New Year's Day visit to the local shrine

 In most years we have gone to the Futakashira Jinja, the Two Pillar Shrine, just after midnight on New Year's Eve, but we were tired this year so we waited until just before noon on New Year's Day. When we arrived, there was a huge line waiting to get into the temple grounds. The shrine is in the middle of the picture but so far away that you can not see much of it unless you expand the picture to full size.

 After about 20 minutes we got near the entrance to the shrine. The little tent with the light blue roof is just inside the property. However, we discovered that the line turned to the left to follow the road.

 When we got around the corner, we found that it would be another 15 to 20 minutes to get to the point where the line turned and came back up the other side of the road. I should point out that it was quite cold, about 3 degrees Celsius,  but in the sun it was okay.

 When we got to the end, we found that everyone went all the way to the fence across the road and actually stood up on the raised area next to it. This was all done automatically by the people involved. We have had lots of practice at lines, waiting to buy food after the earthquakes, for example.

While waiting to get back to the shrine entrance, we noticed the strange shape of this large tree. The left side has been trimmed many times so that it does not interfere with the power lines. Usually when trees are trimmed, all the branches are cut back but for some unknown reason this has not been done with this tree.

Ryuhoji

 If you remember, we were escorting a guest, the father of an Australian friend, and he had little experience in Japan. We stopped here in front of the bell tower and were talking about Buddhism and temples.  The idea of Shinto shrines came up since we had just visited one. We told him that shrines and temples were often collocated. He found this a bit surprising, Christianity's relationship to other religions. We suggested that he turn around and look at the red objects in the distance.

 A closer look revealed, a Shinto shrine on the raised area next to the main hall of the temple.

 This is the entrance to the main hall.

 This is a view of the pagoda from the back.

 You can see that the structure of the roof is similar to that of most temples.

We walked toward the Shinto shrine to let our guest get a better look at it, and of course, to see if for ourselves. When we got close enough, we saw a crow having lunch on the offering of rice that had been placed in front of the shrine, probably by the Buddhist priests who run the temple.

The market and then on to Hachiman Jinja

 Some of the stores in the market were quite large and there was a wide variety of products for sale.

 Baskets of fish.

 Gradually the street filled with shoppers and it became quite busy.

 We left the market and took a bus to Hachiman Jinja, the shrine of the Shinto god Hachiman. This is the huge torii at the shrine entrance. The bus let us off on the wrong side of the road so we had to walk to the next intersection to cross at the traffic lights.

 On the way to the corner we passed a store with an interesting customer.

After passing through the large red torii, there was a second large torii but this one was made of stone. In the distance you can see a flight of stairs that lead up to the shrine proper.

Nihon Jinja and then onward

 This little sub shrine had offerings of food and drink in front of it.

 This seemed to be the main building of the shrine and was quite new.

 Two bridges over the river.

 This man was fishing with a net. I do not know if he was a commercial fisherman or just someone who was trying to feed a large family.

 Another fairly large river entered the Nanakita River for the south and I had to cross it on a bridge. This shows the view toward the ocean.

Turning around, I took this picture of the smaller river. Actually it was so straight that it looked more like a canal, but looking at my map made me believe that it is just a natural river that has been straightened a bit and confined by levees.

Still heading toward the sea

 A little further on I came to a large playground, all at the level of the levee top path. I rested for a while under the roof on the left and then continued. I was never able to decide if this was an artistic jungle gym made from ropes or an artistic sculpture that the kids could climb on.

 At the east end of the part there was a small unnamed shrine.

 This is what was under the roof in the above picture. Inside the miniature shrine there was a piece of wood with faded writing on it. The box in front is for small gifts of coins and the rope connects to a bell that you can use to make sure that the gods realize that you are there bribing them.

 This is a large pile of flotsam and jetsam that washed up during the flooding.

 Nihon Jinja, or Two Tree Shrine if you read the kanji or possibly Japan Shrine if you hear it, is nestled in a small grove of trees on the inland side of the levee.

The paint was getting old but it must be quite garish when the traditional bright red paint is fresh.

More at Atago Shrine and then on my way again

 If you ignore the fence, and the Japanese are very good at not seeing stuff like this, this little shrine is very nice.

 Cattle and horses are often depicted in statues in the Shinto shrines. This is a cow or bull of some sort. The decorations are quite traditional and you will see such things on live animals during festivals or other events.

 I was not sure what this little building is used for. If this were a Buddhist temple, I would say that it was a meditation room, but this is a Shinto shrine, so I guess it must be used for some kind of ceremony.

 On my way again, I found this sign on the land between the top of the levee and the river. It says that this is protected land for a kind of insect, suzumushi, bell-ringing crickets in English, that make a very pleasing sound.

 A little further toward the sea and I found this strange object sticking out into the path.

I stopped to look at it and found that it is a long slide that goes down the side of the levee into a playground. I was very tempted to try it myself, but it looked very dirty, so I passed up the opportunity. I did, however, us a bench that was behind me to take a five minute break from walking.

At the Atago Shrine

 This is the entrance to the shrine grounds. I was a bit surprised at the size of the building (straight ahead) that appeared to contain the administrative and meeting areas.

 This is the main shrine building.

 Up close I could see the access route to the admin building and also more small buildings in the back.

 Putting my camera up against a hole in the door, I was able to get this picture of the main altar.

 This sign, which was beside the main shrine, seems to give a different name for the shrine, here it is the Yasaka or maybe the Hachisaka Shrine. The sign also retells an old story about how a Prince lost his crown while crossing the Nanakita River. In the past this river was called the Kanmori River, or Crown River.

Walking around the back, I found this nice little shrine, however the doors were closed so I could not see inside.

Entering Rin'oji

 Just behind the gate was this guardian king. I guess he is there just in case some evil sneaks by the kings in the gate.

 The path was lined with sculptured stones. Each one was different. This one had what appeared to be an abstract design carved into the polished top.

 A little further on, there was a statue of a Bodhisattva of some kind. If I remember correctly, the stele said who had donated the statue.

 The drain along the side of the stairs was under repair. The one on the other side was okay, maybe it had already been repaired.

 A path lead away from a landing on  the stairs to this bright red torii. This is a Shinto shrine that is part of the temple. I wish that religions in other parts of the world could coexist as well as they do in Japan.

This is the shrine itself. I could not determine its name. I could find no signs. I did, however, find it on my map but it was unnamed.

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to visit the shrine, Yamamkami Jinja, that was shown on my map but I could not find it. I wander around for a long time and finally decided to give up. But as I started up a road that would take me toward home, I found a sign.

 This sign was on the side of a fence and referred to the shrine. However, the fence paralleled what appeared to be a driveway. At the end was a flight of stairs. When I climbed the stairs I found a locked gate, but over the top I could see the shrine in the distance. It was obvious that the gate led to private property because there was another gateless fence in front of the shrine.

Finally, I realized that it was possible to go around the left side of that private property on a very narrow and overgrown path. This is a picture looking back down the path toward the road.

 I finally reached the torii and could see the small shrine building just behind it.

 On the right side there was a small model shrine that appeared to be very old. Inside the door was a small statue of a god, who probably has something to do with mountains since the name of the shrine, Yamakami, means mountain god.

Looking closer at the god inside the shrine, it appeared to be a fox, which is a common representation of a god at Japanese shrines.

 I next looked inside the main building. The building enshrined a large stone. I wished that there was someone around who could tell me the story of this rock, but there was no one there and there was no place for a priest to live.

 On the left side it was possible to see some gravestones and part of the graveyard at the temple, Zen'oji. Even further to the left there was a small stone stele.

After a very long walk, getting lost, and searching for the shrine, I was very tired so I decided that it was time to head for home. Since I now knew where I was, I looked at my map to determine the best route. I decided that I would head northwest and go to a subway station and ride part way home. However, the best laid plans of mice and men ...........