At Mirikaroden again

Returning to our starting point again, we discovered that there was an open market in the paved area in front of the building. This place was selling pottery on the left and clothing on the right.

 This crowded area is selling food.

These flowers were truly beautiful.

More farmers' market

 The inside of the market. I was surprised that they were still selling ice creams and frozen things. The prices were very low and a lot of the people in our group bought vegetables.

 These are high quality kaki, persimmons, which are really good at this time of year.

The guides called as back to the bus so that we could return to our starting point more or less on time.

At the farmers' market

 I am not sure what this torso was supposed to represent, especially considering the lack of legs.

 Behind the market was a river, the Nakagawa (the Naka River), which eventually passes near my apartment. On the opposite side of the water, there was what looked like a nice park and picnic grounds, but I did not have time to go across and explore.

Turning around from my previous spot, I could see the market. The name on the sign is kawasemi no sato, home of the kawasemi, a bird that is very common locally.

The shrine and a store

 Near the entrance to the shrine I found this group of statues, each on its own pedestal.

 Piled in rows behind a statue of Kannon were old grave stones which probably came from a graveyard down int the valley. This is typically Japanese, this is a Shinto shrine, but this statue and the gravestones are all Buddhist.

On the way home we shopped at a little farmer's market. Across the street from the parking lot was a stone mason. There are many of these little shops where craftsmen make stone objects for gardens, graveyards, temples, shrines, etc. Notice the very nice little pagoda on the left.