Heading to the West- Tsugaru Peninsula ⛩ 🦊

 Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to get to go to two locations in North Western Japan that were absolutely stunning. And strangely enough, for the first time since, I have been traveling, not absolutely swamped with people. I went on a bus trip through the base travel office. 

The first stop on our trip was the Takayama Inari Shrine, known for its 1000 shrines. It was absolutely beautiful. 'Inari' shrines are all over Japan, having the place where the fox spirits settle. The most famous is probably in Kyoto. The Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is the one known for having all the Torii gates going up the stairs. I visited it when I was in Kyoto back in 2020. But I think this one was actually a lot nicer. While there were some stairs initially, getting up to the beautiful shrine, I didn't have to climb a mountain this time. And it was much less crowded. 

The shrine itself was really pretty, and going up a path just past it, there were several much smaller shrines and a memorial to an American Merchant Ship that sunk just off the coast of the peninsula in 1889, in a corner where you could see the water. 

The Torii gates were down the other side, past the shrine. Said to be 1000 (not actually) Torii gates; they were lining a path just past a pond. I think what really makes this place unique is that when you get to the end of the path and look over the line of the gates, it resembles a Chinese dragon, with its head at the far end, facing away. 

There were also dozens of fox statues lining one edge of the area and more scattered around the shrine. It was really interesting. They were all dressed up. I assume due to the recent holiday, this was a way of honoring the spirits that rested there. 

That wasn't all we were going to be able to see, though. After the shrine, we stopped at a local mall to get lunch and then headed off to the Tsuru-no-Mai Bridge. On our way through the area, we drove through an area that translated to Rice Rice Road. It was completely covered on both sides by rice fields, the local crop. With the cranes flying past, it was something out of a movie. But now to the bridge. 

While not as impressive as the shrine, it was still a piece of Japanese history. Tsuru-no-Mai Bridge passes over the Tsugaru Fujimi Lake with a reflection of Mt. Iwaki. With the bridge's total length being 300 meters, it is Japan’s longest triple-arch wooden bridge. The bridge view looks as if a crane is flying in the background of Mt Iwaki. Also, it is said that visitors who walk across the bridge will have a long life. Mt. Iwaki is known colloquially as Mt. Fuji of the North due to its shape. While we couldn't see the whole mountain due to cloud cover that day, we could still see portions of it. 

After we crossed, we stopped at the shop on the other side and got soft serve ice cream. Grape flavor for me and Apple flavor for Charles. While it sounds strange, it was actually really good. Apples are what Aomari province is known for, so be prepared for some apple content coming your way in the next few months as they are getting harvested. The trip was a good one, and I was glad to have gotten to go when I did. The Shrine is going to be going under a rolling renovation for the next three years, so the view I got today wouldn't be visible for the rest of the time I will be in Japan.