Hiromine shrine

Had a nice little train ride to Himeji yesterday. There’s not a ton to do or see here, so im only here for two nights.

Turns out that one night would have been plenty.

Because im me, instead of going to the number one attraction in the area, I went on a bus ride to some out of the way mountaintop shrine. Totes worth it because I literally had the place to myself.

Mount Hiromineyama is a beautiful area with a straight-up jungle trying to take over.

You’re supposed to be able to see the castle, but I didn’t
I guess you write a wish on some paper and put a dollar and the wish in the hole corresponding to your Chinese astrological animal.
Each of these little houses has a different deity inside. The idea is that you wish your wish to each one. Kinda increases your odds, i guess
Something got lost in the translation here lol
This one is called Dignity

After I got back to town, I went to this big garden. It’s not old at all, but still pretty. The local high school kids had an ikebana competition, and the arrangements made me think of my mom. She loved lilies.

This one was my favorite
The garden has only been here since the 90s
The builders must have spent a fortune on mature trees when the garden got installed

Today its a holiday. That means a street fair on the castle grounds. There’s supposed to be lots of cool stuff going on.

I bought a ticket for the new godzilla movie. It opens today, and I’ve been dying to see it.

A bit of news…

Froggy and I have parted ways.

He just loved Mt. Fuji so much he decided to stay permanently. I get it, I really do. It’s beautiful there, with the sacred mountain, and the lakes, and the thousand year old shrines and all.

I’ll miss him.

Last osaka day

Kinda just took a very long walk today and had some yummy lunch.

Ofc I took a train to a shrine lol

This particular one is outside of the downtown area, so there weren’t too many foreigners like me. It was Sunday, so that meant a flea market. I was tempted by some neat old junk, but alas, my bag is at capacity.

I got some pork katsu curry at the train station. Delicious and perfectly spicy. Which is to say, not very spicy at all. Japanese food can be either quite bland or it blows your lips off.

Sumiyoshi Taisha
Lots of really magnificent trees. Ones been Estimated at 1100 years old
Cats are a big thing here. Lots of adorable children having their pictures taken in elaborate outfits as a result.
This one was neat. Don’t see too many white ones
It may not look like much, but damn I do love it

Minoh Falls

Nice little day out to see a waterfall. I’ve seen a lot that Osaka has to offer, so this time around, im taking local trains out of the city center.

The weather was perfect for an easy walk in the mountains.

Lots of locals exercising and photographers having a field day.

I was hoping to see the local monkey tribe, but I’ll settle for a single crab
These signs always cheer me up
This was the fattest fish bun thing I’d ever had
Strangely threatening

I took a walk around the main shopping area and people watched for a long time. Its Halloween today and I saw tons of costumes.

Delicious tempura seaweed crackers
Its one of the local specialty foods, but it was just fried stuff on a stick in the end

Its hard to find a place to sit down sometimes but you can always find a shrine or temple. Also there are bathrooms.

This place is one of my favorites

I sat and read for the rest of the day. Also I did my laundry.