Friday, January 4, 2013
The Bridges at Usa Hachimangu
Labels:
bridge,
kunisaki fall,
oita,
usa,
usa hachimangu
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Inside Track: Japan
With the increasing popularity of tablet computers and dedicated ebook readers the range of reading material available at a lower cost than print has ballooned, but it has also spawned a new type of publication, ebooks that don't exist as hard copy, available at very low cost, for example Inside Track: Japan by JapanVisitor.
Starting in 2005, Japanvisitor.com and its associated JapanVisitor Blog has been written by a team of long-term Japan residents from Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and Shimane. No prizes for guessing who the Shimane member is :). This little book is a collection of more than 60 of the most popular articles from the blog. By most popular is meant these are the articles that had the most visits, and I can say from my own blog that the posts that get more visitors are sometimes surprising, so what we end up with is a very diverse collection of topics.
There are a few of the major tourist sites in Japan:- Hikone Castle, some temples in Nara, Tokyo Tower, etc, but a lot more quirky, off-the-beaten-track sites like a Meteor Museum, a Shaving Museum, and the tunnels dug towards the end of the war for the government and Emperor to retreat to. All of the articles include access information, prices, opening times etc.
Another group of articles I would classify as "tips":- getting around by train, being vegetarian in Japan, and even some language tips on talking about the weather, and a whole slew of articles on miscellaneous things like Batting Centers, Japanese bicycles, Ladies shaving......
I read to learn things, so a good book is one that I learn a lot from, and I have to say I was surprised at how much I learned from this little volume. On sale for the same price as a cheap cup of coffee, well worth the purchase.
Labels:
book review
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Last Day in Essouira
On my last day in Essouira we got up before the sun and took a cab a few miles south to a small village and walked back along the beach.
Jimi hendrix stayed in this village and legend has it that the island, rock outcroppings, and ruins were the inspiration for his song "Castles made of sand", but that was actually written a few years before he was here.
The Carthaginians were here in ancient times and on the little island was a roman villa about 2,300 years ago.
It was only a few miles back to the town but it took a few hours.....
It had been my first time in essouira and I hope to go back at some point. I would highly recommend it as a vacation destination....
2013 Year of the Snake
2013 is the Year of the Snake so I thought I would post some pics of that most lucky of all snakes, the White Snake. Long associated with Benzaiten, one of the 7 Lucky Gods of Japan, white snakes have appeared in many stories and legends throughout history, in all probabilty albino mutations of regular snake species, but the trait is not passed on to descendants.
But Iwakuni in Hiroshima is home to the unique Iwakuni White Snake, the only place in the country where they appear and a registered national monument.
They are first recorded as appearing in the 18th century, and are a mutation of the common Japanese rat Snake, Elaphe climocophora.
Best wishes for the coming year to all my readers.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Kitsune of Shikoku
Statues of foxes, kitsune, are common throughout Japan, mostly as guardian messengers of the kami Inari, and as Inari shrines are the most common shrine in Japan (according to one counting method) it is not surprising that while walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage one encounters many fox statues. This first one, however, did not appear to be connected to any shrine and was just along the wayside not far from Aizen-in on the first days walk.
This small Inari hokora (wayside shrine) is just in front of the entrance to temple 10 Kirihata-ji
A peek inside another small hokora, this one at the entrance to temple 25, Shinso-ji
An Inari shrine within the grounds of temple 31, Chikurin-ji
These last two were at the Yosakoi Inari Shrine near the base of Kochi Castle.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Inari Shrine at Kobo-ji, Hagi
Tucked away in the corner of the grounds of Kobo-ji temple in Hagi is a small Inari Shrine.
The temple is named after Kobo Daishi who legend says visited the nearby hot spring on his return from China.
At first I thought it must have been Dakiniten, the buddhist element/manifestation of Inari because of the distinctly buddhist windows,...
But a peek inside revealed a distinctly shinto Zuijin behind the taiko that has seen better days...
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Aki Nada Bridge
I started my walk along the Aki Nada Islands by crossing the Akinada Bridge from near Nigata in Hiroshima over to Shimokamagari island. The bridges website claims it is the 9th longest bridge in Japan. Its total length is 1,175 meters with a central span of 750 meters. It opened in 2000.
One of the cool things about walking these big bridges is that they are so high that they afford great views, as in this photo looking back to Nigata.
Where the bridge ends on Shimokamagari is a small park, Shirozaki-en with this strange sculpture.
A rough translation of its title is [life] soil fire knowledge sky water, and it is by the artist Imai Makimasa.
There is a male and female figure.... the male being the more "muscular" one. The base of the sculpture is composed of more than 3,500 tiles...
Labels:
akinada,
bridge,
hiroshima,
imai makimasa,
sculpture,
shimokamagari
Monday, December 17, 2012
Onomichi Temple Walk
Before I headed off on my walk to Shikoku along the Shimanami Kaido I spent the morning walking Onomichi's temple walk.
Though a relatively small town, Onomichi is home to 25 temples that, like the town itself, are mostly located on the steep hillside running down to the sea.
The route, only 2.5 k long, is easy to follow, especially with the free maps from the towns tourist information office. An easy half-day wander, mostly along narrow lanes and up and down steps.
As well as the temples, some of which are not particularly impressive, there are also a handful of shrines as well as other funky old buildings and other tourist sites.
There are also lots of nice views down over the town and across to Mukaishima across the narrow channel.
Labels:
hiroshima,
onomichi25,
walk
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Iwami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Kitahachimangu
Though I have yet to finish walking the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Ive started walking the Iwami 33 Kannon. Being local it means I can do it in one day sections when the weather window allows. I had wanted to do the old Iwami 33 but many of the temples on it no longer exist... victims of Haibutsu Kishaku I suspect.
The old and the new pilgrimages both share a majority of temples but the older one started in Iwami Ginzan and the new one starts in Oda. On my way from Oda Station to the first temple I stopped in at Kita Hachimangu.
A fairly typical Hachiman Shrine, though it was founded in the ninth century, much earlier than many others, and unusually is a branch of the original Usa Hachiman rather than the Kyoto Iwashimizu Hachiman. There are many secondary shrines in the grounds, Ebisu, Aragami, Awashima, Konpira etc
The most interesting of the secondary shrines is this Kinashi Shrine. It enshrines Susano and connects to when he stopped here on his journey from Sila to Izumo. According to local legends he, along with local kami, travelled back and forth between Izumo and Korea from a point a few miles down the coast... Even more interesting is that this shrine was the original shrine here before the Hachimangu was established.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Fall Colors walk: Yaeyama Falls
Down below Yaeyama Shrine the valley leads up to Yaeyama Waterfall, a popular area even though it is remote. There is a big car park and plenty of picnic tables. To get to the waterfall is a 1.5k walk up the valley.
Everywhere I go this woman seems to be following me.....
There are numerous smaller falls along the way including this one in a narrow cleft in the rocks...
Lots of running water....
and some natural fall colors as opposed to the profusion of maple trhat had been planted at the lower end
The trail end at Yaeyama Falls.
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