Tag: Yamanami Highway

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Yamanami Highway is Mountain wave itself

yamanami highway7 aso view

The Yamanami Highway is a road that connects Yufuin to Aso, passing through the Kuju mountain range.     The scenery overlooking the mountain range changes rapidly, and the road has moderate curves, so you can enjoy an exhilarating drive while listening to music.    Along the way, stop at the observation deck where you can get a full view of Mt. Yufu-dake.    Mt. Yufu-dake is also known as Bungo Fuji, and its summit is made up of two well-balanced peaks.     Although it is different from the shape of Mount Fuji that is generally associated with it, the Mount Fuji as it is called in various regions is probably a mountain that constitutes a representative mental landscape of each region.

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yamanami highway2 yufudake
yamanami highway3 mitumata mountain
yamanami highway4 evening sun on kuju mountain

Just because you’re not driving doesn’t mean you should fall asleep.     This is a route where you should enjoy the beauty of mountain waves.    It’s especially amazing to pass through the Kuju mountain range to the south and see the Aso mountain range in the sunset from the pass.

yamanami highway5 aso view left
yamanami highway6 aso view right

We descend the mountain and head towards my usual lodging, Kurokawa Onsen Sanga, as the silver grass sways and sparkles towards the sunset.    I came here again looking forward to the food.     I apologize for the photos being all about food.     But every dish and its tableware is a work of art.

Kurokawa Hotspring “Sanga”

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kurokawasanga dinner1
kurokawasanga dinner2
kurokawasanga dinner4

 

climbing18 mitsumata mountain from kutsukake mountain
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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.

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kuju highway1
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kuju highway3 kuju hightland
kuju highway4 kuju mountains view

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.

kuju highway5 wow!
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kuju highway7 eye contact
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 castle2 entrance
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oka castle7 why need complicate design
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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