Nakijin Castle

This is quite obviously not a Japanese castle. It's the ruins of Nakijin Castle on the main island of Okinawa, and one of the 5 castle that are part of the World Heritage Gusuku Sites. It's the second largest of the castles at more than 14 acres and with over 1.5 kilometers of wall.

The walls are made of limestone, and very little of it has been worked. The walls are curved and follow the contours of the land, whereas Japanese castle walls are usually straight.

It dates back to the 13th Century, several hundred years before the kind of castles we now think of as Japanese castles were built.

When the Satsuma from Japan invaded in 1609 the castle burnt down and was completely abandoned not long after, although sacred sites within the walls were still visited.

Of the 5 castle sites it is the only one not surrounded by an urban area and there are great views from it.

A Walk Around Kyushu Day 6 Kokura to Kanda

January 4th 2013, and after spending the New Year with my wife I am back in Kyushu for the next leg of my 2,200 kilometer walk, starting where I left off a few days ago in Kokura.

I headed east to Mojiko and stopped in at a major shrine there before cutting over the mountains.

I visited two of the pilgrimage temples as well as a couple of other temples.

I also visited several more shrines. From Kanda I hopped on a train back to Kokura as I had a really good deal on a hotel room there. In Kokura I went out and enjoyed the illuminations.

Gyonyu Dam

Early on the second day of my walk around the Kunisaki Peninsula I quickly pass the highest point, which I will be revisiting in a few days when I come up from the south. I carry on east towards the coast where I have a room booked for the night.

Partway down I soon come to the resrvoir behind Gyonyu Dam. Finished in 1997 the dam is for "flood control", which is really just code for " we have shedloads of cash to pour as much concrete as we can". The construction industry in Japan occupies a similar position in the economy as does the military industrial complex in the USA.

There are more dams in Japan, per capita, and per acre, than anywhere else. There is not a river that has not been dammed.

The reservoir is quite pretty, especially with the low sunlight and the remnants of Fall color. From here the valley descends and widens as it approaches Kunisaki Town.

Riverwalk Revisited

My final stop at the end of my fifth day of walking around Kyushu was the Riverwalk complex right next to the castle.

I'd been here several times before but it was such a great place for my kind of photos that I couldn't resist.

Designed by the  American architect Jon Jerde, Riverwalk comprises mostly of shops and offices, though there is also and art gallery and a TV studio.

Kokura is the closest point to Honshu, so I broke my journey here and headed home for a few days to spend the new year with my wife. Early in the new year I would be back for the next leg of my 78 day walk around Kyushu.

Mitarai Tenmangu

Mitarai Tenmangu is located at the back of what used to be the main brothel area of Mitarai, and was popular with the working girls.

Legend says that the mythical Empress Jingu stopped at the well here and washed her hands and that this is where the towns name came from. In the Meiji period a Tenmangu shrine was built here supposedly as Sugawara Michizane also stopped at the well and washed his hands.

The fact that Tenjin was not enshrined here until Meiji suggest to me that maybe it was a strategy to protect the local shrine. In late Meiji the government set about closing down half the shrines in the country, mostly local, nature based shrines. One way to stop your shrine being closed down was to enshrine a "national" god , like Tenjin.

There is a curious monument to a local Mitarai man, Harukichi Nakamura, who was the first Japanese to cycle all the way around the world. which he apparently did in the early years of Meiji.

Kyushu Railway History Museum

Kyushu Railway History Museum

The Kyushu Railway History Museum is located right next to  Mojiko Station in Kitakyushu.

Housed in the original headquarters of the Kyushu Railway Company, it will appeal to railway buffs and kids.

There are lots of engines, including several steam trains, as well as sleeper carriages and other rolling stock, most of which can be boarded and explored.

There is also lots of historic paraphenalia and a train driving simulator.

Buy dokudami herbal tea from Japan

Innoshima Bridge

If you are cycling or walking the Shimanami Kaido, the road that connects Onomichi in Hiroshima with Imabari on Shikoku, then the first bridge you cross is the Innoshima Bridge connecting Mukaijima Island with Innoshima island.

When it was built in 1983 it was the longest suspension bridge in Asia. The total length is 1,339 meters, and the main span is 770 meters.

All the bridges of the Shimanami Kaido can be used by pedestrians and cyclists, and on the Innoshima Bridge they are carried below the expressway carrying cars.

Though the views are a little obscured by the chain link fence, at around 40 meters above the water the views are still great.

Revisiting Kitakyushu International Conference Center

At the end of my fifth day of walking along the Kyushu 108 Sacred Sites Pilgrimage I was in Kokura, somewhere I had visited several times before.

However, it was a different day, a different season, and a different time, so I revisited some of the interesting places to see if I could get some good shots.

In general I quite like the architecture of Arata Isozaki, and being a Kyushu native himself there are several examples in the area, including the Kitakyushu International Conference Center.

Built in 1990, it has a nice combination of curves and non perpendicular angles as well as bright colors.

Niigusohimenomikoto Shrine

Niigusohimenomikoto Shrine

This shrine is on the main road not far from Mononobe Shrine and appears to be just a small local shrine, but is in fact one of the oldest shrines in the Iwami region, founded in 731.

It is also listed in the Engi Shiki, which means it received offerings from the government in Kyoto. The kami is Niigusohime, and is considered to be a kami of the 5 grains and farming. Strangely she is also associated with cheese! A kind of cheese from Mongolia was introduced in 650. probably via Korea. So maybe she had something to do with that.

There is a sutra mound within the grounds, not so unusual as most shrines had Buddhist elements in earlier times.

There is a small Kumano Shrine too. The shimenawa is Izumo style, big and thick.

Fudo Myo & other Statues at Tokusenji

Tokusenji, in Kokura, though a very small urban temple had quite a few statues. As you know I take a lot of photos of statues.

I am intrigued by the diversity, evident in these first three photos which are all representatios of Fudo MyoO, ome of my favorite deities.

Nowadays there is a tendency away from diversity towards uniformity and conformity. Most statues are made in factories or by using the same data to control the machines that carve them. Exactly the same statues of Fudo or Komainu etc are now appearing all over the country. But there are still some places and people who will resist that.

As I continue to learn about the various deities I come across I have gotten much better at identifying them, but still have so much to learn. I am guessing this photo above is a version of Kannon, usually depicted as being quite slender, but here quite full-figured. Then again it could well be a variation of another deity....

Again, my guess is that this is Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. Statues of him come in a variety of forms too, but as in this statue, represented as a mendicant monk is fairly common.