Japan Sea Coast Maji to Nima

 

From Maji, the village that has Kotogahama Beach, to Nima, the next settlement up the coast, there is no coastal road and so the road rises to cross over the headland.

Looking back down the coast I can see the coastline I have walked along for the past three days, with the tall chimneys at Gotsu, my starting point, just visible.

The narrow road through the forest is uninhabited for about 2k until the road drops down to the Shiono River.

This is the main river of Nima, but is not very big and starts nearby in the mountains around Iwami Ginzan.

I walk up to the mouth of the river to see the views before backtracking and heading into Nima Port

The previous post in this series on the Japan Sea Coast was on Kotogahama Beach.

Sumiyoshi Shrine Haiki

 

This Sumiyoshi Shrine is close to the edge of the water in Haiki near Sasebo, Nagasaki.

About 2 kilometers away, a bit inland, is another Sumiyoshi Shrine that is said to be the origin of this one. A mikoshi is carried between the two shrines during festivals.

It is not a particularly big shrine but seems to be very popular in the area.

Sumiyoshi shrines enshrine the Sumiyoshi Sanjin, the three kami of Sokotsutsu no o no mikoto, Nakatsutsu no o no mikoto, and Uwatsutsu no o no mikoto. Three "brothers" noted for their protection of seafarers.

The main Sumiyoshi Shrine is in Osaka, but it was originally a north Kyushu cult taken to central jaan by Jingu who is also enshrined in Sumiyoshi Shrines now.

The oldest shrine to the Sumiyoshi Sanjin can be found in nearby Hakata in Fukuoka, and also on the Iki Islands which suggests a connection to travel between the Korean peninsula and northern Kyushu, which also explains the Jingu commection.

I was visiting not long after sunrise on Saturday, March 8th, 2014 at the start of my 66th day walking around Kyushu.

The previous post was on the nearby Haiki Strait.

Fudo Myo at Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 

Regular readers will easily recognize this as a statue of Fudo Myo, far and away the most numerous deity statue featured in my blog.

All these shots come from the Jimyoin Betsuin Temple in the mountains near Sasaguri, Fukuoka.

Along the 88 temple miniature Henro pilgrimage in the area, but not one of the temples of the pilgrimage.

Fudo is the honzon, or main deity of this temple.

I have never come across so many Fudo statues in such a concentrated area anywhere else in Japan as along this pilgrimage.

We visited on our way down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the pilgrimage

The previous post was on the Jimyoin Temple itself and some of its many other statues.

Haiki Strait

 

This may look like a wide river, but in fact, it is a strait, a narrow sea channel that connects Omura Bay with Sasebo Bay and the open ocean. There are two straits, and yesterday I crossed the Hario Strait on my walk to here.

Haiki Strait is about 11 kilometers long and with an average width of 125 meters, at one point it narrows to just 10 meters.

With a depth of only 4 meters in places and with some low bridges, ships of any size cannot use the strait, but small fishing boats can.

I visited just after sunrise on day 66 of my first walk around Kyushu. The previous post in the series was my diary for day 65.

Crossing the Yodo River

 

As day 2 of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage winds down it was time to head west after visiting the cluster of temples in central Osaka.

I crossed the Yodo River on the bridge that carries Route 2, a non-descript low, concrete bridge, one of 70 that crosses the Yodo.

At this point the river is about 600 meters wide. It starts 70 kilometers away inLlake Biwa and there it is called the Seta River. When it crosses into Kyoto it becomes the Uji River, and south of Kyoto it is joined by the Katsura and Kizu rivers and changes its name to Yodo.

Before the advent of the railways in the modern period it was the main transportation artery between Osaka and the capital in Kyoto.

Looking back, the high-rise landscape of downtown Osaka dominates.

The previous post in the series was on the Yasaka Shrine on the East bank.

Kyushu Pilgrimage Day 65 Nagaura to Haiki

 

Friday March 7th 2014

It's set to become yet another great day as I wake before the sun and go out and sit on the sea wall to watch the sunrise.

Once the show is past its peak I head off north up the coast. Yesterday was a pretty easy day, but today I have further to cover.

For the first few hours there are fine views over the bay and numerous inlets and small islands. There are shrines to visit and the traffic is not too bad.

At Katagami the road heads inland over a large headland protruding into the bay. Coming down the other side towards the water again there is a huge vermillion torii towering over the rooftops and as I approach it I realize I actually have driven through here many years ago. It leads to Ryugusumiyoshihongu, and it may look like a Shinto shrine but actually, it is the headquarters of a “New Religion”. Seicho No Ie claims to have a million and a half members worldwide and was founded in 1930. Though now they use torii and their main shrine building looks traditional Shinto, albeit made out of concrete, when founded prewar it would not have been allowed as the state monopolized those symbols. There are a few ponds with bridges and nice landscaping including cheery trees around the main building, but I forgo a second visit as I am pressed for time.

 A little further along the road I see another structure looming over the rooftops, this time a Dutch Windmill!! As I get closer I can see Dutch-style buildings on the waterfront below the windmill. This is Nagasaki Holland Village and is a miniature version of the much larger Huis ten Bosch theme park. This one was built first, and the same company then built Huis ten Bosch. The latter facility took away all the trade and visitors from this one and so it closed down in 2001. I believe it was bought by the local government and they are attempting to reopen it. I decide not to go in so I have no idea what kind of exorbitant entry fee they are charging.

The road curves around one of the many inlets in the bay and again I am struck by how scenic and pretty this area is with all the small islands offering an ever-changing view. A little further and the main road, and thankfully most of the traffic, heads a little inland and I stay on the smaller road that hugs the coastline. After a while the road starts to rise and I pass under the expressway that has started.

From the higher ground, the views are more expansive but no less pretty. Soon I reach the bridge that crosses over the narrow Hario Strait. On a map, Omura Bay looks like a lake, but two narrow inlets connect it to the sea. The other inlet over by Huis Ten Bosch is so long and narrow that it looks like a river.

This strait is also very narrow and looking down from halfway across the bridge I can see how fast the water is as it funnels through. There is a park with viewpoints on the other side and I stop for a while and check the tourist maps and signboards for any interesting things to see in the area.  From here the road stays above the coast and gradually starts to become more built up. Across the way I can see the high rise hotels around the Huis Ten Bosch resort.

I descend to what I think is a river but is actually the Haiki Strait and now it is completely urban. At Haiki I take a train north into Sasebo where I have a great deal on a room for three nights. Tomorrow I will come back to Haiki and head into the hills but in the golden glow of the setting sun I have time to explore the recently redeveloped port area of Sasebo.

Happy New Year of the Dragon

 

With many pics of dragons to choose from to wish you all a great new year, I chose this one, the ceiling painting at Kenninji Temple in Kyoto.