Miyakonojo is located upstream of the Oyodo River, which has its mouth in Miyazaki City, so it should be in a basin, but when you look at the map, it’s too flat to be called a basin. Since it was cherry blossom season, I went to the observatory of Mochio Shrine to see the row of cherry blossom trees that were selected as one of the top 100 cherry blossom trees. If I go to a shrine on a hill just to get a view, I will might be punished, so after praying at the shrine, I tried to go to the observation deck and noticed that there was a group of megaliths behind the shrine. I could feel an inexplicable spirit. Trembling, I proceed to the observation deck.
miyakonojyo (1)mochioka shrine
miyakonojyo (2)
miyakonojyo (3)giant stones
miyakonojyo (4)
miyakonojyo (5)
From the observation deck, you can get a good view of the completely flat Miyakonojo. I have never seen such flat land. There is an explanation that it was a lake in ancient times, and was flattened by pyroclastic flows from the Aira Caldera in Kagoshima next to Miyakonojo. I had often heard on the news that avian influenza had broken out in Miyakonojo and the chickens at the poultry farm had to be culled, and I thought that the area was so flat that migratory birds would also land there. I came to see the row of cherry blossom trees from the observation deck, but my attention was drawn to the vast, flat basin.
The rows of Washingtonian palm trees planted along the Nichinan coast from Aoshima to Cape Toi make this coast the West coast. I’ve never been to the West Coast. . . . Probably like this. In Japan, cars drive on the left, so it’s best to drive from north to south for a comfortable drive along the sea side. Beware of distracted driving. Here we will introduce five of the highlights, starting from the north.
1. The biggest one of Demon’s Washboards widely distributed on the Nichinan coast. If you leave Aoshima and immediately take a side street on the left from main road toward Horikiri Pass, you will find the roadside station “Phoenix” with a symbolic Phoenix trees. The view of Demon’s Washboard from here is spectacular.
west coast (1)
west coast (4)phoenix
west coast (3)mango soft serve ice cream
2. Nanatsuiwa (Seven Rocks) seen from the Inozakihana observation deck. After passing Aburatsu Fishing Port and entering a side street on a small hill, there is a parking lot that may seem a bit worrying. From here, if you continue along the sidewalk, which makes you even more worried, you will come to a wooden observation deck.
west coast (7)seven stones
hashiguiiwa in wakayama
The seven steep rocks look like the remains of magma that has erupted from cracks on the ocean floor and solidified. This is similar to Hashigui Rock at Kushimoto (Wakayama Prefecture) in the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula.
west coast (5)
west coast (6)
west coast (8)
3. The beauty of the coast seen from the roadside station Nango. No explanation needed. The handmade sweets you can get from roadside stations shop are delicious.
west coast (9)left
west coast (10)center
west coast (11)right
west coast (12)
west coast (13)road station nango
west coast (15)
west coast (14)
4. White sand beach on the Ishinami beach. It is famous as a spawning ground for loggerhead sea turtles. That’s why the coast is beautiful. Let’s watch from a distance. On the opposite shore is Kojima Island, which is home to wild monkeys.
How many Japanese people can read the kanji “Obi”? This land was the site of a dispute between the Ito clan and the Shimazu clan, both of whom were officials dispatched from the Kamakura shogunate, but it is said that after the Toyotomi administration, the Ito clan took over the land. The Ito clan is said to have immigrated from Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture during the Kamakura Shogunate era, and took the surname Ito, so it has a really long history. That’s why a commemorative tree (Cherry Blossom) was planted in Obi Castle by Mayor Ito.
obi castle entrance
obi (2)komura jyutaro memorial hall
obi (3)castle entrance
obi (6)kuruwa for protection
obi (7)four happy cedars
obi (8)peach
obi (9)ito connection
obi (10)cherry blossoms
obi (11)
obi (15)
obi (16)
obi (17)museum
obi (18)
obi (19)
obi (23)
obi (33)clan school
obi (24)
obi (25)
obi (26)
obi (28)
obi (27)
obi (31)
obi (29)
obi (30)lord’s house
obi (32)
It was the first in Kyushu to be selected as an Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings by Agency for Cultural Affairs. The town layout from the early Edo period remains intact, and it is one of the Little Kyotos throughout the country. The beauty of the stonework of both Obi Castle and samurai residences is unparalleled in the world. What’s more, the techniques used are too maniacal, such as stacking them in a large curve or at an angle instead of stacking them straight. The nearly 500-year history gives the moss on the stone walls a wabi-sabi feel. I have never seen such beautiful stonework. Definitely worth seeing.
obi (4)
obi (5)
obi (20)
Also, the Obi cedars, which can often be seen inside Obi Castle, are beautiful as they grow straight through a carpet of moss. There is a wonderful cedar forest on the hill at the very back of the castle ruins. Because they contain oil inside and grows quickly, it is also light, so it was valued as a material for ships and construction.
obi (12)
obi (13)
obi (14)
seated archery with cat
There is a seated archery course near the tourist information center that was popular among samurai at the time, so be sure to give it a try. 8 arrows cost 500 yen. If you underestimate them because they are close, your arrows will have a hard time hitting the target. If you miss too many arrows, the person in charge will feel sorry for you and add a few more arrows. By the way, there is a black cat living at this archery range, and he appeared on the NHK program Iwago-san’s “Cat Walks,” and when I was struggling with my bow and arrow, he came and sat behind me quietly.
obi (34)shihan-mato
obi (35)
obi (36)appeared on TV program cat walking
Detour
Miyazaki is the home of sweet potato shochu. Strangely enough, the alcohol content shipped outside the prefecture is the usual 25%, but the one distributed within the prefecture is as low as 20%. It is said that the technology for making shochu was brought to Miyazaki from Okinawa, and people who moved from Okinawa to Miyazaki after the world-war2 created moonshine with a low alcohol content, and it was legalized by setting a low alcohol tax on it. It is still distributed in Miyazaki Prefecture. There is a famous sake brewery in Nichinan City, and a dojo where young people can learn brewing techniques has opened.
nichinan city (1)
nichinan city (2)sake brewery
nichinan city (3)shochu production training center
Immediately after the low-pressure system passed, strong winds blew away the leaves of the Washingtonian palm trees planted along the road, but the 20 meter tall trunks remained motionless. It is said that the founder of Miyazaki Kotsu Co.,Ltd. started planting trees as a tourist attraction, but pruning businesses in Miyazaki City now use cranes to carry out the heavy maintenance work. Nevertheless the work can’t keep up, chunks of skin are falling all over the town.
aoshima shrine (1)
The Nichinan Coast, which is lined with Washington palm trees, is made up of layers of hard sandstone and soft mudstone that rise diagonally and have been washed by waves for long time. As a result, there are many landforms where only sandstone layers appear stacked up like plates. Due to its size, it is called the demon’s washboard, but it is a long time ago that laundry was scrubbed with a washboard by hands to remove dirt, and in the era of fully automatic washing machines, very few people were aware of this. Probably not. I think it might be a good idea to come up with a new name to replace the demon’s washboard.
aoshima shrine (8)
aoshima shrine (21)
aoshima shrine (4)soil of aoshima
There is a theory that in Aoshima, seeds that washed up from the Pacific Ocean germinated on the small amount of soil that had accumulated on this demon’s washboard, and subtropical plants flourished there. Aoshima Shrine is enshrined surrounded by these subtropical plants, and the vivid vermilion of the shrine, the vibrant deep green of the subtropical plants, and the blue of the sea that can be seen from the shrine create a color collaboration. This combination is special.
aoshima shrine (7)
aoshima shrine (9)
aoshima shrine (10)
aoshima shrine (11)
aoshima shrine (16)baseball team Giants prayer for victory
aoshima shrine (12)subtropical plants
aoshima shrine (15)
aoshima shrine (13)find special shell
aoshima shrine (14)matchmaking paper twist
aoshima shrine (17)
aoshima shrine (18)
aoshima shrine (19)
aoshima shrine (20)tuk tuk
The myths surrounding Aoshima Shrine were written in the oldest classic, the Kojiki. Yamasachihiko, who borrowed a fishing hook from his brother Umisachihiko, dropped it in the sea and ended up at the Sea Palace looking for it. After living a rich life there for three years, he came back and returned the fishing hook to Umisachihiko, but the relationship between the two did not go well and there was some quarrel. However, it is a story that doesn’t quite make sense. Most Japanese myths don’t have a punch line, so you might be left with a feeling of being empty. Similarly, Rakugo, which tells a comic story just by copying the form of the voice, has a punch line at the end of the story, but it’s not as interesting as the middle of the story.
aoshima shrine (2)
aoshima shrine (6)slab eroded as skeleton
The only thing here is to enjoy the creations of nature, not myths. To do this, check the low tide time in advance and go sightseeing around that time. Otherwise, the demon’s washboard would be submerged in the sea. Some of the sandstone slabs have structures that make you wonder how they were eroded to form such patterns. However, when I look at the neatly lined sandstone slabs, am I the only one who notices that they look like mahjong tiles stacked on top of one another?
aoshima shrine (5)sandstone slabs
Detour 1 (Botanic Garden)
aoshima botanic (3)
On the way from the parking lot to Aoshima inland, we passed a subtropical botanical garden. It really makes you feel like you’re in a tropical country. Admission is free.
aoshima botanic (9)
aoshima botanic (4)
aoshima botanic (2)
aoshima botanic (6)
aoshima cafe life (1)
aoshima cafe life (2)
Detour 2 (Chicen dishes)
Miyazaki’s specialty is chicken dishes. Charcoal-grilled chicken is cooked over a strong fire until it is charred and eaten with wasabi. Addictive taste. On the other hand, fried chicken “Nanban” is on the menu at all times of the day, and depending on the restaurant, different parts of the chicken are used, such as breast, thigh, or chicken fillet. The chicken fillet is the most recommended. Eat with special homemade tartar sauce. This makes it even more delicious. Please enjoy Miyazaki night!
miyazaki night (3)charcoal-grilled chiken with wasabi
takachiho gorge changing directions of columnar joints
The last major eruption of Mt. Aso 90,000 years ago was so large that volcanic ash fell over the entire Japanese archipelago. That is why Aso still remains a beautiful caldera topography on that scale. Pyroclastic flows covered the ground near Mt. Aso, and columnar joints created by the contraction of rocks due to the heat can be seen everywhere. Takachiho Gorge, which is surprisingly close to Aso, has columnar joints that spread throughout the valley, and it is thought that it has been connected to mythology because it is a structure that does not seem to belong to this world.
takachiho canyon1 columnar joints
takachiho canyon2 3bridges
takachiho canyon3
takachiho canyon5 manai wate fall
When Japan was about to enter high economic growth, Takachiho Gorge, like the Nichinan Coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, was famous as a honeymoon destination. Here I would like to talk about the place named Takachiho, which has been a question for some time. Takachiho, as the Japanese character suggests, refers to rice cultivation in the highlands, but according to Japan’s oldest history book, the Kojiki, it also means the place where the gods descended to earth. This is the so-called “the descent to earth of the grandson of the sun goddess.” However, it seems that the question of whether the god descended first, Takachiho Gorge near Aso or Takachiho-mine (peak of mountain) in the Kirishima volcanic belt, is still unresolved. It’s originally a myth, so I guess it’s not one or the other. It’s just like Yamataikoku is undecided whether it’s Kinki or Kyushu (but the existance of this old imperial court is a historical fact). In any case, the magnificent scenery of nature will make you feel the presence of God. It may be the work of an old travel agency to attract tourists to Miyazaki Prefecture, which has inconvenient transportation (sorry).
However, as a real tourist destination, the sounds of rowing boats sailing through Takachiho Gorge and their collisions echoing within the canyon, which may be the voice of God grumbling. I wonder why young couples jump on rowboats right away. I am tempted to say that they should be satisfied with sailing at Chidorigafuchi or Shakujii Park in Tokyo.
Ama no Iwato Shrine: Riverbed of Ama no Yasukawara
ama no iwato shrine entrance
A famous myth that the older sister’s god (God of the Sun), angry at her younger brother’s violent behavior, closed the rock door and shut herself in a cave, causing the world to become pitch black, and the gods gathered together to deliberate in order to open the rock door. However, there is Ama no Iwato Shrine at the location of this rock door (you must apply for a prayer to see the rock door in front of you.), and Ama no Yasukawara Cave (this is free.) is located at the place where the council held the meeting. It’s natural that the authenticity is questionable, but first of all, even in the world of gods, the younger brother should apologize to the older sister, and the gods are the ones who cannot resolve such matters without deliberating. Furthermore, Takachiho is supposed to be the place where this sister’s grandchild landed on earth for the first time among the gods, but isn’t it strange that the rock door exists in this world?
amanoyasugawara1 meeting cave
amanoyasugawara3
amanoyasugawara4
amanoyasugawara5 salamander
When I was thinking about this, I couldn’t concentrate on sightseeing at all, and all I remember was the appearance of human faces on the surface of the trees on the left and right as I headed towards Ama no Iwato Shrine.
