Hunting the late Fall colors in Omori

Omori

It has become one of my traditions that I spend much of November walking along some pilgrimage trail or other enjoying the color of Fall. Unfortunately this year a bout of ill health followed by a period of hospitalization meant that I missed much of November.

We took off one day and headed up to the village of Omori in Iwami Ginzan in the hope of catching the last remnants of color and was able to find some. The hillsides still had some color to them, and though most of the ginkgo trees were naked there was still somewhat of a carpet at one of the small temples.

A few of the small gardens still had some maples, but the best colors were to be found at shrines.

The big Hachimangu at the northern end of the village still had much to be seen, but the best was at the Ido Shrine on the opposite side of the river, and not usually visited by tourists....

Koinobori

Omori Floral

Up in the mountains not far from here is the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Site, and the village of Omori is a large part of it.

Pretty much just one long street in the narrow valley below the mine, Omori is where the samurai, bureaucrats, and merchants lived.

The slaves who worked and died in the mine lived in hovels up on the mountain.

Omori is a pretty good showcase of Edo Period buildings, most of which have been restored, and to make it pretty for the throngs of tourists many property owners put small displays of flowers in front of their properties.

All these photos were taken in a one hour walk along the main street one day in May.

They are real flowers, not plastic. You need to check. I was very impressed with the flowers at Mitaki Dera until I looked closely and saw they were plastic.

Concrete wabi sabi: more steps.

Continuing with my exploration of the aesthetic potential in Japan's favorite material,.... more steps!

An Escheresque view of the steps down sanbe Dam.

A very standard form of steps. These go down to the stream that run through Omori, Iwami Ginzan.

Of course concrete can be poured into any shape. These curved steps go down to the boat dock for the horikawa boat tour on the river in Matsue.

These lead down to a hot spring in the river at Tamatsukuri Onsen.

I really liked these that lead up into the Museum of Ehime History & Culture.

These last ones are not actually in Japan, but Seoul, Korea.

Round Windows: looking out.

Circular windows are not uniquely Japanese, but they do seem a little more common here traditionally.

Kennin-Ji, the oldest Zen Temple in Kyoto


The former Wilds Gallery, Omori, Iwami Ginzan


Tea room, Chofu gardens, Yamaguchi Pref.


Manor House, Takahashi, Okayama.


Park. Asari, near Gotsu