Inside Meteor Plaza

This is what Meteor Plaza was built around, its the Mihonoseki meteorite, a 6.8 kilo piece of rock that smashed through a house in the nearby fishing village of Sozu on the night of December 10th, 1992.

There were violent thunderstorms that night so the residents didnt notice it until they found the holes in their roof and floors next morning.

The meteor is diplayed inside the conical section of this unusual building. The section of the building modelled on the shape of the meteor itself houses a 500 seat auditorium. I think they were a little optimistic about how many visitors would want to come and see the meteor. When we visited we were the only ones there in the vast, cavernous space.

Inbetween showings of a short movie about the meteor the hall is lit with a kind of light and music show.

Adjacent to the auditorium is a small museum showing photos and press clippings as well as sections of the roof and floor that the meteor passed through.

The strange interior shape of the auditorium lent itself to photos of unusual geometric shadow patterns...

Meteor Plaza was designed by architect Shin Takamatsu, and photos of the unusual exterior can be seen in this previous post.

Meteor Plaza

Meteor Plaza is a complex located in Shichirui, a small coastal village now part of Mihonoseki which is now part of Matsue.

The complex includes a ferry terminal (for the Oki Islands), an auditorium, a seawater indoor swimming pool, and a museum.

The museum house the Mihonoseki Meteor which hit a village nearby in 1992. The cone of the building represents the meteors trajectory to earth, and the weird spheroid shape is modelled on the shape of the meteor itself.

The complex was designed by Shimane architect Shin Takamatsu and was opened in 1995

Shichirui

This is the draincover for the town of Shichirui, now part of Mihonoseki, amalgamated with Matsue.

The design depicts the ferry that runs to the Oki islands.

The ferry terminal is in a complex designed by Shin Takamatsu, and I will be posting on it shortly.

The Shimane Peninsular in the area is a really nice stretch of coastline....

One thing I hadnt seen before, while we were waiting to leave the Okis on the ferry, local people connected themselves to departing friends by streamers...

Manhole Fish

This is the manhole cover for Nishinoshima, one of the islands that make up the Oki Islands. I know a squid is not a fish, but its close enough.

Masuda down in the southwest of Shimane has the Takatsu River and I'm guessing these are carp.

This is from Taki Town up in Izumo and its hard to tell from the design exactly which fish it is meant to be, could be flying fish or it could be an Orca.

Fukuura is a village on the Shimane Peninsular and now a part of Mihonoseki. The fish is probably a Sea Bream (tai) as Kotoshironushi, popularly known as Ebisu, used to enjoy fishing for Tai here.

The draincover for Mihonoseki also features the Tai.

Another one from Masuda, and these look like Ayu, called Sweetfish in English. The Takatsu River is a popular place fro Ayu fishing.

Not sure which town this belongs to, but it was on the banks of the Shimanto River in Ehime, Shikoku. They might also be Ayu.