Today you get to read the second part of my feature on Nishi Ono Hachiman Shrine in Kokura-minami. You can expect some standard interior views of a traditional Shinto shrine, as well as an aviation surprise at the end.
Monthly Archives: May 2005
Rural Kitakyushu: Nishi Ono Hachiman Shrine, Part 1
Remember the frogs? I found them behind the main buildings of Nishi Ono Hachinmangu (西大野八幡宮, West Big Field Hachiman Shrine), which is the topic of today’s post. As with the Nanae Falls, I have a whole lot of photos so I’m splitting the post into sections. Today’s entry is all about the outsides of the buildings.
sushiPod Shuffle Again
I’ve been getting a lot of traffic from Mike Davidson’s “meatspace shuffle” pages. If you’re a first-time visitor looking for more pictures of the sushiPod Shuffle I made for the contest, welcome! The pictures are here. If you want to know more about me and my blog, visit the about page. And since you’re here, you might want to check out the Lost in Translation posts—they’re chock full of Engrish—or Strange, which is… well, strange. And there are tons of photos of Japan, if you’re into that.
If you’re one of my regular readers, please note that I’ve set this post to stay at the top of the page for the time being. If you usually come to the main page to see what’s new, you’ll have to scroll down a bit to see the latest posts. Once traffic gets back to normal I’ll refile this post in its rightful chronological place.
Rural Kitakyushu: Sevenfold Waterfalls Part 2
This is the second in a two-part entry about the Sevenfold Waterfalls (Nanae Falls) in Dobaru, Kokura-minami. Today is the grand finale, with photos of the tallest waterfall of the bunch. You also get to see a picture of me. If you haven’t read it, you might want to have a look at yesterday’s post, where I talk about most of the stages of these waterfalls, as well as the challenges of the trail.
Rural Kitakyushu: Sevenfold Waterfalls Part 1
The Nanae Falls (七の滝—Nanae no Taki) are a series of waterfalls that feed a creek that flows into the Masubuchi Reservoir. The name translates as “seven stage falls” or “sevenfold waterfalls,” based on the fact that there are at least seven distinct waterfalls in series in this creek. This is the first two parts to this entry. I’ve split it because there are so many photos.
Rural Kitakyushu: Dammed Rivers
Take the many rivers and mountains of Japan, a large pool of available labour, and a government with a rural power base and a tendency to sponsor megaprojects, and you get expressways to nowhere and dams and reservoirs everywhere. Yesterday I wrote about a super-intense fisherman I saw in one section of the Masubuchi Reservoir. Today I’ll write some more about the reservoir and its associated dams.
Rural Kitakyushu: Reservoir Mobs
I’m mostly back, but don’t have much time to write. So tonight I’m just going to make a quick post of a couple of pictures. They’re from the Masubuchi Reservoir which is in Kokura-minami and has a couple of dams, a suspension bridge, at least one turtle, and from the numbers of fishermen around, probably a good number of fish.
Rural Kitakyushu: An Old Ladies’ Farming Club
As any of the locals will tell you, Japan has four distinct seasons. It’s late spring here, which means that some fields are planted and others are being prepared for crops. Today, in this fourth set of pictures from my April 30th bike trip, I’ll show you what some of the farm wives in this country have to go through. As you’ll see, it’s less of a farming club and more of a labour camp for grandmothers.
Rural Kitakyushu: I Hope You Like Frogs
Here’s the third installment of photos from my April 30th bike trip. I spent a long time taking pictures at a very old-seeming shrine called Nishi Ono Hachimangu (西大野八幡宮—West Big Field Hachiman Shrine) in the Takazuo (高津尾) area of Kokura Minami Ward. While I have lots of photos of the building, today I’m going to limit myself to the local fauna.
Rural Kitakyushu: Not a Temple Nor on My Map, but Strange
In this second story about my April 30, 2005 cycling and hiking day trip through rural Kitakyushu, we’ll go explore a temple complex that I can’t find anywhere on my map. Though as you’ll soon find out it turns out to not be a temple complex after all.