Saga to Takeo Onsen Day 57 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

A Walk Around Kyushu

Day 57 Saga to Takeo Onsen

Saturday February 15th 2014

Back in Saga to begin the next leg of my pilgrimage walk around Kyushu I am happy to find it warmer and sunnier than the Sanin Coast where I live. As I head west out of Saga I follow the rail line rather than the main road.  

To the north I see the mountains with a dusting of snow on the higher elevations. I soon leave the city behind and am among the paddies and fields. Many have the stubble of last years rice crop but there is also plenty of fresh, green winter wheat. I pass the temporary station of Saga Balloon, only operating, I guess, when one of the Hot Air Balloon festivals is taking place. I head towards a shrine marked on my map but when I get there find a crowd of people outside with banners and megaphone. Some sort of local election going on.

By now I reach the main road, a busy strip of asphalt lined with commercial properties. There are a lot of car dealerships, one sporting a Statue of Liberty. Lots of national chain electronics stores.

More than a few pachinko parlors. One named “Zero” with the slogan “it's so cool to enjoy life frankly”. Frankly I have no idea what that means. There are national chain family restaurants, Karaoke bars, a smattering of love hotels, and of course the ubiquitous “Konbini”. I avoid convenience stores if I have a choice, but increasingly the choice is not there. 100 yen fresh coffee and public toilets are what they excel at providing.

I stop in at shrines along the road. Many of them have the local style of Torii. Made of stone, the pillars are much wider than in the normal style and they taper quite dramatically. The cross piece is much thinner than normal. The overall effect seems to be to create the illusion of them being taller than they are.

A smile comes and my eyes widen as I spot an old Morris Minor rusting in a piece of waste land. Don't see many of those here, though you do see lots of the old Minis. A small detour off the main road takes me to the first pilgrimage temple of the day, Koya-ji.  

The previous post in the series was Saga Shrine.

Chibu Island to Nishinoshima Island

 

Chibu is the smallest and the southernmost of the 4 inhabited islands in the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan off the north coast of Shimane. Along with Nishinoshima and Ama, the cluster of three smaller islands are known collectively as Dozen. The largest island, somewhat separate from Dozen, is Dogo.

The Oki Islands are volcanic in origin and are the remains of a sunken caldera. Their unique geological and natural and cultural features have led to them being registered as a UNESCO Global Geopark.

The large car ferries that connect to the mainland also run between the islands, but more frequent, smaller, faster ferries carrying only passengers also operate, and these shots were taken from the one connecting Kurii on Chibu to Beppu on Nishinoshima.

Nishinoshima is rather convoluted in shape, and a large part of the journey travels through the channel separating Shishinoshima from Ama.

I really like the Okis, and this was my third visit. Excellent seafood, friendly locals, unique culture, great views, and fabulously clear seas, as can be seen in the first photo.

The previous post in the series is Red Cliff Sekiheki....

Momijidani Teien Garden Wakayama

 

The Nishonomaru Garden at Wakayama castle is more commonly known by the name Momijidani Teien because of the large number of maples that grow there and that paint a vivid scene in Autumn.

It is not a very large garden, and one unusual feature is that it is built on the banks of the inner moat.

In the top picture you can see the small "floating" pavilion with the unusual covered bridge across the moat in the background.

Though not so large it is a very pleasant stroll-type garden with a couple of bridges, and obviously will be more dramatic in the autumn,  but much quieter in other seasons.

It was built for Tokugawa Yorinobu, a daimyo of the castle and the 10th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

There is a teahouse in the garden, Koshoan, where, for a fee, you can enjoy matcha and traditional sweet.

Entry to the garden is free.

The previous post in the series is about Wakayama Castle.

Around the Next Bend

Around the Next Bend

This is the 5th post in my new series that explores the Gonokawa River, the longest in West Japan, as I walk up the right bank to the source almost 200 kilometers away.

On the opposite bank on the inside of the first big bend in the river is a still operating quarry that produces aggregate for concrete. This bank is far less inhabited but had a rail line that closed down a few years ago. I am interested to see how the depopulation of the countryside is affecting things....

For a while, the road clings to the narrow strip of land between the mountain slope and the water, made just wide enough for the road plus the rusting rails of the defunct railway.

And then we come to Chigane a tiny settlement in a small valley with maybe half a dozen houses. This used to be the next station on the rail line after Gotsu Honmachi, though in all my journeys on the train I never once saw anyone get on or off here. 20 years ago when I first moved to the area I joined a free Japanese language class run by the city. All of the other students were young Indonesian women who had married local men, one of them the oldest son of a farm family here in Chigane.

Though there were no fresh flowers, the roadside altars had been swept and kept clean.

At the next big horseshoe bend in the river, a sign points to a spot on the bank. On the other bank is a similar sign. They mark a spot on the river that is said to have been memorialized by the greatest of Japan's ancient poets, Hitomaro Kakinomoto. In the Manyoshu, the oldest book of Japanese poetry dating back to the 8th century, Hitomaro has the most poems. One of his wives was a woman from this area, and there are several spots around the area that commemorate places mentioned in their poems.

As I understand it, from this point on the river ceases to be tidal.

The next settlement is Tanomura, has large swathes of what was once rice paddies and fields that have now become swallowed up by Kudzu In the trees in the middle of the above photo are several quite large farmhouses, now abandoned.

The previous post in the series is Zenkakuji Temple.

Lafcadio Hearn's House & Gardens

Lafcadio Hearn's House & Gardens

Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first foreign writers in Japan whose books are still very popular today. Kwaidan, his book of ghost stories, and Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan are two titles that are perhaps the most well-known, and the latter is what I have shamelessly cribbed for the title of my own blog.

He spent about a year living in the castle town of Matsue in Shimane where he gathered much of the material for "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" and where he married and lived with his wife, the daughter of a local samurai.

The house where he lived for six months is located on Shiomi Nawate, a street of former samurai homes on the north bank of the castle moat.

Hearn, who took Japanese citizenship and the name Koizumi Yakumo, was particularly fond of the gardens in his samurai home.

It is not a very large house, though there is a little furniture and some artwork around. There is almost no infomation, for that you need to go next door.

Immediately adjacent to the former residence is the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum which has a lot of permanent displays on Lafcadio Hearn and his life and works as well as changing temporary exhibitions on related subjects. On a visit, you may meet the curator, a great-grandson of Hearn.

The previous post in the series is the Gesshoji Temple garden.

Nagaoka Family 18th Century Farmhouse

 

The former Nagaoka Family farmhouse is located in Mima on the north bank of the Yoshino River in Tokushima on Shikoku.

It was built in the early decades of the 18th century a few kilometers to the north of its current site but was dismantled and rebuilt here in 1979.

The first noteworthy thing is that the walls are made of earth/clay, which is standard, but the exteriors are not covered by boards or bark as is normal. Apparently, this is because the area gets relatively little rainfall so the walls don't need the protection. 

In the interiors, the floors are heavy, polished floorboards, not tatami. They did have some tatami but they were brought out and used temporarily, not laid permanently. This is how they were used further back in history.

There are plenty of tools and furniture scattered around the interiors, and the roof structure is much simpler and lighter than later architecture that used tile roofs.

Entry is free and is worth a visit if you are in the Mima area.....

I visited on my third day walking the Shikoku Fudo Myo pilgrimage. The previous post in the series is Saimyoji Temple which is a few minutes away. 

Sukyoji Temple Gardens

Sukyoji Temple Gardens

Sukyoji is a Rinzai Zen temple located in Izushi castle town and was founded in 1392.

The temple is often called Takuan Dera after the famous monk Takuan Soho who was born in Izushi in 1573. Later in life, he returned to Isushi and stayed at Sukyoji for 8 years. He was very influential in bringing a zen influence to various schools of swordsmanship.

He is credited with designing several of the gardens at Sukyoji, but is more famous for being the creator of the daikon pickles, takuan, named after him.

The temple has a Rock Garden, Crane & Turtle Garden, Moss Garden, and  Heart Pond Garden.

It is said that Takuan designed the Crane Turtle garden and the Shinjioike Garden ( pond in the shape of the Chinese character for heart)

In the photo above the building behind the Shinjioike is the Toenken, the hermitage where Takuan stayed for 8 years and where he is said to have created his namesake pickle.

The Crane & Turtle Garden by Takuan Soho is a National Important Cultutral property.

The rock garden viewed from inside the temple.

Later I will post more on the temple and takuan Soho.

These last three images were taken on my second visit, in the winter.

The previous post in the series is the Eirakukan Kabuki Theatre.