Chichibugahama beach became quite famous on Instagram etc. If you want to enjoy Uyuni Salt Lake, which reflects the whole sky like a mirror at your feet, only in pictures, check the time of low tide and sunset before heading there.
chichibugahama beach take4
chichibugahama beach take3
It looks majestic in the photo, but the shooting site is covered in mud, and everyone is looking into the viewfinder from a low posture. Looking at Instagram, I still want to expect to see the magnificent scenery with the naked eye, but….. There are three major disappointments in the world, but don’t let that happen here. By the way, the three biggest disappointments experienced were “the Little Mermaid Statue”, which if you take a picture from the side rather than diagonally above, the factory area will be reflected in the background, “the Lorelei Rock”, which you won’t notice even if you were guided on a sightseeing boat, and “the Manneken Pis”, which is smaller than you thought. But it’s not too bad. It would be scary if Manneken Pis were huge. (A girl’s version of Manneken Pis was built nearby, but I don’t know what’s going on now.)
chichibugahama beach take1
chichibugahama beach take2
Kannonji
If I had a little more time, I would have liked to see the sand art of the Kan-ei Tsuho, a huge coin made in sand from the Edo period, from above. Did you know that it was the title background of the TV historical drama program Zenigata Heiji. However, it was close to sunset time, so I headed to the nearby Kamenoi Hotel in Kannonji. Impressed by elaborate appetizers.
kannonji sunset
kannonji dinner1
kannonji dinner2
kannonji dinner3
kannonji dinner4
kannonji dinner5
View of Mt.Kotohira in the morning from the opposite side of Konpira
There is a steep slope leading to the parking lot at the top of the mountain, so you should never walk from the coast. However, just because you have arrived at the summit parking lot, you can’t feel relieved. At the entrance of the slope leading to the observatory in the mountaintop parking lot, there are many canes like Konpira-san, which means that the steep slope continues from here furthermore.
Mt.Shiude left
Mt.Shiude right
When you reach the true summit, the view spreads out 360 degrees, but the sound of the waves does not reach you, it is quiet, and there is no sound, which is a strange feeling. If you look closely, you can see Shikoku Niihama, Okayama Mt.Washuzan, and Seto Ohashi Bridge. The highlight here is that you can see that the Seto Inland Sea is made up of regular repetitions of island-lined Seto and flat seas Nada without islands.
Panorama View (from west, north to east)
Mt.Shiude1 over Shikokucyuou
Mt.Shiude2 over Nihama
Mt.Shiude3 Nada
Mt.Shiude4
Mt.Shiude5
Mt.Shiude6
Mt.Shiude7 Seto
Mt.Shiude8 Awashima island
Mt.Shiude Seto Ohhashi bridge
The Japanese archipelago has a complex topography due to the collision of multiple plates. The Seto Inland Sea area was wrinkled diagonally by being pulled diagonally by the plate, and seawater inflowed here 10,000 years ago, and many islands formed at the tops of the wrinkles.
Simulate by pulling cloth diagonally
Between the islands, the speed of the sea water at high tide and low tide makes it difficult for ships to navigate. This is Seto. Half a century ago, the song “Seto no Hanayome”(Bride from Seto) was popular in Japan, and it may have meant the rough seas of married life in the future . Where there are no wrinkles, the sea is flat and calm. This is Nada. Between Kobe and Osaka, there is a long-established sake-producing area, which is famous as “Nada no Sake”(Sake of Nada). You can see that Seto and Nada are clearly divided into east and west from Mt. Shiude.
hydrangea and islands1
hydrangea and islands2
Mt. Shiude seems to be very crowded during the cherry blossom season to enjoy the cherry blossoms and the beauty of the islands together. Reservations are required for those who drive to the parking lot at the top of the mountain, so be careful during this period. If you are a good walker, how about climbing from the coast in this season?
Konpira-san has a strong character of the god of sea routes, but in the feudal era when people were prohibited from moving from distant regions, they were allowed to visit Konpira. It is said that Konpira pilgrimage became very popular in the Edo period because no one could reach the main shrine unless they climbed 785 steps on their own, and because rumors were exaggerated after the people who visited the shrine returned home.
konpira10 a dog worships on behalf of its master
It is said that those who could not go by themselves wrapped money, goods, and addresses around their dogs, and entrusted those who went to the shrine to visit with their dogs. If the entrusted person gave up on the way, it is said that he entrusted the dog to another person who was visiting. This is a surprising system because it is close to the idea of modern Internet protocols.
Before starting the climb, first fill yourself up with “Sanuki Udon”. Shrines are often decorated with wooden sacred horses, but here there are two real horses that are not ornaments. In addition, perhaps to pray for safe navigation, even a large screw is decorated.
sanuki udon dinning
sanuki udon cool
sanuki udon side menu chicken
konpira11 real divine horse 72 years old in human terms
konpira11 real horse exercise
konpira11 screw
konpira16 one step down
If you count the stone steps up to the main shrine, there are 786 steps. However, when the number is read in Japanese, it becomes “worry”(Na-Ya-Mu in Japanese), and it is bad luck even though you came to the shrine. Therefore, inserting a stone stair that goes down one step to make a total of 785 steps is a very Japanese solution. It’s a people who likes puns. I don’t know where to go down one step when I’m dazed, but if I know in advance that I’m going to go down one step somewhere on the long stone steps, I feel nervous and have a little fun.
Click above to refer to stone steps to Mt.Haguro Shrine
A similar story can be found at the 2446 stone steps on Mt. Haguro Shrine in Yamagata Prefecture. Here, masons engraved something on the stone steps and mixed and matched stylishly designed stones to make you look forward to discovering them. It makes me happy that Japanese people have had that kind of sense for a long time.
konpira1 first step
konpira2 steps
konpira3 steps
konpira4 step slope
konpira5 looking back
konpira6 daimon gate
konpira7 sculpture on gate
konpira8 over gate
konpira9 horse road with cherry blossom
konpira12 still steps
konpira14 asahisha
konpira15 sculpture of wind cloud under the roof
konpira17 last steps
konpira18 donors
When you climb up to the main shrine, you will be so impressed by the view of the Sanuki Plain from there that you won’t even care about visiting the shrine (it’s a lie). Beautiful cone-shaped small mountains are scattered in the flat plain, and this looks like small Mt.Fuji. I believe that people who visited the shrine in the Edo period must have spread playful rumors that they could have seen “real” Mt.Fuji from Konpira.
konpira23 sanuki Fujikonpira19 goal
konpira21
konpira20
konpira13 special presentation to the public of Jakuchu
The Shoin in the middle of the stone steps was the residence of Shinto priests. This was where the high-ranking people visited, and in the room for visitors, you can always see the fusuma paintings of Maruyama Ohkyo and others. The purpose of this travel is Jakuchu’s fusuma painting, which is extravagant because it is in the private room of the priest. It is said that Jakuchu sent this to celebrate his inauguration as a Shinto priest, partly because the Shinto priest at the time had learned painting from Jakuchu. How cool is that? In addition to Jakuchu, there are wall paintings of countless butterflies by Gantai, and their detailed expressions make me stare at them. I hope it will be published again someday.
NHK Kagawa is filming the video, so you may be able to watch it on NHK’s favorite rebroadcast (archive). There are many rebroadcast programs in recent years. Even though I pay the same amount of NHK subscription fees, the number of broadcasting channels seems to be decreasing.
