Samurai with guns

These 2 draincovers are on Ishin kaido, Restoration Road, in Yuda Onsen, Yamaguchi. The restoration referred to is the Meiji restoration of 1868 whereby the government forces were defeated and the emperor "restored" to rule by the Imperial faction led by the domains of Satsuma and Choshu (the previous name for what is now Yamaguchi Prefecture). The partnership of Satsuma and Choshu had been brought about by Ryoma Sakamoto of Tosa domain. An early meeting of all three parties took place in Yuda Onsen.

The civil war to bring about the Meiji restoration is known as the Boshin war, and both sides used plenty of foreign weaponry. The Imperial faction used a lot of French Minie rifles, and these were more accurate and had a longer range than the guns used by the Shoguns forces. This may not have been a deciding factor, but is must have helped in their victory.

Okuizumo Vineyard

Other than Omiki in matsuri season I rarely drink any alcohol, maybe 6 bottles of beer a year, but when offered samples to taste at Okuizumo winery I couldn't refuse.

The winery moved to its current location in the hills above the Hi River near Kisuki about 8 years ago. Wine has been drunk in Japan since the first christian missionaries brought it, but the first attempt to produce it domestically was not until the Meiji era, however, a boom began post WWII, and now there are many vineyards all over Japan.

Okuizumo Vineyard has won prizes for some of their wines, but I wouldn't put too much stock in Japanese prizes......

For some reason they also had a small collection of donkeys.

and a nice flower garden leading to the shop and restaurant

Mojiko Retro Tower

The Mojiko Retro Tower is a 127 meter high-rise apartment building next to the harbor in Mojiko.

On the 31st floor there is an observation deck with great views across the straits to Shimonoseki.

It was built in 1999 and was designed by famed architect Kisho Kurokawa.

The observation deck is open from 10am till 10pm and entrance is 300 yen.

No work in the garden today :)

After an unusually warm and wet February, winter returned the last 2 days with non-stop snow.

The stinkbugs prediction has been somewhat vindicated

Reiko -Ji

Reiko-Ji is the only remaining temple building in Tachikue Gorge. When the area was a stronghold of Shugendo there were many more.

The large Owaraji (straw sandals) are a common offering at temples and shrines, but as far as I can remember this is the only shimenawa I've seen adorning a temple building. I've been unable to find out why.

In 852 a monk discovered a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the healing buddha, on the back of a giant blue turtle. He removed the statue and placed it in a nearby cave. The Emperor, on hearing the story, founded the temple, so it was probably a Shingon temple originally.

Now it belongs to the Soto Zen sect. Home to more than 1,500 statues, Tachikue Gorge is located 8k south of Izumo City on the Kando River

Typical Japanese Landscape 27

At this time of the year, and others too, there is not a lot of color.

Grey greens, grey browns, grey blues, etc

One could think that one was in a 3D ink wash painting.....

Sai Shrine

The full name of Sai shrine is Sainiimasuomiwaaramitama Shrine. It enshrines Omiwa Aramitama, the spirit of the sacred mountain Mount Miwa. It is an affiliate shrine of the great Omiwa Shrine, and is located right next door, close to the southern end of the Yamanobenomichi in Nara Prefecture.

Mount Miwa has been sacred since ancient times, and is an example of a "kannabi", a mountain where the kami resides IN the mountain, rather than descending onto the mountain. After ceding "Japan" to the Yamato, Okuninushi settled in Mount Miwa, and 5 of his relatives from Izumo inhabited other mountains surrounding the Yamato Basin, and it seems most likely that the concept of kannabi is from Izumo

It is possible to go up on the mountain, though there are many restrictions. There are about 6 periods during the year when it is forbidden, but the rest of the time you pay a fee of 300 yen, put on a white sash and begin the climb here. No photography or eating is allowed, and you can only spend 3 hours.

The spring at the shrine is renowned for its healing qualities.

Kotoshironushi, Okuninushi's son, is also enshrined here.

A visit from our mountain neighbors

All afternoon yesterday the forest behind my house was alive with the calls of our troop of monkeys. My human neighbor was away, so there had been no firecrackers set off to drive the monkeys away.

This troop, with about thirty members, are very shy and skittish which makes it hard to get good photos of them. 100 meters away on the opposite hillside is another troop of mo nkeys that are far more aggressive.

I've been very fortunate in my life to have lived many years surrounded by and among wild critters. It helps me, I think, to maintain a certain perspective on my place in the scheme of things.

The monkeys, wild boars, foxes, badgers, etc etc can at times cause problems, but they are more than offset by what they give, to me at least.

Shimenawa & trees

Shimenawa, the sacred ropes that mark sacred space, can often be found wrapped around trees.

Sometimes the tree features in an old story or myth, but most often they are simply very old.

Shrines are one of the few places where these ancient trees can still be found in Japan.

One way I look for shrines is to look for an unusually large clump of trees in the landscape, and often that is where the shrine is.

One historian has suggested that when Japan first began building its capital cities in the Nara area the cutting down of the forests led to all kind of environmental problems so shrines were placed where the rivers came out of the mountains and therefore were protected.

There used to a lot more of these sacred groves of ancient trees but the government cut them down when they closed half the shrines in the country. They were local "folk" shrines, not "national" shrines with connections to the imperial rulers, and so were irrelevant to the new state shinto they created.

Holiday snaps

Extremely busy right now. I have 4 tons of wood to move, cut, and stack. On top of that spring is very, very early, so the garden is needing a lot of attention. So,.... no time to write blogs, so for now some snaps from last years vacation to Turkey. Above is Pamukkale.

And this is Cappadocia

Thgere were, of course, lots of mosques.

Kamikaze Kuisine

The manhole cover of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi shows a Fugu, a Pufferfish. Famous as an expensive and very poisonous delicacy in Japan, it is illegal to eat in Europe and other countries.
Every year in Japan people die from eating improperly prepared fugu.

The Karato Fish Market in Shimonoseki is where most Fugu in Japan is sold. A lot of fugu now is farmed, and they have even developed a completely non-toxic strain.

The fish market also sells a little whale meat, though it might be dolphin as research has shown that up to a third of all whale meat sold in Japan is mislabelled dolphin meat.

Its not a great shot, but this shows some fugu in their natural habitat. When we visited the Kaga no Kukedo the boatman threw some food into the water by the boat for them.

I tried fugu a couple of times and found it nothing to write home about. Not especially tasty, and certainly not worth the high price it is sold for.

Thanks to my wife

This is my beautiful wife Yoko.

While there are countless reasons for me to thank her, in this instance I'd like to thank her for all the help she patiently gives me with this blog.

I'm sure it is no fun researching obscure points in topics she has absolutely no interest in.