18/07/2023 / Last updated : 18/07/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Uji Byodo-in, Ten yen temple　　宇治平等院

April 19th. 2023 Michi no eki Resty Karako-Kagi Thunder in the night at Resty Karako-Kagi, but the actual downpour only lasted a few minutes. Resty, as I have said before is an excellent michi no eki for an overnight stay. Consequently, it is becoming known and popular. I think it would be very crowded – too crowded – on a three-day weekend for example. On a damp Wednesday night, there are perhaps 30 to 40 overnight vehicles, and the capacity is 75 cars. Uji Byodo-in, Ten Yen Temple Thunder in the night gives rise to a damp, foggy morning and the humid conditions persist all day. We set off to […]

15/07/2023 / Last updated : 15/07/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Nara/ Kyoto border Kasagidera and Dragon Shrines　笠置寺、龍穴神社

April18th. 2023 Kasagidera Temple From the michi no eki Minami Yamashina we drive to Kasagidera. A large temple not on the usual tourist itinerary, outside autumn leaves season anyway. The access to Kasagidera is up a somewhat daunting lane that ends in a car park for perhaps 20 cars. No one is collecting parking fees earlyish on a Tuesday morning in Spring. From the car park, there is a walk of perhaps 200 metres, past an unlikely ryokan to the first temple building. Here a gentleman accepts 300-yen temple entrance fee and another 300 for D.’s Goshuin. We are then free to wander the mountaintop circuit (about 800m) of temple […]

06/07/2023 / Last updated : 06/07/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Daizenji – Grape Temple and Shosen-kyo　大善寺、昇仙峡

April 14th. 2023 Michi no eki Otaki onsen We spent the night at michi no eki Otaki onsen. It was a Thursday night so the onsen was closed as was the restaurant. There is a F. Mart open until 10 pm but that is on another level up there with the road. The michi no eki car park etc. are below, deeper in the gorge. The first impression of the place is grim concrete, especially as a section of the parking is under the parking for the convenience store above. The michi no eki is connected to the F. Mart by a rusting spiral staircase. The facilities are also under […]

22/06/2023 / Last updated : 22/06/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Nomizo Waterfall and Naritasan Shinsho-ji　濃溝の滝、成田山新勝寺

April 10th. 2023 Very good quiet night at Rosemary Park. In the morning we walk around the other section of the michi no eki. This is the, now abandoned, Shakespeare Park. This consists of a few replica Elizabethan buildings and a small formal garden in a state of some decay. Nomizo waterfall and Kameiwa cave From the michi no eki we drive to Nomizo waterfall and cave. From the parking area there is a short walk and then some steps down to a stream that less than cascades through a natural arch. This forms a pleasing and photogenic scene. Apparently, in the early morning at the equinox you can see […]

18/06/2023 / Last updated : 02/07/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Nokogiriyama Nihon-ji Temple　鋸山日本寺

April 9th. Tokyo Bay Aqua Line Leaving Tokyo via the Aqua Line which we had fondly imagined to be some kind of bridge across Tokyo Bay. It turns out to be a 9.5 kilometre tunnel full of crawling Sunday traffic. After the Umihotaru S.A. it does become a bridge to Chiba side, but the magic has gone. ＊Tokyo Bay Aqua Line ; 3140 yen (car with ETC ; 800 yen) Nokogiriyama Nihon-ji Temple Once in Chiba, a prefecture we are visiting as we have neglected it so far, we head for Nokogiriyama. To climb from the bottom, take the ropeway or drive to the top? That is the question. It […]

16/06/2023 / Last updated : 16/06/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Shibamata Taishakuten and St. Mary’s Cathedral　柴又帝釈天

April. A few days in Tokyo. Some days in Tokyo not by choice but obligation. Nevertheless, some points of interest. Nagatoro　長瀞 We took a trip out to Nagatoro for a picnic. This proved something of a disappointment. It is the head waters of the Arakawa, the large river cutting through Tokyo from Saitama. At Nagatoro, it is not very large, but it flows through a gorge and there are boat rides of the traditional kind. There is a rocky scrubland where the river probably flows when in spate or used to flow in the past. Here you can walk and picnic. It is fine as a respite from the city […]

21/05/2023 / Last updated : 22/05/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Kimiidera, Negoro-ji and Kokawadera temples, Wakayama　紀三井寺

March 29th. Wednesday Onsen no Sato Kamiyama and ferry to Kii Peninsula Onsen no Sato Kamiyama belies first impressions and is a good spot for an overnight. We leave early, as we have a ferry to catch in Tokushima. But first, we stop in Kamiyama to admire and take some pictures of the fine cherry blossom display. The cherry blossom is everywhere along the road. Kamiyama provides free parking, but we are the only vehicle before 9 am on a Wednesday. It is a beautiful morning of bright sunshine. Good viewing weather, but very difficult to capture the delicate beauty of a cascade of blossom without the intrusions of the […]

15/03/2023 / Last updated : 17/04/2026 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Shodoshima, Hoshoin and Hishio no Sato　　醤の郷

Oct. 29th. 2022 & Nov.2025 Osaka Castle Memorial Stones Commemorative Plaza. Osaka Castle Memorial Stones Commemorative Plaza michi no eki provides a restful night. Morning brings the excitement of a lone monkey wandering across the empty car park and along the front of the not yet open michi no eki buildings. A little later, small children with grandparents arrive to wait for the school bus. Here there is a remnant of an earlier Triennale festival. Castle stones with plaques of an esoteric nature entitled “Dynamite Traverse Variations”. These depict the trajectory of shock waves from dynamite blasts traveling through rock, I think. Pulling out we make for Sakate Port, as […]