Still, I can’t help but stop by Itsukushima Shrine

I wrote that Hiroshima is not only about the World Heritage Itsukushima Shrine, but, still, I can’t help but stop by Itsukushima Shrine.

Just the other day, the G7 leaders visited Itsukushima Shrine. A shrine floating on the surface of the sea is beautiful, but a shrine at ebb tide isn’t bad either. Oh, don’t be disappointed if the time doesn’t match, feel like you’ve come to dig clams and touch the red big torii that you usually can’t get close to.

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Kasuga Taisha Shrine in Nara had many wild deer, messengers of the gods, and there are also many wild deer here. However, since they are not treated as messengers of the gods, feeding them is prohibited. Even with the same deer, the difference in treatment is considerable. But there was a person who gave them momiji manju with the shape of maple. Momiji manju is certainly delicious for humans to eat, but I definitely recommend eating the plump conger eel before crossing over to Itsukushima. No high-end restaurant can match the taste.

itsukushima shrine6 deer

itsukushima ferry

itsukushima anago1 special2000yen

itsukushima anago2 without sauce

Morning walk in Hiroshima and …

Western Japan has many feudal lord’s gardens right in town. At that time, feudal lords competed to have a garden with large ponds built. Shukkeien in Hiroshima is one of famous gardens. There are trees that survived the atomic bomb. Okonomiyaki when you are hungry. People in Hiroshima seem to eat okonomiyaki from lunch, but I’m impressed that they can eat it without beer.

hiroshima shukkeien park1 feudal lord’s garden

hiroshima shukkeien park2

hiroshima in the morning

hiroshima atomic bomb dome

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Cruising to Tomonoura, a historic town

There are no unsophisticated people who come to the Seto Inland Sea and travel by land from Onomichi to Tomonoura. On the way of sea, you can see a large suspension bridge, a shipyard, and Kannon who prays for maritime safety. However, please note that this cruise ship makes two round trips a day only on weekends and holidays.

Crusing from Onomichi to Tomonoura

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cruising3 shimanami kaido

cruising4 fishing boat

cruising5 shipyard

cruising6 shipyard dock

cruising7 utsumi ohashi

cruising8 abuto kannon

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cruising12 goal

Well, Tomonoura is located right in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea and was a port of waiting for the tide in the age of ships that depended on the wind and currents. The high tide coming from the east and west channels of the Seto Inland Sea collides offshore, and the force is used to enter the port. When leaving the port to advance offshore, it uses the power of the ebb tide that pulls it to the east and west .

The place where the Korean envoys stopped by still remains, and it is also the place where Japan’s first maritime casualty negotiations occurred between steamships on the late Edo period. Here is the site of a true story in which the Kishu Domain (almost Wakayama prefecture), which was under the control of the shogunate, was defeated by the Kaientai led by Ryoma Sakamoto, according to the World Public Law.

It’s fun to take a leisurely stroll through the nostalgic port town. This is the stage of “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” produced by Studio Ghibli. Furthermore, ‘Hohmeishu’, sweet sake with Japanese herbs, is famous, but you should also try original sweet sake ‘mirin’ which enhances the flavor of the dish.

tomonoura1 fukuzenn temple

tomonoura2 hohmeishu sake of life

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tomonoura4 allnight lighthouse

tomonoura5 meien temple buddha birthday decoration

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tomonoura7 ankoku temple

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The cat road full of slopes is photogenic. Onomichi is a mecca for movies and anime.

Anyway, Onomichi has a lot of slopes, cats and temples. If you get lost in the narrow roads friendly to cats, you are sure to come across a photogenic scenery.

Since Onomichi has a quiet channel between it and Mukaishima island on the opposite shore, it has been used since the Middle Ages as a shipping port for rice as annual tribute from inland manors and a shipping port for

silver from Izumo’s Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, which has become a World Heritage Site.

Takauji Ashikaga, who established the Muromachi Shogunate, also used this place as a foothold to advance to Kyoto.

A town packed with various elements. That’s why it may be used in movies and anime scenes. Walking route is as below.

onomichi1 joudo temple

onomichi2 joudo temple

onomichi3 joudo temple

onomichi4 saigo temple

onomichi5 onomichi east highschool brick fence on cinema

onomichi6 cat road

onomichi7 saigoku temple gate

onomichi8 cat heaven

onomichi9 misode shrine on cinema

onomichi20 retro alley

onomichi21 under railway

onomichi22 shopping street without people

onomichi24 yamato hot spring on the street

onomichi27 ramen

The ropeway in the town is quite crowded, but from the top you can see the beauty of islands in the Seto Inland Sea. The time of sunset is the target. During the cherry blossom season, the whole mountain is dyed in cherry blossom color.

onomichi10 ropeway

onomichi11 ropeway

onomichi15 senkou temple with giant rocks

onomichi16 rock

View from the top

onomichi12 skyaview left

onomichi14 skyview right

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That island occupied by rabbits

After landing that island you are immediately surrounded by huge number of rabbits. There are lots of stories as to why rabbits were brought in Ohkuno island and bred. Looking at the rabbits lying on their bellies and too relaxing even when people approach, it seems like a peaceful island. However, ruins where the former army conducted poison gas experiments remain everywhere. My delusion (story) is that after World War II, the GHQ (occupying American army) released the rabbits to confirm the safety of the poison gas removal process.

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rabbit island7 ruin of poison experiment

Don’t forget to procure rabbit food before crossing the island. Rabbits don’t care about people who don’t have food.

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chukai port3 this store sells rabbit food

rabbit island1 ferry

Rent a bicycle when you get to the island. You can go around in about 30 minutes. However, if you want to see the beauty of the many islands, you need to leave your bicycle and climb a little.

rabbit island4 top

rabbit island5 top

Detour

Did you know that Chukai, Takehara City has a headquarters and a factory that holds more than 50% of Japan’s jam market share? It is Aohata, which is the first company in the world to canned mandarin oranges grown in the Seto Inland Sea. It is said that the president of Aohata, who watched a regatta race between the UK’s most famous universities, was impressed by the cheering of the blue flag. English replacement of Aohata is a blue flag. Visitable factories and photogenic shops are near Chukai JR station.

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Takehara was once connected to Kyoto

It is said that Takehara began when Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto developed the land based on the law of the Nara period that allowed the land that was cultivated by oneself to be owned by oneself. This law was the beginning of the manor system, and wealth was concentrated in those who had the financial power to cultivate the land by themselves, and it triggered the collapse of the world centered on the emperor.

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takehara2 chosei temple

takehara12 golden tree

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Anyway, Takehara has a connection with Kyoto and still retains a townscape called Little Kyoto. Incidentally, the Kamo River, which has the same name as Kyoto, runs through the center of the city.　Also, like Kyoto, sake brewing is thriving, and one of its descendants founded Nikka Whiskey in Japan.

takehara4 takezuru sake brewery

takehara5 frontier of japanese whisky

takehara6 massann and lita

A feature that is completely different from Kyoto is salt making in salt fields. At that time, 80% of the salt produced in Japan was produced in Hiroshima Prefecture.

takehara18 remnants of salt fields

takehara19 morikawa house based on salt business

takehara20 morikawa house

takehara21 morikawa house garden

takehara17 beckoning cat

takehara23 station and kure line

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Tanabata Decoration Festival (Miyagi Prefecture)

When you look at the Tanabata decorations in the shopping district, they all look the same(sorry), but when you learn that each shop displays their own decorations in front of each shop, your perspective changes. The results of contest are indicated unobtrusively beside each decoration.

By the way, a famous person signed a streamer for Tanabata decorations, so it seems that there was an event to find it, but the person who found it would definitely tear it off, so I thought the game wouldn’t work.

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tanabata6 gold

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Recently, sparrow dances have been incorporated into festivals and contests have also been held. After all, decorations alone lack excitement, so it has changed to a participatory festival. By the way, the sparrow is also the family crest of the Date family of the Sendai clan.

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Hanagasa Dancing Festival (Yamagata Prefecture)

An important tool in Hanagasa Dance is a hat decorated with flowers. The flower is safflower, and it was very valuable in the Edo period as a raw material for dyes and lipsticks. ”Beautiful flowers have thorns.” It was said that the hands of the young women who hand-picked them were dyed red with thorns. Please refer to safflower stories in Yamagata at the botton below.

Go back to the festival, many teams that make up the parade show off their unique dances from in traditional and elegant style to in brave and dynamic style. Television news programs often show dances in an elegant style, but in contrast to folk music, the force of moving the hanagasa hats violently in dynamic style cannot be conveyed unless you come to the site. My impression was that elegant dance and dynamic dance in the parade were half and half. Original dances were occasionally seen. Each team consists of communities, schools, and workplaces, and each of them appeals their own characteristics in their dance.

yamagata5 miss Yamagata

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It is held on the long main street at night. So, no need to keep a viewing spot in advance. Please enjoy Yamagata soba in between viewings. Yamagata Prefecture ranks first in the consumption ranking of soba. Please refer to soba stories in Yamagata at the botton below.

Go to white flower of buckwheat and soba stories

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Sansa Dancing Festival (Iwate Prefecture)

Women play the leading role s in dance and Taiko drumming. In the parade, a powerful drum performance that is in perfect order is followed by an elegant dance. Sansa dance has a Guinness record in “Largest Japanese Drum Ensemble”. I am so sorry to say that you do not need to get any paid seat tickets in advance because the powerful parade can be seen from anywhere.

As soon as I get off Morioka Station, the dance is taking place in front of station. I saw the traditional Sansa dancing with a slow and graceful tone by chance.

Sansa dancing festival and food may make you feel some influence from Korean culture, for example, Five colors in the clothes, noodles, grilled meat.

Let’s go out early and participate in a free dance class held at the prefecture hall. In Sansa Festival the beginners welcome to the circle of dancing.

Detour (with Beer !)

reimen noodle

grilled meat 1

grilled meat 2

soup

ja-ja-men noodle

egg soup following ja-ja-men

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Kanto Festival (Akita Prefecture)

Akita is a rice-produching region. Kanto lanterns shining in the night sky represent a bountiful harvest of rice in coming Autumn and praying for an end of epidemics like that Gion Festival in Kyoto prays. It is interesting that many festivals both in Japan and abroad, now and in the past, are held to pray for the warding off of epidemics.

akita kanto1 ready

akita kanto8 music

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akita kanto3 pose

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The kanto hand over the pillars to the next person while adding a piece of pillars, showing an exquisitely balanced pose each time. The completed kanto reaches 12 meters high and weighs 50 kilograms, and the pillars are largely bent. “The boughs that bear most hang lowest.” This really embodies the proverb.

akita kanto7 a child who take out something decoration when the pose is decided

If you want to see Kanto at night, you should reserve a seat in the front row of the median on the main street. It is so powerful that the lanterns collapsing in front of you.

Discover a genius boy mixed with adults! As soon as he strikes an exquisitely balanced pose, he pulls out various projectiles such as fans from his chest and enjoys everyone around him.

During the daytime, the festival holds competition to compete in techniques to support the Kanto in various positions(one hand, forehead, sholder, waist !). Even at night, you should look down, not up.

akita competition2 judge

akita competition9 next players waiting

akita competition3 penalty if the foot is out of circle

akita competition4 experts only move their heels

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akita competition7 change position each 30sec

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akita competition10

akita competition8 change music also each 30sec

akita competition11 curve max

akita competition12 at least break

Let me briefly explain the rules. use only one hand. Do not go beyond the 6m diameter circle. Change technique according to the signal (every 30 seconds). If playing an instrument, change the tune. In my opinion, good athletes keep their balance by slightly shifting their heels. If you can’t afford to stay overnight in Akita, I recommend you watching the daytime competition.

akita competition1 lotus flower — Lotus flower (Junsai is one of familly) around Akita Castle

Detour

Make sure you have something to eat in advance for a long enjoying. There is a market near the station where you can eat rock oysters from the Oga Peninsula. You can also choose Akita’s famous sake from the list pasted on all over the wall. The fact that “junsai” can be eaten with sake is proof that the water is delicious. “Inaniwa udon” (Japanese noodles), which is eaten in the middle of summer, cools down to the core and releases the summer heat.

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akita market1 rock oyster

akita market2 rock oyster

akita stall1 sakes offered here

akita stall2 sake

akita stall3 sake

akita stall4 menu1

akita stall5 menu2

akita stall7 menu4 seri salade

akita stall6 menu3 junsai

akita stall8 menu5 beef tendon soup

akita competition13 nudle cold to the core

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Hachinohe-Sansha Festival (Aomori Prefecture)

Stages with dolls in gorgeous costumes protrude in all directions(10m height, 8m width) from the decorated floats, and ancient stories unfold on it. A long time ago, inspired by the movie “Truck Guy”, trucks decorated with lights transported supplies throughout Japan late at night.　 It seems to have originated in Hachinohe. If you are fun to watch NHK new year’s eve red-and-white singing contest program, the mechanism could remind you of the famous singer, Sachiko Kobayashi. Anyway, you are overwhelmed by its gorgeousness.

hacchi parade1 treasure boat

hacchi parade2 carp on the waterfall

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hacchi parade4

hacchi parade3 Yang Guifei (the Best)

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hacchi parade6 dojouji

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hacchi parade11 demon extermination

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hacchi parade14 Taro Urashima and princess

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hacchi parade15 umihiko and yamahiko

hacchi parade16 happy new year

Packed decration float during the day on the road

I passed by the folded float during the day, and was impressed by how compact it was folded.

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Cavalry battle similar to polo in Chojasan-Shinra-Shrine

Yabusame can be seen anywhere in Japan, but cavalry battles can only be seen here. A horse divided into red and white throws its own ball into the goal while disturbing the opponent’s ball insertion.　It’s hard to reach the goal even if there are no obstacles.　Prizes are given to the winners by the descendants of the Nanbu clan lords.

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hacchi cavalry2 concentrate his own color ball

hacchi cavalry3 goal

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hacchi cavalry14 prize

hacchi cavalry15 tired~ — hacchi cavalry15 tired…..tired…..tired…..

The Best Detour

The northern Tohoku region was a large living area during the Jomon period (the era when people changed from hunting to sedentary life). Gassho, meaning to join hands, clay figurine was excavated in Hachinohe. This is the only clay figurine with the spiritual meaning of gassho.