Laputa (Ghibli) is not the only castle in the sky

oka castle8 kuju mountains (2)

The next morning, the mountain road leading back to the Yamanami Highway was a tunnel of autumn leaves, shining brightly.

On the road to Taketa City, I come across a light truck with an elegant English Pointer on its back.    The pointer on the loading platform does not look at me easily.   He is balanced well on the carrier.

oka castle6
parabolic curve

Meanwhile, I arrived at Taketa.    I didn’t have enough time to visit the old town (>refer to the post in the near future), so I headed straight to Oka Castle.   This castle was the setting for “Kojo no Tsuki” (“The moon over the ruined castle” in English) composed by Rentaro Taki who spent his childhood here.     It’s interesting that the admission ticket comes in the form of an old period scroll with a guide map of Oka Castle, but it gets in the way and is inconvenient when it comes to taking it home.   Although only the stone walls remain of this mountain castle, the stonework is beautiful and draws a parabolic curve.

oka castle9 do not the same thing
Do not the same thing

Since there is no protective fence, you can sit on the protruding tip of the stone wall, but it doesn’t feel like you’re alive.    It feels like my lower abdomen is falling out.   Those with a strong heart can admire the beautiful Kuju Mountain Range from here.    There are several castles in the sky floating in the morning mist in Japan, but Oka Castle, which appears out of nowhere amidst layers of mountains, is a true Ghibli castle in the sky.

 

 

kuju highway2
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Moss Forest, a gathering place for people who love the world of Ghibli

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shirakoma forest3 moss
shirakoma forest3 moss

As soon as you step inside, you will be greeted by a ”moss forest” that covers everything from the ground to the roots of the primeval forest.    This scenery has been used in various TV commercials, so you may have seen it somewhere at least once.    It is said that 485 types of moss live there, so I went in with a magnifying glass, but I couldn’t really observe each one individually.

shirakoma forest6 huge rocks
shirakoma forest6 huge rocks

Anyway, as I climbed up to the Takami-ishi Hut enjoying the scenery I had never seen before, I suddenly saw a mountain piled up with large rocks that looked like they had been piled up by giants.     If you drop something into a crevice between rocks, you will never be able to get it out, so be careful when climbing.    When you reach the top of the rocky mountain, you can see the round Shirakoma Pond floating just below, and beyond that you can see a vast panoramic view of the Saku and Karuizawa basins, and even Mt. Asama with its volcanic smoke behind them.

 

We crawled down the rocky mountain, passed the mirror-like shores of Shirakoma Pond, and returned to the parking lot through ”Mononoke Forest”, which is also reminiscent of the world of Ghibli.    It’s a different world for three hours above the clouds, but it’s a beauty that no amount of words can express.

The largest lake above the clouds, “Shirakoma Pond”

Detour (View Point)

Midway through the winding descent on the way back, at a point where my fellow passengers were beginning to feel uncomfortable, we came to the Hinata-Koba Observation Deck.     A resting place, not a detour.   You can see the Yatsugatake Mountains to the east, the Southern Alps and Kiso Mountains to the south, the Northern Alps to the west, and Mt. Tateshina at the northern tip of Yatsugatake.    I have never seen so many mountains in Japan in one direction.    The weather was so nice that day that I could see the summit of Mt. Yarigatake and was very impressed.

 

shirakoma pond0 cover photo
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Thoroughly explore Suwa Shrine

suwa shrine kamisyahongu5 front entrance

Naturally, travelers planning to visit Suwa will have researched the Onbashira Festival, which is held once every seven years, in advance, so I will omit any details about it.

suwa shrine kamisyahongu8 haiden
suwa shrine kamisyahongu8 haiden

Shrines with a long history or, more directly saying, with the enough funds, are rebuilt in different near locations every 20 years.    Some people think of this as the rebirth of life, but I think it’s an exquisite way of thinking from the perspective of passing down techniques and connecting people in carrying out festivals.    With the same idea of ​​rebirth of life, you can think of Suwa Shrine as having the pillars at the four corners surrounding the shrine replaced every seven years, but without changing the location.    Some people think of these pillars as a barrier that marks the boundary between the divine world and the human world.    Furthermore, there are four Suwa shrines with the same name in this area, and Lake Suwa is in the middle of these four shrines.

Let me mention here that there are shrines with the same name in various places.    Shinto shrines are translated into English as one word ‘shrines’, but in Japanese they are roughly divided into several groups based on their relationship with the imperial family, those with special pedigree such as historical figures, the centers of local beliefs, and etc.  The Japanese names of ‘shrines’ also change depending on the relationship, for example, ’Jingu’ like Ise Jingu shrine, ‘Gu’ like Kitano Tenman-gu shrine, ‘Taisha’ like Suwa shrine.    They are further divided into several groups depending on the purpose they are enshrined.    For example, there are about 30,000 ‘Inari’ shrines for  agriculture or business, about 40,000 ‘Hachiman’ shrines for military luck (The head of it is Usa Shrine.), about 12,000 ‘Tenjin’ shrines for academics, and about 25,000 ‘Suwa’ shrines for agricultural irrigation.    This is why the same name ‘Suwa Shrine’ is also located in Nagasaki, for example,  which is not only Suwa.   Four Suwa Shrines in Suwa region are the head of the group.

Suwa Shrine Kamisha-Maemiya (Chino city)

Suwa Shrine Kamisha-Hongu (Chino city)

Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Harumiya (Shimo-suwa town)

Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Akimiya (Shimo-suwa town)

express kaiji at chino
express kaiji at chino

Although you will not receive any blessings if you do not visit all four Suwa shrines, you can visit them all in one day.    You can get off the JR train at Chino Station and rent a bicycle to visit Kamisha-Maemiya and Kamisha-Hongu, then move to Shimo-Suwa Station and rent a bicycle or walk around Shimosha-Harumiya and Shimosha-Akimiya.

miya river1
miya river1

The two Shimosha shrines are similar in structure, so if you don’t have time, you can lie and say you visited both shrines even if you only visit one.    Only God knows!   If I was really short on time and had to choose one of the four shrines, I would choose the most rustic Kamisha-Maemiya.    There is another reason to chose it, Matsuki Agar Industry is right in front of it.    Being an agar-producing area means that there are harsh winds in the winter, but the factory here lets you try plenty of samples, and you can get  agar at a cheap price.

suwa shrine kamisyamaemiya6 yatsugatake from shirine
suwa shrine kamisyamaemiya6 yatsugatake from shirine
agar factory direct sales store at chino
agar factory direct sales store at chino

You can make delicious milk agar at home using just canned pineapple, granulated sugar, and milk.   First, soak one stick of agar in 300ml of water, heat until it dissolves, add half of the canned syrup and 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, heat further, turn off the heat, and slowly pour in 500ml of milk.    Sprinkle finely chopped canned pineapple in a container, add melted milk agar, and serve.

The Onbashira Festival is a series of events in which a pillar of a fir tree weighing 10 tons is cut down from the mountain, dragged by hand on the road, descended down a steep slope with many people straddling on the pillar, and finally placed at the four corners of the shrine.     Therefore, if you don’t come across it once every seven years, you can find it on a dragged road (Onbashira road, especially the sharp curve in front of the Tamagawa post office), on a steep slope (Kiotoshizaka, near Toda Sake Brewery of Chino, Daiya-Kiku) or on the flat side of the dragged pillar in shrines.     You can think about the grandeur of the festival by looking at them.    There is also a demonstration at Onbashira-kan near Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Harumiya where you can ride a pillar and feel going down a steep slope, so be sure to try it out.

Onbashira Festival               (source: suwataisha.or.jp)

suwa shrine simosyaakimiya1 wash your hands at hot spring
suwa shrine simosyaakimiya1 wash your hands at hot spring

Also, at the entrance of the shrine there is a place to wash your hands to purify yourself, but I was surprised to find out that the water at Suwa Shrine is hot spring water.

Detour 1 (Ghibli World near Shimosha-Harumiya )

Manji’s stone Buddha statue reminds you of the robot soldiers in the world of  Ghibli, “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”.    There is a legend that when trying to put a chisel into that stone while making the torii gate of Shimosha-Harumiya, blood spilled out.    So the stonemason used that stone to carve a stone Buddha.

Detour2 (Real hot spring)

The old road from Shimosha-Harumiya to Shimosha-Akimiya remains.    Spring water is everywhere, and most of it is hot spring water.    There is a public bath called ‘Tanga no Yu’ with hot water being poured of 52 degrees. The hot springs are colorless and transparent, but once you dip one foot in, you’ll be hesitant about putting the other foot in.     It’s more than just a good bath, it’s a test of patience.    When I came out, I felt the woman at the reception desk look at me, as if to say, oh, you’re already here, you’re early.    Someone please look back.   By the way, one person who appeared to be a local was soaked up to his shoulders!  Brave !

Detour3

There are various places to view Lake Suwa in its entirety, but if you are driving, the best option is to go up the narrow road that leads to the back door of Suwa Lake Service Area building (used mainly by employees) without entering the expressway.    You can take fine photos with the sun behind you.

Takashima Castle is located on the eastern shore of Lake Suwa, and the cherry blossoms surrounding the moat are spectacular in spring.    There is a record that it once faced Lake Suwa, but the special feature is that the roof tiles were broken due to the cold climate, so at that time the roof was changed to shingled roof.   The famous historical building with shingled roof is Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto.

shirakoma pond0 cover photo
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Cruising to Tomonoura, a historic town

tomonoura0

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

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.

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Totoro Tree

totoro tree
totoro tree detail
totoro tree detail

No matter how you look at it, it looks like a Totoro tree !

In fact, a cedar tree is divided into two at the base, which is only visible to Totoro’s ears at a distance. Even so, the shape is really good.

There is an observation deck with a parking lot nearby, but let’s walk around the Totoro tree through the thickets.

*)On the way I often worried about whether I could reach my destination or not in the real countryside.
By the way, Sakekawa village is famous for various mushroom cultivation. I learned later looking at the production area display at the supermarket in the neighborhood.