Whew! We sure have had a busy weekend! We started it by getting up at the crack o' dawn to get to Sun Messe (see previous post with giant statues with giant heads...yeah) in order to see a sunrise that was supposed to be pretty cool. We had read from the pamphlet we got on our previous excursion that the sunrise on the day of the spring equinox would come up and go directly through a tower, which has a slit in the middle. It would then direct the sunlight up the mountain of a hill in a stream, which would light up stairs that led to the Earth Appreciation Bell.
We were excited.
So we packed up at 5:00 in the good ol' a.m. and headed out. As you might be able to guess from the wording above, we didn't actually see it. As it turns out, we may have had some wrong info. That's the best, isn't it? Anyway, not quite sure what happened, but the place was closed. Drrrrrr..
Lucky for us, the entire drive is along the coast, so we just decided to get some scenic shots of the ocean instead. We then headed out to Obi, which is a small town with castle remains. But this isn't any ol' town, it is actually a Samari City. The buildings and homes are older and seem to be more traditional. We were able to go on a tour of five different buildings that showed history of the town, including a merchant shop, which included some of the first bikes they had, tools, and household appliances from the time; a museum with armor, weapons, and carriers (word??) for nobility; and homes of noblemen.
The castle itself was fought for between two different clans, named the Shimazu and Ito clans. The Ito won out, apparently, and lived there for many years.
We spent a good 2-3 hours traipsing around the city, visiting the different sites. Having a little toddler (the name makes so much more sense to me now) "toddling" around with us definitely added a little time, but he sure enjoyed it!
Oh, and we got to shoot some arrows. We got a little wooden award for being so awesome (don't tell us if they actually give them to everyone who tries. We thought we were pretty great...) and the worker there also gave Bridger lots of Kit-Kats, so he was a big fan of the stop as well.
 |
| Flooded rice fields. We passed several on our journey. |
 |
| Just had to add this one... |
 |
| Castle entrance |
 |
| This kid sure loves rocks. Both playing with them and trying to eat them... |
 |
| Throwing money (perhaps for good luck?) |
 |
| Awesome garden area. Japanese yards, in general, are all about the manicured bushes, plants, and flowers. |
 |
| Playing in the bamboo trees |
 |
Hina doll displays (short version explanation: these dolls represent a wedding party and are brought out during February and March as a good luck for girls, particularly those getting married.)
|
|
 |
| Walking around town |
 |
| Haha! That face! (Bridger's, not Casey's) ;) |
 |
| Carriers of Nobility (I think?) |
 |
| Japanese homes often have these sun halls or sun rooms like this. |
 |
| We are archery champions. |
 |
| Traditional eating area |
No comments:
Post a Comment