Japan Day 10: the sandbar and the birds.

Ben has an iPad and uses it to show us things he’s talking about each day. Sometimes it’s maps, but today it was a painting of the place we were driving to.

In the 500s, there was a famous artist whose name escapes me, who went over to China to learn how to draw and paint. He was prolific in his lifetime and there are still 20 of his works that still exist today. This one, of the Amanohashidate sandbar and the temple is the most famous.

The temple has a few things that I haven’t seen before. These fans, for instance, were in several trees near the main building of the temple.

The temple is dedicated to learning. This building is the oldest part, dating in the 1200s. Books were kept here.

Ben said that when he was in Australia to settle his daughter in at university, he saw graffiti In a lot of places. Stickers are like Japanese graffiti.

I swear, I’m not going to be embarrassed about owning a pram for Scout again. The number of doggy prams in Japan is huge.

The best place to see the sandbar is from the top of the mountain. The chairlift is the first one I’ve been on that doesn’t have a safety bar in the front.

The sandbar… because I’m not laboriously typing out that long name again… is 3.6-kms long. It’s covered with pine trees. Although it’s surrounded by sea water on both sides, somewhere in the middle there is an old well with spring water in it.

Amanohashidate means “the bridge to heaven”. It is named because it appears like a bridge floating up in the sky when you turn your back to Amanohashidate and bend down to look its upside-down view through between your legs from the Kasamatsu park.

Ben was freaking out as he was taking this. “Hold onto the handrail, Frogdancer!”

Here you go!

The two Kami who created Japan by laying an egg for each island had a ladder in heaven that fell to earth and became the sandbar. This legend was before the Shinto book, from before the 6th century.

The bays look like bites have been taken out. And even though a walk on the beach is WASTED without a dog being with me, It was time to head down for lunch and to check it out.

I bought a postcard here that I might frame when I get home.

Nonchalant on the chairlift. Me? I was worried I was going to drop Wanda, so I was clutching her to my chest like a baby.
Incidentally, so far I haven’t left her behind anywhere on this trip. Knocks on wood.

I really think all the drama with Mum and Dad before Vietnam really messed with my head. Thank goodness I’m back to normal and perfectly normal and ordinary again!

As I was walking across the bridge I saw this beast setting off.

Gazing out to sea. I enjoy the whimsicality of dressing statues.

I decided to go and stand on that point of sand.

And so I did.
Do you recognise my travelling boots? They’re the only shoes I’ve brought with me. I’m travelling the lightest I ever have for a winter trip.

It was almost as if I was on the beach at home. It was an absolutely sparkling Friday, yet hardly anyone else was here.

Tomorrow is Saturday though, so I’m expecting huge crowds like we saw at the Bamboo Forest. But for now, it was so pleasant to feel the space and the sun.

That looks like fun!
As I got closer I saw that the husband had a baby strapped to him.

We were chatting about him, with their limited English and my non-existent Japanese, when I noticed something odd about his mother’s teeth…

She has jewellery on them! I asked if I could take her photo because I’ve never seen this before, then naturally, we airdropped.

Here I am!

At least the beach was being used properly by this person. If Scout smells any vestiges of the beach on my boots on Tuesday, she’ll be cross.

I had some time left to grab some lunch and walk through some shops before we left. I saw some mini sticks of incense that I thought might fit inside my little ceramic happy Buddha I bought at the Golden Pavilion, so I bought a couple of packs.

Then back through the temple I went.

It’s a shame I didn’t allow myself more time to wander around here, because it had some quirky aspects. Unfortunately, the alarm on my phone had sounded.

When I’m on a tour, I always set my alarm for 10 minutes before we have to get back to the bus. I don’t want to be THAT person who everyone is waiting for.

Incense actually being used! I took this photo to show you the charcoal brazier at the back, which people use to light the incense sticks. It has been kept burning for 100 years.

Goodbye, shrine!

Our next stop was Ine fishing village, where we were going on a boat cruise.

Now here’s where you can learn from my mistake. If you ever come here, it’s not the 300 year old fishing village that’s the attraction. Oh no.

it’s feeding the birds from the boat. Buy a bag of chips and have some fun.

Because it was crazy. I didn’t realise, so all I could do was watch other people literally feeding the birds from their hands.

This is what our boat must look like. Birds swarming around it, like something out of Hitchcock’s’The Birds.’ It was insane, but such good fun.

I liked the colours in this shot.

There were masses of seagulls, but what I really wanted to capture was the hawks.

I’m so glad I bought the new iPhone after Canada last year. Being able to take shots like these makes me so happy.

After this, we drove back to Osaka, where like a bad little quilter I went back and bought more fabric. In my defence, I also bought a present each for Izzy and Sophie. Got to keep the daughters-in-law happy!

Dad Joke of the Day: