More boundary markers

 We left the top of the hill and walked down into the valley on an old trail. This is the old route. The new road is off to the left about 10 meters.

 At the bottom of the hill we found two more marker stones

The writing on these was not legible but it was obvious that there was something carved into them. The guides said that they had stylized drawings of the prefectural marks and again a comment telling what land was straight ahead of you.

Historic markers - more of the trip

Next we followed the path that had, in the past, been one of the main routes between Fukuoka and Saga prefectures.

 This stone was what we were here to see. It is a marker that separates the prefectures. It is so old that the writing has been worn off by the weather, but it used to have notices on both sides, say what was in the direction you were facing. Notice that there is a concrete foundation holding the rock in place. Apparently someone in a fit of patriotism tried to change the border by moving it, so it is now permanently fixed in place.

 Since there were multiple paths leading from this point, there were two such stones. This one has fallen over and may soon slide down the hill if nothing is done to put it back in its proper place.

This is a view of the hilltop. The stone from my first picture is just behind the women and the second one is on the left.

 We finally arrived at the first of the historic places we were scheduled to visit. This was a statue of a Buddha that is on the high point of an old road, actually a dirt path, from Nakagawa-machi in Fukuoka Prefecture into Saga Prefecture.

 The statue was off the current road at the top of a small hill. Notice that even though we are in the middle of the mountains and there are no homes or other buildings in the area, someone has left offerings of Japanese sake: the two bottles in front of the stele.

 

 This Buddha has three faces, representing the past, the present and the future.

The Buddha also has eight hands, representing the Buddha's influence on the eight directions that are listed in some scriptures.

Still on the history trip

This is where a new road is going to join the current road. The guides said that this road is going to go around the north side of the reservoir through an area that currently has no roads. They said that they think the purpose is to allow for the construction of hotels or other vacation type places.

Off in the distance we could see the site where they make the concrete that is being used. It is on the top of a mountain so that they will be able to use it even when the reservoir starts to fill up.

In the future there will be water between the break in the trees.