A lack of foresight on both our parts meant we had no route mapped out to get to Odate from Onikobe... the sea, the mountains, the plains... We ended up going via Rokugo - a town that technically no longer exists since it has merged with the town of Senhata and the village of Sennan to form the generically named Misato-cho. (There are three Misato railway stations in Japan and a Misato-chuo - none of which is in Akita...)
I hadn't heard of it, but it's a pretty city that seems atypically historical for the area. It's famed (locally at least) for its springs but also seems to have a considerable number of temples and shrines. It was very hot and I couldn't persuade Hiro to be enthusiastic about a town walk to cover all the temples and springs that were listed, but we did take a look at some. One day I will need to go back with a 50cc scooter and do it at "my pace...." I left the town brochure at Hiro's parents' place and my details of the town history are a bit sketchy.
I hadn't heard of it, but it's a pretty city that seems atypically historical for the area. It's famed (locally at least) for its springs but also seems to have a considerable number of temples and shrines. It was very hot and I couldn't persuade Hiro to be enthusiastic about a town walk to cover all the temples and springs that were listed, but we did take a look at some. One day I will need to go back with a 50cc scooter and do it at "my pace...." I left the town brochure at Hiro's parents' place and my details of the town history are a bit sketchy.
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| Despite the heat there were so many beautiful flowers. |
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| Akita and its wild children - an amazing rarity... a human being with barefeet on the streets... |
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| Hiro couldn't be persuaded to visit all the dots... |
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| The springs |
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| The temples |
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| There was a lot of foliage in the town. |
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| A ricketty shrine that has seen better days - the posts either side of the tori are not supposed to be on a slant. |
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| A close up |
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| One of the springs - spring really meant pond to my intepretation. |
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| There seemed to be a number of beautifully maintained public parks |
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| The town is surrouned by rice fields. With highly regarded water and abundant rice fields, it's no surprise that it is also a sake producing area. http://www.osake.or.jp/english/senboku.html |
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| A pond |
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| Even the coke machine needs some shade... |
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| Rice and the mountains |
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| A pond on the outskirts |
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| A pond |
http://www.town.misato.akita.jp/madoguchi/soumu/hishokoho/English/place-to-go.asp
http://www.city.semboku.akita.jp/en/index.html (Semboku city guide)
4 comments:
Bare feet in the streets?! Oh my, it's a fellow barbarian! ^^
I look at those ponds, and I can hear the mosquitoes buzzing.
PS: That coke machine caption made me laugh.
I don't think I have ever seen a barefooted person here other than children playing in swimming fountains, babies on picnic rugs wandering off... Akita Barabarians - I knew it!
You're probably right about the mosquitoes - I guess they are lucky the winter gets so cold. I didn't see any, but to be fair we were there in the middle of the day not dawn or dusk.
Barefoot outside?!? Wow! Nice to know I'm not the only northern barbarian! ;)
That shrine looks ever so inviting!
I can't say for certain, but the shrine seemed to be no longer in use... No sign of human life at all. It was a stark contrast to the public parks. It would be an area with marked population decline so it's somewhat possible it has been abandoned.
Nonetheless it's a very pretty and well maintained town.
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