Sunomata Castle

Also known as the Sunomata Ichiya jo, or the Sunomata's One day Castle is a castle that was built overnight or so legend says. 

This castle has historical significance in Japan as it lead Hideyoshi Toyotomi's rise to power, who later became one of the military unifier of japan.  The castle was a clever tactical ploy by Hideyoshi who prefabricated parts of the fortress and had them erected over night to confuse and demoralize the enemy.  The tactic worked and the battle was won on that day.

The castle itself was nothing grand in structure originally.   The original structure was nothing more than a wooden walled fortress with  a lookout tower and basic living quarters.  Now the castle has been reconstructed and looks better than it did originally it serves now as a local history museum which includes the story of the castle as well as Samurai weapons and armor discovered in the castle during its renovation.   Note though that since the castle is visited mostly by Japanese tourist there are little English explanations.  Of course this doesn't stop those that can't read Japanese from enjoying the architecture and the surroundings of this beautiful castle. 

The Great Shrine of Izumo

Entrance  to Izumo Taisha

The Great Shrine of Izumo or the Izumo-taisha is located in the center of Izumo or the Shimane prefecture in Japan.  Izumo is known as the land of the gods and the land of myths. Considered one of the oldest shrines in all of Japan the Great Shrine of Izumo is one of Japan's most important Shinto shrines. Although there's no exact record of when the great shrine of Izumo was built its believed to have been already been built well before the Heian period.

Upon entering the Izumo-taisha visitors will be confronted by a wooden structure that is used a the worship hall. The worship hall has the biggest shimenawa in all of the world hung across half it length. Behind the worship hall lies the main shrine which is the tallest shrine building in Japan. The main shrine measures approximately 24 meters in height but it is supposed that when it was first built was 48 meter in height or taller. Both buildings are designated as national treasures. Also within the shrine is a treasure hall which exhibits old painting, documents and lavishly ornamented containers all having to do with Izumo-taisha.

The kami of worship in this shrine is known as Okuninushi. According to creation myths, Okuninushi was the creator of the land of Japan and the ruler of Izumo. He also became known as the deity of good relationships and marriage.

Every year from the 10th to the 17th day of the 10th lunar month, Shinto's eight million kami from across all of japan gather at the Great Shrine of Izumo. At this time in Izumo is know as kamiarizuki or month with kami while in the rest of japan this time is known as kannazuki or month without kami. During this time the kamiari festival is held in the shrine.

Fushimi Inari-Taisha

One of the oldest shrines in Kyoto and the head shrine for all the 40,000 Inari shrine in Japan, Fushimi Inari-Taisha sits under Inari mountain in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto. Dating back to at least 711 and predating the Heian period. The Fushimi Inari-Taisha has thousands of Torri gates that have been put on the pathway up to the shrine, all of which bear the name of businesses that donated the gates because they are grateful to Inari for bringing them fortune. This pathway takes about two hours to complete and is called the Senbon Torii which means a thousand Torii gates. The path is a preferable visit near dusk when the  Torii gates are lit making it a beautiful sight to behold.

Foxes are considered
Inari's messengers.

Stern bronze foxes can be seen throughout the shrine holding keys in their mouths. The keys that some of them hold are for the rice granaries. 

Mount Fuji

When you think of visiting japan you might think of dipping into a hot spring, visiting shrines, going to summer festivals to watch fireworks, going to different restaurants to eat till you drop, or to admire the ancient architectures you don't see at home.  The place we're going to talk about today has all of the above and a few extra thing as bonus.

One of the most popular tourist sites in Japan, for both Japanese and foreign tourist has been standing in tall in Japan for a very long time.  Mount Fuji is an active symbol of Japan but not just geographically or culturally but also spiritually.  Mount Fuji is a sacred site for practitioners of Shinto and it has been since at least the 7th century.
Most can recognize Mount Fuji from afar because it is so tall, standing at 12,380 feet, that it can be seen clearly from Tokyo.  Mount Fuji is located on Hoshou Island and it is an active volcano that last erupted in the 1707's.  Mount Fuji is a beautiful sight to see and  over 200,000 people climb it every year.  It may take a few days to complete the climb but I imagine its well worth it as the view from so high up must be breath taking and the accomplishment itself of climbing the mountain is something not many people can brag about.  During that climb there are huts that can be found selling basic needs and rooms to rest but even so its good to be prepared once you start climbing, take water and food and things to keep yourself warm the higher the altitude that colder it gets, for this reason is that most people climb during summer months.
Mount Fuji is part of Japanese history so to get a sense of where you are if you're ever in Japan it should be visited, if climbing isn't for you that's alright you can still visit Mount Fuji's surrounding lakes, caves, forest and amusement parks and have fun near the mountain.

またね！Matane! See you!

 

The Aokigahara Forest - The Forest of Death!

The Aokigahara Forest known also as a Sea of Trees and The Forest of Death is an extremely scary place to think about.  This forest is so dense with trees, that it is easy to find a place where absolutely no light gets in at high noon when the light of the sun is highest, besides this the forest has a clear absence of wildlife and is known for being exceptionally quite but why does this make it scary?

Well, in a forest where you can run into a cornucopia of dead bodies at every turn let's just say the Aokigahara forest takes the cake when it comes to scary.  Located in the base of Mount Fuji The Aokigahara forest is known as the second most popular place for suicides on earth, home to more that 500 confirmed suicides since the 1950's and the forest is so dense that it is difficult to say that these are all the suicides that have happened within it.  The suicides happen so often that the police left signs that say things like 'value your life' or 'think about your family' in hopes that this would stop some of the suicides.  Sad to say that this doesn't seem to slow down the suicide rate within the forest.


But wait these aren't the only reasons why the Aokigahara forest is scary.  Legend says that in ancient times during famines where food was scarce villages would leave people deep inside the forest to die a slow horrible death as a sacrifice to the forest, because of this the forest is also said to be haunted by the souls of those left behind to die.   And Japanese spiritualist believe that the deaths that have happened within this forest have permeated into the soil and trees, preventing those who enter from escaping the depths of the forest.

怖い!! Kowai!! Scary!!