From Susa Bay to Esaki Bay

 

Susa Bay and Esaki Bay are two inlets either side of Mount Takayama that protrudes out into the Japan Sea. There are no roads or trails that go around the coast so my route cuts across.

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom as I meander around the convoluted inlets of Susa Bay.

There is actually not a lot to report..... mountain road was almost completely trafficless and, other than one small roadside shrine, with not much to see...

I can't resist a "Geometric Abstract".....

I have walked thouands of kilometers along roads like this..... no traffic, almost no buildings..... but lots of up then down.... the mountain roads of Japan, now bypassed by new main roads with tunnels...

Esaki Bay, like Susa Bay, is a delight....

In fact, when the sea is calm and the sun is out, the Japan Sea coast of Yamaguchi and Shimane can't be beat, but because there are no shinkansen lines, it remains one of the "hidden" delights of Japan.

Esaki Bay is long and narrow, and at the end where the biggest fishing village is there is a new concrete bridge connecting the two sides of the village.

The previous post in this series on day 32 was on the walk from Utago to Susa.

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Over the Mountains to Susa

 

After leaving Utago I pass by the relatively famous Sogogawa Bridge.

Built in 1932 it is 189 meters long with a slight curve, and carries the Sanin  Rail Line across the mouth of the Sogo River. Each time I have passed by, there has been a few train enthusiasts who travel from all over the country to snap shots of trains passing over the bridge with the sea as a background.

It's quite a buzz to travel over it by train too....

Now the narrow road heads over the high country before dropping down into Susa Bay.

There were many examples of the concrete grids that replace mountain slopes that have slipped. many were quite new indicating there were some storms recently.

Right at the high point before the road starts to wind down to Susa, was a single farm. No other people lived along the road.

Susa Bay is delightful. On the west side of Mount Takayama, the bay is formed of numerous inlets.

Mount Takayama is the highest mountain in some ways up or down the coast, and according to the curator at the local history museum, it was the landmark used by Susanoo as he sailed up the coast to Izumo on his trips to and from Korea. This is the origin of the town's name.

Across the bay in the mouth of a small inlet is an island with a substantial shrine on it. The island's name is Nakashima, and a gentleman walking his dog told me Benten is enshrined there.

The main harbour and port of Susa comes into view.

In the town, I stop in at a Miho Shrine. Enshrining Kotoshironushi from Mihonoseki, a secondary shrine has Susano as the kami. In the early 20th century with the "shrine consolidation" program, Sugawara Michizane, Konpira, and Ryugujin shrines were added.

The shrine building dates to 1984 following a major storm that destroyed it in 83.

The previous post in this series on day 31 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the shrine in Utago, the last settlement before the walk over the mountains.

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Tamatsukuriyu Shrine

The main shrine in Tamatsukuri is the Tamatsukuriyu Shrine. The three main kami are Kushiakarutami, Onamuchi (Okuninushi), & Sukunahikona. The latter two are well known, but this was my first encounter with Kushiakarutami, who was the priest Tamasuri (he who makes the jewels) who enshrined Okuninushi following the ceding of the land to the Yamato, Kuniyuzuri.

Kushiakarutami is also equated with Haakarutama and Amenoakarutama, the first being the kami that gave Susano the jewels he used in his "contest" with Amaterasu, and the second being the kami that produced the jewels that were hung outside the cave that Amaterasu used to hide away in. The common feature of all these kami is the production of "jewels", the comma- shaped stones known as magatama. Tamatsukuri was a center of magatama production and the unusually shaped treasure house of the shrine has many of the objects found in archeological digs in the shrine area.

Nowadays the shrine is most well known for its "wish fulfilling stone" (negai ishi). Nowadays you can buy small stones from the shrine office and hold them against the almost spherical stone and have its power transferred.

There are numerous secondary shrines within the grounds including an Inari, Konpira, Susa, a Tama no Miya, Several other shrines I can find no information about, Kikakashi, Fukutoku, & Sanatama.