Shiude-yama cherry blossoms　紫雲出山

April 1^st. 2024

Luckily, the thunder and rain eased well before mid-night so no frantic dash to the toilets in a downpour.
Michi no eki Takarada no Soto is on the noisy side, a lot of traffic in and out and trucks running engines all night.

Ichinomiya Park　一の宮公園

Now we have a day to kill as we have a reservation to drive up Shiude-yama to view the cherry blossom. We must be at the fishing port at the foot of the mountain around 4.30pm.

First, we take a look at Ichinomiya Koen(park). This is an ordinary sort of park but with a swimming beach. There are people taking advantage of the low tide to dig for shellfish and a group of seniors playing park golf or perhaps gate ball.

The park has a ghastly, rocket shaped clock structure and surprisingly a children’s play area designed by Isamu Noguchi. He is an artist of some note and we have been impressed by his work encountered on other journeys. This exhibit suggests he has little interest in children though the objects are strikingly out of place on the scrubby grass by the sea.

Chichibugahama Beach　父母ヶ浜

From the park we head to another more famous beach, Chichibugahama. This expanse of sand with a significant tide forms ripple patterns and pools of still water. These pools reflect if there is no wind so people can take amusing pictures of each other’s humorous antics reflected in the mirror like surface.

I was more interested in the myriads of tiny crabs and the millions of minute sand balls they have created.

There are parking areas and cafes to provide for the visitors. Not a spot I would recommend.

Konmaru-za　金丸座

Next, we head for Kotohira town not to visit Kotohiragu shrine as we have been there before but to take a look at the old Kabuki Theatre ‘Konmaru-za‘. Here we are unlucky as the theatre is preparing for the annual Kabuki performance and a parade of prominent Kabuki actors in the town, so access is denied to the public.

Disappointed we go to Konpira Udon for lunch, an establishment of some fame.

Shiude-yama cherry blossoms

Then we set off for Shiude-yama to view the cherry blossom over the Setonaikai.

We arrive early and are 3^rd in the queue of waiting vehicles. With time to spare we wander around and look at the fishing boats.
At last, we can begin the ascent and set off at the head of a long procession. It is all very organized with lots of staff prominent in pink tops.

At the summit, we park and walk around surrounded by cherry trees stubbornly un-blossomed. There are a lot of people too as we have been gathered together. Many of the groups are Chinese or Thai.

In 2019 the New York Times picked this as a place to visit. Consequently it has become a victim of overtourism. So now it is necessary to book the day and time in advance at the website. This means it is very difficult to time your visit for full blossom as every year is different.

The view over the Setonaikai is great but the absence of blossom a dampening factor. We had also planned to stay the night at the summit as some shachuhaku blogs suggest is possible. The facilities are good, but we were not sufficiently impressed to want to linger. Consequently, we return to michi no eki Takarada no Sato for another night. A day of bad luck and poor judgement. It happens.