No one knows that Hachinohe alone has three national treasures

hacchi clay figurine3 national teue mark
korekawa ruins2 shade clay figurine
korekawa ruins2 shade clay figurine

The Jomon cultural area can be found in unexpected places.   The Suwa region has long been famous for the area because we know that the Jomon people came from all over Japan to search the place of production of obsidian, the raw material for arrowheads.    But the Hokkaido/Northern Tohoku Jomon Archaeological Sites, which are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, had gone completely unnoticed (no attention was paid to them).   They lived in Hokkaido and northern Tohoku, separated by the strait, for over 10,000 years, forming the same cultural sphere.    We know that they were part of the same cultural sphere because the clay figurines and pottery normaly made by women are almost the same and especially the patterns on them are the same, which means that women of the same blood traveled between these cultural spheres.   

korekawa ruins3 It's my job to cut the grass
Cleaning staff in charge of cleaning around korekawa Jomon Museum

There is the Korekawa Jomon Museum in the outskirts of Hachinohe, where there is a clay figurine with palms together in a sitting position as the National Treasure.    I have never seen a sitting position before.   This clay figurine has female genitalia, so she may be praying for childbirth or a child.    We know that people have been praying with their hands together since the Jomon period.    The Venus of the Suwa region as the National Treasure also looks like a pregnant woman.

korekawa ruins1 palms together clay figurine
korekawa ruins1 palms together clay figurine

Also close to Hachinohe Station is Kushibiki Hachiman Shrine, the guardian deity of the Nanbu clan that has been in operation since the Kamakura period.  Hachiman Shrine is a shrine that offers eternal good fortune in war, and as such, armor and helmets from the Kamakura and Nanboku-cho periods are enshrined there.    However, these national treasure armor and helmets are more magnificent works of art than armor suitable for fighting.

This shrine also has something unique: at the entrance to the shrine, there are a pair of guardian lion statues, but here they are horses statues.    On the side of the main shrine there is a wooden carving of a kappa being trampled by a hawk because of its mischievous behaviour.    Later, when the Nanbu clan was transferred to Tono in Iwate Prefecture, this kappa legend was transferred with it and forms part of the Tono Stories.

Detour

The Sannai-Maruyama ruins, part of the Hokkaido/Northern Tohoku Jomon Archaeological Sites as a UNESCO-registered cultural heritage site, is located near Shin-Aomori Station on the Shinkansen line.    Traces of a village that existed for nearly 2,000 years during the Jomon period remain vividly.    Large-scale raised-floor buildings and pit dwellings have been restored.

 

enburi at brewery (1)
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“Enburi” is HIPHOP, a festival that has been going on for over 800 years to awaken spring

garden enburi at kojokaku (2)

The dance, representing cultivating the fields in the face of the harsh natural environment and praying for a good harvest, has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.    The name Enburi comes from the name of a farm tool used to plow fields.    The event is scheduled to be held every year from February 17th to 20th, in the middle of the coldest weather, making it an incredibly spirited time to awaken spring.    The dancer wears a eboshi hat shaped like a horse’s head, and dances magnificently, swinging his head from side to side.    This can also be seen in hip-hop dance, which includes snake choreography.

Teams are formed in each region and the tunes and movements are passed down.    There are two types of Enburi: the slow and graceful “Naga-enburi” and the fast and heroic “Dosai-enburi.”    In the former, one dancer wears an eboshi hat with  a peony flower and other dancers surround him performing different dances, while in the latter, all dancers wear eboshi hats with five-colored tassels and perform the same dance.    The dance movements represent the entire process of rice farming, from sowing seeds in the seedbed, to plowing the field with a horse, planting the rice, and finally harvesting.    Furthermore, children (and occasionally the elderly) perform blessing performance, which is positioned as something to enjoy during breaks from farm work.    The performance includes dancing with hoops that have coins attached to them, dancing with pine branches, and sea bream fishing.     It seems that spectators sometimes attach gift money to the end of fishing hooks.

<Dosai-Enburi by Nukatsuka team> 


<Naga-Enburi by Nakaibayashi team>


The teams are invited to perform Enburi at various stores and can be seen all over town during the festival.    The Tourist Association has also created a separate event program and arranged a public stage.    The highlight of this program is the “Garden Enburi” which takes place in the courtyard of Kōjōkaku, a mansion of a former financial clique family in Hachinohe that is now registered as tangible cultural property, located in the center of Hachinohe.    You can watch the evening Enburi while sipping on sweet half sake and rice cracker soup in a tatami room.    Reserved seats are sold at the convenience store Lawson from one month in advance, so if you want to watch the show, you should definitely reserve a seat in the first row.    The competition for the first row seats is fierce.    If you’re in the first row luckily, you can set up a video tripod.     Heat packs are distributed to all audience and there is a bonfire, but in any case, you’ll be watching outside in the cold, so you’ll need to wear clothes to protect yourself from the extreme cold.

The second recommendation is the “Brewery Storehouse Enburi” that Hachinohe Shuzo(Brewery) accepts only during this season as a set with a tour of the brewery.     Online reservations are required, but there is less competition than for the Garden Enburi.    Here, in a warm room, you can enjoy some excellent sake while watching the dancers perform right in front of you, almost touching them, making it the perfect opportunity to see their intricate movements.    During this period, several tours are scheduled, so you can check out both Naka-enburi and Dosai-enburi.     It seems that the brewers at this brewery are also participating in one of the groups.    To get to Hachinohe Shuzo( Brewery), you’ll need to take the JR Hachinohe Line from Hachinohe Station to Mutsuminato Station, or take a bus from downtown Hachinohe, but it’s quite close.

<Brewery storehouse Enburi(Dosai) by Hashikami-Toriyabe team>

Sake brewing is also at its peak at this time of year, so we recommend visiting the two major sake breweries: Hachinohe Shuzo, where you can enjoy the Brewery storehouse Enburi performance, and Hachinohe Shurui, located in the city center and with a modern shop building.    Buying sake is a bulky process, but Hachinohe Shurui is surprisingly good at shipping sake with other manufacturers at a low price.     I bought two 1.8L bottles at Hachinohe Shurui and had them delivered.

<Hachinohe Shuzo>

<Hachinohe Shurui>

Detour

Hachinohe Shuzo is located near JR Mutsuminato Station.    It is close to the Tatehana Wharf where the huge and chaotic morning market is held, but of course the market is not open in the middle of winter (though it does have a special market during the New Year).    However, in front of the station, there is a fish and vegetable market in a building that is open from morning until noon, and everything is very cheap.    Sashimi(sliced raw fish) is also packaged in individual portions, so you can choose what you like, and if you order additional rice and miso soup at a table in the back, you can have a decent meal.

Also nearby is Minato Shokudo(dining room), a popular restaurant on social media, where you can try their seasoned flounder rice bowl, although you may have to wait in line (in fact, if you write your name in a notebook at the reception desk, they will call you on your mobile phone when it is your turn).    Apparently, in good seasons, you may have to wait 2-3 hours, but this was my fourth visit to Hachinohe and the first time I tried it, it was mid-winter, so I only had to wait an hour.    Most people arrive on the JR Hachinohe Line and wait in line, and when you board the two-car train at Hachinohe Station, you have to get in directly behind the driver’s seat in the front car because Mutsuminato Station is an unmanned station and the driver of the one-man train also checks the tickets of passengers getting off from inside the train.    I didn’t notice it at first, and assumed that all the doors would open if I pressed the button beside doors when I got to the station, but I was surprised when everyone moved to the front.    Only one door in the front car opened because of the ticket gate.    I later found out that all of these people were heading to Minato Shokudo!    After getting off at the unmanned station, I made a furious dash and overtook about 10 people, but the enemy came in a group of several people, and one of the faster runners got in line first, and the person I had overtaken got in front of the line.

There was nothing to do during the hour-long wait, so I decided to take a walk to the free observation tower (Grette Tower Minato) on the cape beyond Tatehana Wharf and stared blankly at Hachinohe Port, which turned out to be quite enjoyable.    To the east we could see Kabushima island, where black-tailed gulls had not yet arrived because it was not yet spring, and to the west we could see the majestic snow-capped Mount Hakkoda, and to the south we could see downtown Hachinohe and the forest of Chojayama Sinra Shrine, which is the venue for the polo matches at the summer Sansha Festival, as if they were right in front of us, and the hour passed by in the blink of an eye.    Needless to say, the long-awaited seasoned flounder rice bowl was as delicious as SNS had said.     For an additional 200 yen, you can have the miso soup turned into Hachinohe’s specialty rice cracker soup, but there’s no rice cracker soup with a more delicious broth than this one, so be sure to order it.    After that, we once again made a mad dash to Brewery storehouse Enburi, for which we had a reservation starting at 2 p.m.

 

enburi at brewery (1)
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One of the three sacred places for railway fans

loop and switchback2 business card to pray for promotion

The view of the railway that goes around the mountains is itself a tourist destination.    Jungfrau Railway on the European Alps is a typical example, but due to Hakone’s proximity to Tokyo, Hakone Tozan Railway is now overflowing with foreign tourists.    In order to transfer at Hakone-Yumoto Station and secure a good seat on the Hakone Tozan Railway, the front car of the train from Odawara Station is as full as a commuter train.     I had mixed feelings when I saw foreign tourists dashing onto the Hakone-Yumoto Station platform and being the first to secure seats on the left side for a better view.

loop and switchback4 left line to loop and right line for switchback
loop and switchback4 left line to loop and right line for switchback

Now, on the Hakone Tozan Railway, you can experience three switchbacks, but here on the Hisatsu Line heading towards Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture from Hayato in Kagoshima Prefecture, you can see two switchbacks and a loop at the same time around Okoba Station.    It’s sad that railway transportation has not resumed as Hitoyoshi is currently recovering from the flood damage, but instead you can walk along the tracks at the site and get a feel for it.    Furthermore, in February, white flowers of the nearby Hitoyoshi plum grove are beautiful, and in March, the cherry blossoms along the railroad tracks inside Okoba Station are also beautiful.

In fact, the sacred place for railway fans is not here, but the landscape from the train window at “Yatake Goe”, which steeply climbs the inner wall of the Kakuto Caldera Somma, reaching the highest point on the line.    However, railway fans naturally enjoy the switchbacks and a loop around Okoba Station as well.     To get there by car, you need to go from the bottom of the caldera through the outer rim of the mountain, so the road is connected twice by  loop bridges at the front and back.

loop and switchback1 ohba station
loop and switchback1 okoba station

Now, regarding the station building of Okoba, there is an urban legend that if you put a business card on the wall, you will get promoted, and when I went there, I found business cards stuck all over the walls of the station building.        Maybe you’ll find a business card of someone you know.    Now, in preparation for the reopening of the railway, they have been completely removed, and I wonder where the removed business cards are.     It is of great interest to know what happened to the career afterward of the person who inserted the business card.

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Is the priest of Daizenji Temple (National Treasure) a winemaker?

daizenji (9) view point of kofu basin

Daizenji Temple is also called Grapes Temple.      This is not because the priest is passionate about grape cultivation and wine making.    It is said that during the Nara period, the monk Gyoki enshrined the Yakushi Sanzon holding a bunch of grapes that appeared in his dreams.     In fact, the priest and temple officials grow grapes on the premises and set up tanks to make wine.

daizenji (7) grape field in the temple
daizenji (7) grape field in the temple
wine produced by temple
wine produced by temple

At the rest area with garden view, a glass of homemade (or sould I say “templemade”) wine is sold for 300 yen, and it comes with four delicious Koshu grapes as a snack, so it’s a good deal.   I ended up buying a bottle(1800ml) of wine(Muscat Bailey A) as a souvenir.

Well, there are three elements that make this temple famous.

First, the Yakushi-do Hall and the Zushi that houses the Buddha statues are national treasures.   The roof of Yakushido is made of cypress bark, and its curved shape is harmonious and beautiful.    It was built during the Mongol invasion period of the Kamakura period, making it the oldest wooden structure in the Kanto region.   In Kyoto, Senbon Shakado was built around the same time.   The Nikko(sun) and Gakko(moon) Bodhisattvas and the 12 divine generals enshrined inside are very well-designed and give a sense of newness despite being old, but the story of the woman who explains them is too comical.    I feel like it’s a bit of a mismatch.

daizenji (11) Yakushido
daizenji (11) Yakushido

Next, it is said that this was the temple where Katsuyori Takeda, who was defeated by the Oda army and headed for Mt. Tenmoku, stayed overnight praying for a counterattack.    These records of Takeda’s demise remain in this temple.

Finally, at the end of the Edo period, the shogunate army and the Shinsengumi, who had a final battle with the new government army, established their tentative headquarter on the west side of Daizenji Temple to prevent the temple from being damaged by war.

The captain was Isamu Kondo, and the main gate of Daizenji Temple is depicted on the background of the nishiki-e(color print).    The purpose of this battle was to seize Kofu Castle first and prevent the new government forces from invading Edo, but they were defeated by the new government forces led by Taisuke Itagaki.   This was exactly the same history as when Katsuyori Takeda tried to reach Seiunji Temple for Reborn, but was preempted by the Oda army.

daizenji (1) gate
daizenji (1) gate

 

Detour

Speaking of food in Yamanashi, it’s “Houtou.”

restaurant kaiki (2)
restaurant minaki (2) entrance

It’s hard to tell how it’s different from udon, but the flour is kneaded without adding salt to keep it from becoming chewy, and then it’s cut up and simmered with vegetables without waiting too long.    Therefore, some of the noodles will dissolve into the soup, creating a soup unique to “Houtou.”

restaurant kaiki (7) hoto
restaurant minaki (7) houtou

Enjoy houtou at a house designated as a registered tangible cultural property. The house “Minaki” is an old Japanese zelkova house built in 1896.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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The rock garden of Seiun-ji Temple, the place where the Takeda clan was revived

seiunji (4)

Suspected of rebellion by the Kamakura Shogunate, the ancestor of the Takeda family committed suicide on Mt. Tenmoku where Seiun-ji Temple is located, and the family was once extinct, but the Muromachi shogunate revived the Takeda family, and after that for the Takeda family, Mt. Tenmoku was recongnized as the place of rebirth, and Seiun-ji Temple became the family temple.    Later, after the death of Takeda Shingen, who ruled the province of Kai, his son Katsuyori Takeda was defeated by Oda Nobunaga’s army and headed for Seiun-ji Temple in hopes of being reborn, but committed suicide on the way.   Indeed, history repeats itself.

seiunji soba service (4)
Autumn leaves in front of seiunji

The founder of Seiun-ji Temple trained on Mt. Tenmoku in China, and opened his temple here as a meditation training hall.    It is called a rock garden, but the huge rocks that fell down are left in their original forms, and people can meditate on them and become one with nature, gaining an understanding of the truth.

seiunji rock garden (1)
seiunji rock garden
seiunji rock garden (14) Mt.Fiji
seiunji rock garden (14) Mt.Fiji

The head of Mt.Fuji can be seen from the temple garden, but if you climb further up the rock garden, you can see Mt. Fuji poking its head out from the gap in the mountains.    Even if you meditate on a stone, you can’t help but worry about the state of Mt. Fuji.

seiunji rock garden (13)
Mt.Fuji  from seiunji rock garden

In addition, up until then, soba was called “sobagaki” and was eaten in the form of manju, but thiswas also the birthplace of soba, which adopted Chinese culture and began eating it in the form of noodle.    I learned this for the first time when I came here. [Link Yamagata]

The time I visited was during the annual Treasure Window Exhibition held in early November.   One of the treasures was a original military flag of the Takeda army written as “Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan.” (>>For meaning, read this post)

In the event, I was also treated to matcha tea with a sweet named as a moon hidden by cloud and autumn soba noodles. 

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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Ryumonkyo Gorge and autumn leaves to enjoy the outdoors

ryumon (12)

Shosenkyo is famous as a beautiful valley that anyone can easily walk and enjoy, but Ryumonkyo is also a valley where you can enjoy outdoor activities such as going down to the bottom of the gorge or climbing up a ladder.   The ground underfoot is soft and fluffy with fallen leaves, and there are wooden paths that make it easy to walk.    However, the valley is deep, there are waterfalls everywhere, and there are wooden bridges that have been washed away by rapids.

Along the way, there is a place where you can hear a drum-like sound when you step on it.    Apparently, this is because there are many gaps in the roots of the trees in the soil.    In addition to this, the 1 hour and 15 minute promenade is full of changes, such as a narrow gate made of huge stones piled up, and a zelkova tree that stretches out by splitting the stone in half.

Ryumonkyo walking map
Ryumonkyo walking map @source: Koshu city HP

Unlike the Ojira River Valley map, the map does not lie about the time required.    Finally, after seeing Kumo no Abyss, which is full of water, we climb steeply and arrive at our next destination, the entrance to Tenmokuzan Seiunji Temple with the view of the head of Mt.Fuji.

ryumon (22)
Kumo no Abyss at Ryumon Gorge
seiunji (1)
Head of Mt. Fuji arriving at seiunji temple

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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Hokoji, the family temple of the Yasuda clan, the true driving force behind the Genpei War

houkoji (1) gate
houkoji (2) left UN state
houkoji (2) left UN state

Before the Takeda family ruled Kai, the Yasuda family, which was descended from the Genji clan, ruled Kai.    He fought as the main force of the Genji clan in the Genpei War at the end of Heian period, and built Hokoji Temple to celebrate the victory at Ichinotani, where Minamoto no Yoshitsune was said to be the most active person to victory against Heike clan.    The Yasuda clan had ambitions to open a Buddhist city in Kai, following the example of Hiraizumi in Oshu(Tohoku region), and for this reason, there is still a wealth of cultural assets such as Buddhist statues.

houkoji (3)right A statue
houkoji (3)right A statue

The Bishamonten statue, which depicts the face of Yoshisada Yasuda at his peak, has a war helmet(Kabuto) on his head.    The statue of Aizen Myoo holding a bow is said to be the oldest in Japan.    The similar one at Jindoji Temple in Kyoto has some rough edges, but this one has a neat form.    Later, the Yasuda family was suspected of rebellion by Minamoto no Yoritomo, who was highly suspicious, and the Yasuda family was destroyed.    The Kamakura period was a history of slaughter between allies.

 

houkoji (4)
Hojo at houkoji temple

Detour

Delicious lunch using sake lees provided by a sake brewery “Kai”

sake brewery kai (4)
lunch menu at sake brewery “kai”

The word “kai” in the name of the sake brewery has the same pronunciation as the name of the region, but it also refers to the important tool used to mix ingredients in sake brewing.    The restaurant is full of women who are looking for delicious food, probably anywhere in the world.

There is Kubo-Hachiman Shrine nearby, and the torii gate here is made of wood and is the oldest in Japan.    However, it was surprising to see a normal road passing under it, and a large number of cars passing through it.    It was solicited from Usa Jingu Shrine in Oita Prefecture, and since it is Hachiman Shrine, it is the god of military fortune and is also the guardian deity of the Takeda family.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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Erinji Temple is Tenryuji Temple in Kai

erinji (6) Kori

Erinji is the family temple of the Takeda clan.    Its Kuri and Hojo architecture are as splendid as Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto.    The garden was also designed in early Muromachi period by the same Muso Soseki, who was a Zen monk as well as a gardener, and his garden is registered as a World Heritage Site.    There are also pine trees planted everywhere, all of which are carefully pruned.

erinji (1) red gate
red gate as entrance
erinji (2)
approach to main hall
erinji (4) Kaizando
Kaizando
erinji (14) Waebler Corridor notfying of intruder
Waebler Corridor notfying of intruder

Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto is famous for the warbler corridor that makes noise when you walk on it, no matter how careful you are, but this temple also has one.    Even the “stealth walk” of ninjas who were tasked with being assassins or spies would make an extra loud noise on the corridor, so it was said to be an effective countermeasure at the time, everywhere in Japan was in war.    It made a screeching sound that sounded more like a metallic sound than the chirping of a warbler.      Please compare the sound of warbler corridor with the original one.

Original sound of a warbler crossing the valley as below

Audio Player

The sound of a warbler corridor

Beyond the corridor is Fudo Myoo, which was created by copying Shingen’s face while he was still alive.     Even though it’s a copy, it’s Fudo Myoo, so I think all Fudo Myoos look the same.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
letters written on military flag

Speaking of Takeda Shingen, the phrase “Fu-rin-ka-zan (wind-forest-fire-mountain)” is famous, and it is a four-character idiom that is an abbreviation of a phrase written in the ancient Chinese military art book “Sun Tzu.”   This means that an army moves as fast as the wind, stays as calm as a forest, attacks enemy territory as fiercely as fire, and defends as solidly and unmoving as a mountain, and these represent the ideal form of military behavior.    It is known that Takeda Shingen, a military commander during the Sengoku period, wrote it in large letters on his military flag and used it as his flag seal.    It can be said that this choice was unique to Shingen, who was a well-educated man well versed in Chinese poetry and the military tactics of Sun Tzu.

”If you clear your mind, you feel the fire will naturally cool down.”

I thought these were also Shingen’s words, but after the fall of the Takeda clan, this was the last words the priest said to the monks who had holed up at the Sanmon gate of Erinji Temple, which had been set on fire by Nobunaga Oda’s army.    It was only when I came here that I realized that it was a word.

erinji (5)
Wind God and Thunder God

Before going to Kori, let’s look up under the eaves of Kaizando. Here is a wooden carved version of the famous paint “Fujin-Raijin”(Wind God and Thunder God) at Ken-ninji Temple in Kyoto.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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Another Zenkoji Temple

zenkoji (4)

A huge wooden building that stands out by far even from a distance.    You can see the form that is exactly like the original Zenkoji Temple in Nagano.     The layout of the buildings on the site is also the same as the original.    It turns out that Shingen had transferred a lookalike to avoid the ravages of war with Uesugi Kenshin, his rival.

(left) another Zenkoji                                                          (righ) original Zenkoji

However, the entire main hall is colored in red to match the red uniform of the Takeda corps, which is very typical of Shingen.     In addition, original Zenkoji was originally the Honda family residence, and Buddhist statues and ancestors were enshrined on the left and right sides of the inner shrine, and were treated equally, but another Zenkoji, which was built by Shingen, did not enshrine the Honda family ancestors.  As proof of this, at another Zenkoji temple, the Takeda family crest and the Tokugawa family crest, which was rebuilt after the temple was destroyed by fire, are displayed on the front of the main hall.

zenkoji (5)
zenkoji (5)

Additionally, a singing dragon is painted on the ceiling, and if you clap your hands in a specific spot, a tremendous echo will be heard between the ceiling panels and the floor.    You can really feel the influence of Zen Buddhism during the Sengoku period.    On the other hand, I remember that the original Nagano ceiling painting was a gift from the imperial family.

When you think of Zenkoji Temple, you are guaranteed to visit a place under the Buddhist altar in pitch darkness to connect with the Buddha through the key (alter tour), but of course there is a similar experience at another Zenkoji.    However, the length of the walk in the dark is short and the turns are sharp, so those who have experienced the original will be surprised at how different it is and occasionally bump their heads.   If you are careless, you will pass by without touching the key, so be careful.    Don’t forget to see the war drum before going to the darkness.    This is the real one used by the Takeda army in the Battle of Kawanakajima.    Let’s tap it a little bit without being noticed by the people around you.

The treasure hall here is a must-see and contains the oldest wooden statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Sanetomo.    The year of manufacture is close to the year of death, so it seems that it is almost a copy of the real face.  Sanetomo has the look of a court noble, but in contrast, Yoritomo has a stout face and an aquiline nose.    You can see from his face that he is highly suspicious.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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Shosenkyo Gorge, the source of power stones

shosenkyo cover

There are three parking lots along the 5km promenade.    There is also a bus stop at each parking lot, which connects these parking lots once almost every hour, so it is convenient because you can walk one way and then use the bus to return to the parking lot.

As you climb the gentle promenade, you will see one after another of strangely shaped rocks carved out of granite by rapids.    The amount of water is huge, and large rocks that appear to have fallen in chunks are scattered along the mountain stream.    The scenery looks like something out of a Chinese ink painting.    And at the end, there is a waterfall that falls violently vertically.

Yamanashi Prefecture has long been famous as a crystal production area.    It is said that since the Jomon period it was used as an arrowhead instead of the precious obsidian mined in nearby Suwa, so in retrospect, it is quite expensive, so I hesitate to shoot it carelessly with a bow.   Quartz is formed when silicon dioxide dissolved in water gradually crystallizes under high temperature and pressure underground for a long time.    At a souvenir shop, a stone cut in half (a geode) is on display, and you can see how the cavity is filled with crystals that have grown.   It was strange that it was inside the stone, but I heard from the man at the crystal processing craft shop that it was the result of water containing silicon dioxide entering granite or igneous rock and gradually growing crystals.   That made sense to me.

I was completely taken in by the store owner, and in the end I was forced to buy a bracelet made of terahertz stone, which was made by melting and alloying crystals.    It is said that the power stone activates the body with terahertz.   However, when I got home and put it on ice, I was surprised to see that the ice quickly melted into the shape of a bracelet.    By the way, if you buy some tourmaline and add it to your tap water, it will remove the chlorine odor and make the water mellow, which will make the coffee you brew delicious.

erinji (10) letters written on military flag
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