then across the bigger Fukigami River...


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Saturday, March 7, 2026

Over the Mountains to the Sea Again

 


Leaving Kubokawa and temple 37 Iwamotoji, the route carries on south towards temple 38, a long way a away down at the tip of Shikoku, Cape Ashizuri.


It is December 1st, the twentieth day of my walk along the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage, and it's cool and damp with the clouds clinging to the forested mountain slopes and the rain intermittent.


It's not a day for dawdling and exploring.... I pass some small shrines but do not check them out...


Much of the way is narrow roads with little or no traffic, and a few times, tunnels replace what would have been passes in earlier times...


After the tunnel, it is pretty much downhill all the way...


The rain picks up a little..... I have now crossed over from Shimanto to Kuroshio.


By the time I reach the coast at a place called Saga, it gets windier too...


I take a break in a seaside park and cook up some oatmeal....


The park shelter is not enough to keep the rain and wind out, so I use my umbrella as a windshield...


The tiny stove I have runs on the little paraffin blocks used in restaurants..... with the tiny kettle they only weigh a few ounces, but I can make tea, coffee, soup, oatmeal, instant noodles, pretty much anywhere....


I carry on down the blustery coast....


I had heard there was a free place to stay not far away and I hope I can find it....


The previous post in this series on the space between the temples on the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage was on the Kominka Cafe near to Iwamotoji Temple.


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Friday, January 16, 2026

Kominka Cafe Hanpei

 


Just around the corner from Iwamotoji Temple, one of the Shikoku Pilgrimage temples, in Shimanto Town, Kochi, is this delightful old house.


It seemed open to the public and there was no etry charge so I went in to have a look.


At that time one of the rooms was being used as a cafe but the rest of the house was open and explorable...


As I understand it, the cafe has expanded a little but the situation is still that visitors can explore the rest of the hose...


It was built as a second home / villa in 1901 for a local businessman Hanpei Tsuzuki.


As far as I can tell, the second building seen in some of the photos with a tarp-covered roof no longer exists.


There are some nice features on the interior including  the ranma, the carved panels above te room dividers that allow light and air to curculate...



When I visited there were several ikebana displays....


The gardens, while not stpendous, were nice enough...






The previous post was 25 photos of Iwamotoji Temple.


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.