Sunday, August 26, 2012

Place #9- Miyajima! 9カ所目:宮島!


Anddd we got to Hiroshima! But the path there was tough. A typhoon was approaching and it was raining like crazy- we got lost on the streets of Hakata on the way to find the station in the beating rain and thunder... arriving at the station soaked having missed the train also. It was one of the few moments I had my low- frustrated, unhappy and miserable about being cold and not being where we planned to be. Good thing about JR pass though since you can just hop on the next train- we changed our wet clothes and shoes and arrived in Miyajima just a few hours later. 

そしてーーー広島に到着!ここまでの道のりが大変だった。台風が近づいていたため、大雨:そんな中、博多の道ばたで迷子になっていたのは私たち姉妹。駅が見つからないために、叩き付ける雨の中と雷の中でびしょぬれになり…あげくのはてにやっと駅に着いたら電車も逃してた。個人的にはこの瞬間が旅でのローポイント。寒くてびしょびしょでみじめでイライラ…でも、ここでJRパスのいいところの登場。ただ単に次の電車に乗ればいいだけだった。服を着替え、靴を履き替え、予定していた数時間後に宮島に到着。

A treat waited us at the hostel! A lovely cheery woman were there to greet us and had a perfect plan for us wanting to explore Miyajima. First, we went to get dinner near the ferry station for miyajima. Yummy hiroshima style okonomiyaki (my favourite food for yeaaaars) with noodles and many other delicious ingredients made our stomachs and spirit happy :) Then we took a boat....

雨が降らないと虹はでないというけど、ホステルに着いたらまさにそんな感じだった。とても明るい素敵なお姉さんが私たちを迎えてくれて、宮島を効果的に楽しめるとっておきのプランを教えてくれた。まずは、宮島へのフェリー乗り場の近くで腹ごしらえ。メニューはもちろん、広島風お好み焼き(長年の大好物)!おそばや野菜や色々入っていて、やっぱりおいしい。おなかも心も大満足:)その後はボートに乗って…


....to enjoy Miyajima by night. The forecast had predicted a typhoon, but it was a calm night and the island was deserted.  The reflection of the gate was so beautiful, and I was so happy to be visiting the place I had always wanted to visit. I had come to Hiroshima with a class trip when I was in 10th grade, but unfortunately then too, our visit to Itsukushima Shrine was canceled due to a big typhoon. 

…夜の宮島を楽しみにいった。天気予報は台風っていっていたけれど、小雨だけで人もいなく、本当に静かな夜。鳥居が水に映されている様子は本当に綺麗で、やっと、ずーっと訪れたかったところにいることを実感し、幸せいっぱい。高校1年のときにクラス旅行で広島に来たが、そのときも運悪く台風で、厳島神社は取り消しになってしまっていけなかったから。




We went to a hotel on the island that had a huge bath... that visitors could also use. Using the onsen after a wet, long, rainy day felt like heaven, and when we came out, it was about the time the waters hit high tide. 
On the way back with the last ferry, we came across this cute scene- a deer mom&baby sleeping outside the police station. Probably the safest place to sleep on the island ;)

最終フェリーまでの間、宮島にあるホテルの温泉に行って一日の疲れをとった。長ーく、雨ばっかりで、びしょぬれになった一日の終わりの温泉はまた格別で、すっかりリラックスして外へでたら、ちょうど満潮の時間。
フェリー乗り場への道では、こんな可愛い場面にも出くわした:シカの親子が警察署の前で寝ているの。島で一番安心して寝れる事は間違いなし;)


We did also come across a Polish couple who had had their wallets stolen and had lost everything- money, passports and tickets... everything! It was surprising to me both that something like that had happened and that they had just left their valuables out of sight. It was indeed the first time anything like this had happened on the island of Miyajima, and so I volunteered to interpret between the couple and the police. The poor couple had nowhere to go and had to stay on the island for an interview with the police... and although I tried negotiating, the police or station staff could be kind enough to provide a roof for their night using their camp gear. The typhoon was approaching and this poor couple had nothing... and the only thing standing in the way was the very Japanese loyalty to follow the rules.
We had to leave here as the ferry came to pick us up, but I hope the couple left with not too bad impressions of Japan...

フェリー乗り場では、すべての貴重品(パスポート、お金、チケット…本当に全部!)の盗難にあってしまったポーランド人のカップルにも遭遇。日本でこんなことが起きるにもびっくりしたけど、日本といえど、観光地でそこまで貴重品を置きっぱなししていた彼らにもびっくり。宮島でこんな事態が起きた事さえ初めてだったものだから、他に英語ができるホテルの従業員が来るまでの間、警察と彼らの通訳に立候補。かわいそうに、二人は何もなくてどこへも行けなくて、その晩は宮島で事情聴取のため残らなきゃいけなかった。キャンプ用のギアを持っていたけど、台風の中野宿なんてひどいと思い、警察にもせめて屋根があるところを貸してあげてとお願いしたけれど、無理の一点張りだった。こういうときに、日本の真面目なルールに従う姿勢が強すぎて、逆に正しくないんじゃないかと思ってしまった。最終フェリーのお迎えが来たので、私たちの出番はそこまでだったけれど、その後ポーランド人カップルが、日本の印象が悪い状態のまま帰ってないことを願うけど…

Next morning, we came across another and many many deers! And made our way back to Itsukushima Shrine, this time to enter it and see it in daylight. The weather made foggy clouds that swept inbetween the greens and the shrine... creating a really mysterious but beautiful feel to it, and we enjoyed the serene atmosphere...

次の朝また宮島にいくと、夜よりたくさんのシカが出迎えてくれた。朝に来た理由は、もちろん、厳島神社に入りたいから。天気は小雨で、もやを作っていたけど、それが緑と神社にも乗っかっているとすごく神秘的で綺麗な雰囲気を作っていて、味わいがいがあった。本当に息をのむほどの美しさ。





But of course made sure to have fun and be silly when we found this....
けどもちろん、下のようなやつを見つけると、ちょっとふざけてみるのも私たち二人だから…


  
While exploring Miyajima, we also coincidentally came across deer baby being born! It was a magical moment, seeing this creature new to this earth, trying and succeeding to take its first steps. Sara and I both watched it in silence.

その後宮島を散策していたのだけれど、偶然にも、子鹿が生まれる瞬間に立ち会ってしまった。地球に来てすぐのこの生き物が、一生懸命最初の数歩を歩こうとする姿は本当に奇跡的で特別な瞬間だった。二人で、沈黙の中、見守った。  



 Then we also came across adult deers, totally grown up to be living together with human, peeking into a restaurant for lunch time :)

帰り際会ったのは、もうすっかり人間の世界に慣れた大人のシカ。ランチタイムに合わせて、レストランの中をチェック:)


Friday, August 24, 2012

Place #8: Hakata Ramen and Lying Buddha 8カ所目:博多ラーメンと寝そべる大仏


We got to Hakata in the evening, very tired... Maybe the week of traveling, moving daily from place to place was too much, but I think another factor was the rain. Moving about in rain makes it much harder, as one uses so much more energy than usual. Feeling weak, we went to an Izakaya, ordered lots of salads since both our bodies were craving it, and headed to bed relatively early. 
Our impression of Hakata/Fukuoka was that it was another HUGE city, reminding us of Tokyo or Osaka- the skyscrapers, game centers, pachinko places and the countless restaurants and bars, could have been any of the big cities. It felt like it lacked personality and uniqueness, so we found somewhere a little further away to explore and found a truly unique place- the Nanzoin Temple. 

博多によるに着いたときは二人とも、ぐったり…1週間の毎日の移動という旅の疲れもあると思うけど、そのとき続いてた雨も関係していると思う。荷物を背負いながら移動しているとき、雨が降っていると通常の何倍ものエネルギーを使うから。心身少し弱くなっていたので、食事は野菜をたくさん。ホステルの近くの居酒屋ですませ、早く寝た。
着いてからの博多の印象は、東京や大阪みたいな「都会」だということ。高いビルやゲームセンターやパチンコ店、数えきれないほどのレストランやバーは、どの都会とも変わらないから、博多にいる感覚があまり感じられなかった。あまり「町柄」が感じられないから、次の日は少し遠のいたところを散策。すると、本当にユニークな場所に出会えた。
南蔵院というところだ。




Nanzoin is a Buddhist temple located in Sasaguri, in eastern Fukuoka. It is also the first stop of the local 88 temple pilgrimage in the town, modeled after the famous Shikoku pilgrimage. It is a 1200km long pilgrimage that visits the 88 temples on Shikoku Island, that I would someday like to do... 
We encountered mini-buddhas were all over the temple area- each subtly but significantly different from another. It was fun just to see them, getting to know each "personality". Every person that comes here, must find buddhas that resemble the people in their own lives. 
南蔵院は篠栗に位置するお寺。そのエリアの八十八カ所巡りの最初のストップでもある。お遍路さんといったら有名なのはやっぱり四国だけれど、それもいつか是非やってみたい…
お寺の敷地に入ると、小さな大仏像がたーくさん、色々なところにおいてあった。ひとつひとつ、わずかだけど確かに違う。一人一人の顔と「性格」を見るのはとても楽しかった。訪れる人一人一人が、人生で出会った人をこの像たちによって思い出すんじゃないかと思う。



It was a beautiful space- buddhas, and ojizousans laid out all around the area, filled also with nature, including trees, rocks and waterfalls. They even had a cave looking rock that you had to climb through- a bit of an adventure inside that quiet environment. We were almost just the two of us, but it definitely felt like we weren't- it must have been all the gods and the spirits, following us.

とても美しい空間だった。大仏やお地蔵さんがあらゆる場所に、木や岩や滝といった自然に囲まれながら存在している。潜り込んで中を通る洞窟みたいな岩もあって、とても静かな環境の中での小さなアドベンチャーもあった。ほとんど私たちだけなのに、二人以上そこにいる感覚。神様や精霊が一緒だったのだと思う。



We also visited the Sleeping Buddha- 41m long, 11m high, and 300ton heavy, it is the biggest bronze statue in the world. It is bigger than the Statue of Liberty! (11.5m and 14 tons)
I think that the photo of this shows the size... it was even hard to find a place to put the camera to fit the whole buddha in the frame. We also got to see one of its hair-twirley looking things, each one weighs 35kg and looked huge close up...

同じ場所にいる寝そべる大仏様の涅槃物も見に行った。長さ41m、高さ11mに300トンのその大きさは、ブロンズ像の中では世界一らしくて、アメリカの自由の女神より大きい(高さは同じくらいの11.5m)
下にある写真を見てもらったら伝わると思う…大仏の全身をカメラのフレームに収められる場所を探すのも一苦労だった。大仏の髪の毛のクルクルも間近で見せてもらったけどすごく大きくて、一個35kgすることも知った。



While writing this post and reading up on the place, I also learned that the sleeping buddha was made with a strong purpose- fearing that people are losing to be kind, only wishing for their own happiness, the monk built the buddha with the wish that people be reminded when they see it that we are able to live, by appreciating all the living things that surrounds us.
With the Buddha's peaceful facial expressions, I think the message is conveyed to people, each in its own way.

この投稿を書いている最中、寝釈迦様の事も少し調べたら建造された裏に特別な意味があることを知った。オフィシャルサイトから引用:

人間がだんだんと優しさを失い、自分だけの幸福を祈る姿から、
生きとし生けるものに感謝しつつ生きることができる、皆様の
「心のよりところ」になればと、という願いから建立された。

のだそう。お釈迦様の平和そのものな顔から、見る人々一人一人にこのメッセージはなんらかの形で伝わると思う。


Before taking off we also made it to see the biggest WOODEN buddha in the entire world, situated in Hakata. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, so this one is from the internet. This one was also very very very big, with countless smaller buddhas stuck on the wall behind as well. 

博多を後にする前に、世界で一番大きな木造の大仏も見に行った。残念ながら中では写真がとれないから、これはウェブから。こちらも、本当に本当に大きくて、後ろの壁には小さな仏像もたくさんついている。


Sara and I also went inside the Buddha- and walked the journey from hell to heaven. 
Afterwards I found out this is a way to worship- going through the "womb" of the buddha... kind of a strange concept, but it was certainly an interesting one. When we came inside underneath the buddha, there was narration and a series of painting explaining the different worlds of hell. After seeing quite horrific drawings and descriptions of hell, we entered a path of COMPLETE darkeess. We hung on tight to one another, screaming, while taking one step at a time, after a few minutes of walking in a twirly path... we reached "heaven". It is difficult to describe the feeling of reaching light and heaven- there was certainly a sense of relief, happiness and appreciation, and I was quite impressed and awed with this whole experience. 

サラと二人で、大仏の中にも入ってみて、地獄から極楽への旅を体験した。
その後読んで分かったのだけど、これは「胎内めぐり」とよばれる暗闇の中を歩いて参拝する一種の霊場だそう。なんだか奇妙な響きだけど、興味深かった。
大仏の胎内に入ると、ナレーションの声とともに、地獄図の絵が並べられていて、色々な地獄の説明が。その先を進むと真っ暗な闇の中。腕をきつく取り合って、二人で叫びながら、くねくねした道を真っ暗な中進んでいくと…やっと「極楽」へ到着。光と極楽に到達したときの気持ちは安堵感と幸せと感謝が交じった複雑な気持ちだけどそれよりも、思いもよらない経験に圧倒されちゃった。


After the very "buddhist" day, we satisfied our hungry stomachs with the famous Hakata Ramen- ramen with pork bone broth/soup. The set-up of the restaurant was interesting too, with booths for each customer, for the purpose of concentrating on the ramen. In your individual booth, there is a water pitcher, a manual how to best enjoy your bowl of ramen, and the staff serve you from a little window. Since the focus is solely on the ramen, you can only see the torso and hands, and hear your server... I never knew this kind of place existed and enjoyed the whole experience, including the yummy bowl of ramen! On the way out, we saw a family, and they had their walls folded away- and I was blown away by the japanese serving-spirit and flexibility to cater to all ages and demographics. If anyone is interested, this particular ramen restaurant has expanded all over the country with their unique style of serving. It is called "Ichiran". 

とても「仏教」な一日を終え、すっかり空いたおなかを満たしに、有名な博多ラーメンを食べにいった。入ってびっくりしたのが、お店のセットアップ。ラーメンに集中するために、一人用のブースのようになっていて、セルフサービスで水をくめるやつもちゃんとついている。主役はあくまでもラーメンだから、働いている人の手とおなか部分しか見えないのもまた特別。こんな場所は初めてだったから、その環境もラーメンの味も含めてすべて楽しんだ。食べ終わって出る途中には子供連れの家族がいたのだけれど、集中用の壁を折り畳んで、みんなで食べていた。このような、様々な年齢層にもフレキシブルに対応してる日本のサービスにも感動。もし興味のある人は、「一蘭」へ、日本の色々な所に拡大しているそうです。




Sunday, August 19, 2012

Place #7: Yoshinogari "Ruins" 7カ所目:吉野ヶ里遺跡


It was only for a few hours, on our way to Hakata, but we made another stop at the Yoshinogari Remains.  The yoshinogari ruins site dates from the Yayoi period that lasted from the 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD. It is one of the largest archaeological remains in Japan, where more than 2000 tombs with coffins, storehouses, and watchtowers etc were found. Yayoi period were one of the first periods I learned about in history class in the Japanese school, and the possibility to see parts of it really made me excited.

博多に行くまでの途中、数時間だけでけれど、吉野ケ里遺跡にも足を運んだ。日本でも大規模な弥生時代からの集落跡で、たくさんの墳丘墓や高床住居や見つかったすごい場所。日本の教育の歴史の始めの方にでてきた弥生時代は記憶に強く残っていて、その跡が見れることを聞いたときは本当に胸がワクワクした。

What we didn't know was a major- I had quickly and wrongly assumed that the visitors could see these artifacts and remains... but in reality, it was a park with recreated houses/storehouses, with very limited display of ACTUAL artifacts. When we entered the historical park, people were dressed up in clothing from then, and had different storehouses/houses/watchtowers set up with dolls and explanations to daily life in the Yayoi period... I kept thinking that it was odd, and when I asked whether the structures were real, one of the staff blurted out the really really disappointing answer: "Nope, nothing is real....". Thankfully, the sentence finished with "...except for the tombs". 
   
でも、痛恨なミス…吉野ヶ里の歴史公園が、遺跡や埋蔵物が見れるとこだと思い込んでしまっていたのが、実際は、公園の大半の建物やお墓の場所が再現されたものだったということ。それらしき服装をしたスタッフもたくさんいて、雰囲気はまさにテーマパーク。「これは絶対何かおかしい」と思い、どの部分が遺跡なのかスタッフさんに聞くと、やっぱりだけれど残念な答えが返ってきた。「ここは全部作り物ですよ…」でも幸い、
その答えには嬉しい続きが「…お墓のところ以外はですね。」



We went to see the tombs and the remains of pot coffins which were displayed as they were found. It threw the disappointment out of the window, and the great feeling and excitement of imagining and traveling back time filled my whole body. The people from the yayoi period used pottery to put the dead into- it looked like two huge pottery vases. They put the person in one, they put the other one as a lid. Then, it is thought that they had spiritual ceremonies. It was incredible to see the technology that existed already in 3rd century BC, and how much people cared to take care and honor the dead. Some wonderful things about humanity must be innate.

早速、弥生時代のお墓の状態を、見つけたときのまま保管・再現しているところを見に行く。得意の想像の世界と時代を旅するようなワクワク感が、すぐにからだ中に感じられて
テーマパークからの残念な気持ちはすっかり忘れてしまった。弥生時代の人は、2つの陶器の壷のようなものに、亡くなった人を入れ埋めていて、儀式のようなものをしていたのだという。紀元前3世紀という考えられないほど昔の、人々の陶器の技術にも感動をしたけれど、それよりも、その時の人間もそういった形で亡くなった人を敬っていたことのほうが胸に響いた。私が素晴らしいと思う、人間を特徴づける「人間らしさ」は、やっぱり本質的なものなのかなぁと確信した。


After seeing the villages, the houses and the lifestyle of Yayoi, we had to take the train to our last stop in Kyushu, Hakata. With our heart and soul filled with Yayoi-sm, I got this lovely photo of Sara- as a Yayoi person dancing. I hope it makes everyone smile just like it does for me!

肌で魂で頭で「弥生イズム」を感じた妹に、からだでそれを表現してもらったらこの通り!パシャパシャ弥生ダンスを撮ったあと、私たちは、九州で最後の場所、博多へ向かう電車に乗った。この写真が、私を笑顔にさせるように、みんなも笑顔になりますように!



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Place #6: Takeo-Onsen 6カ所目:武雄温泉



Next destination: Takeo-Onsen! We had an unexpected delay as the heavy rain had stopped the trains that went to that direction, but made it there safe and sound with a different route.
We came here, famous for its hot springs, because a family friend. It is his hometown, and so he kindly invited us to explore it. We were beyond thrilled and overjoyed that we got to stay in a beautiful beautiful Ryokan (traditional japanese inn, this one with natural hot springs), eat delicious delicious food, and get into relaxing hot spring baths. It was such a change from the economical backpacker lifestyle that we had led so far so we were in a hyper-excited state for a while. Enjoying japanese food, japanese hot spring bath and japanese tea, it was also a moment where we saying how grateful we were to be born half-Japanese.

次に訪れたのは武雄温泉!長崎から向かうときには、思わぬ大雨の影響で電車が止まってしまいかなり遅れてしまったが、なんとか到着。
ここは、東京のご近所さんで集まるときの知り合いの出身地で、泊めさせて頂いた。素敵な素敵な旅館で、美味しい美味しいご飯を食べさせてもらい、気持ちいい温泉に入らさせてもらって、二人とも幸せいっぱい!バックパッカーの貧乏旅行の日常からあまりにもかけ離れていて、興奮しっぱなしだった。日本食、温泉、お茶…すっかりリラックスさせていただき、二人で「日本人でよかったあ〜」と言い合う。


With the lovely lady that took care of us. A bright smile and the happy laugh made us both feel right at home!
お世話になった仲居さんと。素敵な笑顔と明るい笑い声はみんなを和ませる。


The next day, the nephew of the family friend kindly took us around to show Saga.
次の日は、知り合いの親戚の方に、佐賀を案内してもらった。



First we saw the ancient hot spring area with its buildings, dating back over 1200 years. Sara and I could not help but to be reminded of another Ghibli movie, Spirited Away. The bathhouse that appears in the movie (picture below) had these colors and the design. I knew a town in Taiwan inspired parts of the setting of Spirited away, but it was strange and nice to see that this may have been an inspiration as well... and truly interesting just in general, because I just hadn't these color combinations used in other parts of Japan.

最初に、昔の温泉街とその頃から(1200年以上)の建造物を見学。カラフルな建物を見て思いついたのは違うジブリ映画:千と千尋の神隠し。映画にでてくる湯屋(下の絵)も、こんなデザインや色のコンビネーション。千と千尋の神隠しの舞台になったのは、台湾の街とは知っていたけど、日本のこの地方からも刺激を受けたんじゃないかと思ってしまった。でも、映画の関連をぬいても十分興味深かった:日本で初めてこんな色使いを見たから。



Hearing that we liked seeing old trees and about our hike to see the Jomon ceder in Yakushima, he also took us to see two very old, very big camphor trees. The first one was behind Takeo Shrine (also with vivid color combinations and surrounded by beautiful nature). We walked through the shrine, and also past a huge forest of bamboo trees, to come face to face with the majestic tree.

私たちの「巨木好き」と屋久島の縄文杉の話を聞いたお友達は、2つの大きな古い楠の木を見に連れてってくれた。一つ目は、武雄神社(これも自然に囲まれたカラフルな建物)の後ろに立っている。神社の中を通り、すごい高さを竹林を通りすぎて、圧倒的な木と対面。






The camphor tree with its 3000+ years and size 6th in Japan is regarded as sacred- a small shrine is placed inside the tree (which is as spacious as being able to fill 12 tatami mats). This tree looks like it is torn at the top, as if it has kept growing and growing all these years. Like Jomon ceder, it had a calming vibe, filled with energy to share to its visitors. During this trip I slowly could understand why people in the old days would feel that a tree like this is sacred, hence building shrines near it. To believe that they have a special force and energy I think shows how much people believed that we lived together with nature-  this in turn brings my mind to shrines and temples in Tokyo or other big cities, that have lost this "special feeling" without the nature that used to surround it, but instead are surrounded by other buildings, houses or skyscrapers.

 Our friend also shared his childhood memory of playing inside the tree- and I could just imagine how fun of a playground it'd be for children. Unfortunately now, the tree is off limits.

樹齢3000年以上で、日本で6番めのこの巨木は神木で、幹の中の12畳の面積の中に神壇がもうけられている。木は、上の方で裂けていて、木が育ち続けているかのようにも見える。縄文杉のように癒される落ち着く雰囲気を醸し出し、訪れる人にエネルギーを共有してくれる。昔の人たちは、こういう木をみて神様が宿っていると信じて、近くにお寺や神社を建てたわけを、この旅を通して少しづつ考え理解できるようになった。
昔の人ほど、人間は自然と一緒に暮らしていることを忘れない観念を自然に持っていたんだとおもう。現在の東京などの大都会を思うと、同じくらい、いやもっと大事かもしれない周りの自然なしで、代わりに高層ビルやマンション囲まれ立っている神社やお寺が、その「特別なエネルギーや力や雰囲気」を確実に失っていることに気づく。

お友達は、木の幹の中に入って遊んでいた自分の子供の頃の話もしてくれた:想像するだけで、子供たちにとってどれだけ楽しい遊び場か分かった。残念ながら今はもう柵ができて中には入れなくなっている。

We were impressed by the Takeo camphor tree, but we went on to see an even bigger one! 3rd biggest tree in Japan, the camphor tree in Kawago. This one too, was a 3000+ years old sacred tree. It was too big to photograph ourselves (below photo is taken from http://www.pmiyazaki.com/kyusyu/saga_kusu/)- it was that big! They had also cut off some of the branches, because they would become too heavy and so destroy the tree. Again, the tree took my imagination for a ride- trying to imagine all the changing in the surroundings the tree had lived through. If a tree could speak- which time period did they prefer? What would they think of us humans? Having lived so much of history, what important things would they have to tell us?

武雄の大楠に感動したけど、次にもっともっと大きいのを見に行った。こちらは日本で3番目に大きい、川古の大楠。この木も同じく樹齢3000年以上の神木だ。私たちのカメラには収まらないほどの大きさ(下の写真は http://www.pmiyazaki.com/kyusyu/saga_kusu/ から):これだけ大きい! 枝が大きくなりすぎて重くなり木を倒さないように、何カ所か切ってある。この木もまた、私の想像力を違うところに連れてってくれた。何千年も変わりゆく周りの環境を生きてきた木。もしお話ができたら、どの時代が一番すきだったんだろう?人間の事はどう思うんだろう?歴史を生き抜いて、私たちへアドバイスがあれば、それはどんなんだろう?




The area of Takeo is also for pottery, so we also saw the biggest kiln in the world- 23m long, it could fire 120000 teacups at once! Hard to wrap my head around....

武雄は、陶器でも有名だそうで、世界で一番大きな窯も見に行った。23mもの長さがあり、一度に120000個のお湯のみを焼けるほどの大きさ!こちらは、想像するのが難しい…



The final sightseeing spot was mind-blowing- Yutoku Inari Shrine. A colorful, beautiful shrine (or numerous shrines as you hike up) was like the bathhouse, a new type of Japanese shrine for me, almost resembling temples in other Asian countries. Certainly a different style from the plain, serene shrines in other parts of Japan, but I really really liked the bold use of colors standing out in the green nature.

最後の観光スポットもまた圧巻ー祐徳稲荷神社だ。本当にカラフルで美しい神社たち(上に登るほどたくさんある)は、温泉街の建造物と同じように、私にとっては新しいタイプの神社。いつも見ている、シンプルで静けさを思わせる神社と違って、まるでほかのアジアの国を思わせるような色使いだ。私は、緑の中に映えるこのスタイルをすごく気に入った。



 
These gates, called Torii, is a characteristic of a Inari shrine- and are often lined up many of them in a Inari shrine. I did some studying when I came home and learned some interesting facts about it. The torii is always painted in this red color- said to make evil spirits go away. The raw material of this red color also prevents the wood from rotting, hence being used in many shrines from old times.

I also always wondered why so many torii gates were lined up-the answer I found out was quite nice, they are built as a thank you, as people's wishes "came through". I didn't count how many there were, but the gates suddenly meant so much more when I started thinking so many wishes had come true.

並んだ朱色の鳥居は、稲荷神社ならではのもの。帰って少し調べたら、面白い情報をたくさん見つけた。鳥居の朱色は、魔除けの効果があるらしい。色の原材料は木の防腐剤としての効果もあるらしくて、昔の人の知恵が感じられる。

ずっと疑問に思っていたのは、なんでたくさん並んでいるか。答えをやっと知れて、それも嬉しい答えで嬉しかった。鳥居は、願いが「通った」御礼として、人々が神社へ納めたもの。通りながら、何個あったかは数えなかったけれど、突然、お願いごとがこんなに叶っているんだと思うと、自分にとって鳥居の意味が楽しいものになった。



At the top awaited a beautiful view, and another smaller shrine, surrounded by a forest- and it just reinforced our discovery that shrines should be built close to or with nature. 

頂上までいくと、綺麗な景色と森に囲まれた小さな神社が。やっぱり神社は自然と一緒じゃなきゃ!とまた一人で納得。


The visit was concluded with a yummy yummy meal at a restaurant built with a feel from the Showa period. The soba, buckwheat noodles, where made from scratch and all of the dishes were 100% organic. Eating this lovely lunch outside in the sun, surrounded by nature was a truly lovely experience.

佐賀での素敵な一日は、昭和時代ふうに建てられたお家のおそばやさんで締めくくられた。100%そば粉の美味しいおそばと、オーガニックのおかず。自然に囲まれながら、太陽の光をあびながら、食べたランチは、格別!
  


Saga, checked! But definitely coming back!

さて、佐賀も終了!でも、また行きたい!