We began the day after our insane train day by leaving the hotel and getting on a train!
This time we were headed on a day trip to Kotohira, to visit a Shinto shrine known as Konpirasan.
Everywhere we go we look for stamps as souvenirs. Train stations and tourist attractions always seem to have a stamp and ink pad for people to mark their journals or a scrap of paper.
Most train stations also have mascots. Because everything in Japan is either solemn and sacred or super cute.
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| Where the heck are we? |
The shrine is at the top of a mountain. All the good ones seem to involve a crazy climb. Instead of going up all 785 steps, we grabbed a taxi for the first section.
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| Not a bad view from where we started |
Kompirasan is dedicated to the guardian gods of the sea, fertility and medicine.
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| We had already climbed up many steps by the time we got here. |
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| I was so happy to see a flat stretch! |
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| Apparently if you were unable to make the pilgrimage to visit the shrine yourself, you could find someone else going and give them money to take your dog in your place. Today dogs are still welcome and people often bring them on their visit. |
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| The shrine is a favorite of those in shipping, hence the giant propeller. |
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| Looking back over the set of stairs I just climbed |
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| Asashi-sha, the morning shrine, the last stop before the final ascent |
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| I get such a kick out of the guardians |
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| And lanterns. I really dig the lanterns. |
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| We didn't got up all 785, but we certainly went up a big chunk of them |
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| The end is in sight! |
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| Hongu, the main shrine |
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| Views over the city |
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| If you look in the right direction, you can see the Seton Inland Sea |
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| Hi |
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| The mountain where the shrine is located is said to look like the profile of an elephant and was used for navigation |
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| Every 33 years the layered bark roof is replaced |
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| A priest spoke to us about the history and use of the shrine |
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| People would fill barrels with sake and float them out at sea, sailors would find these and carry them up to the shrine. |
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| What goes up, must come down....we did walk the entire way down. |
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| In addition to being dog friendly, horses are also well loved here, and gifts of snow white horses are made to the shrine. |
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| The shops lining the long descent reminded me of the walk to Sacred Coeur |
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| Do you see why I took this photo? |
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