(=⌒ー⌒=)ノ~☆・゜:*:゜Hello~

It's finally time for the photos of day 3 in Matsuyama which was also my last day there. After that I went to Kochi and then to Naruto to see the famous whirlpools, but that's not the topic of this entry today XD

Matsuyama - Day 3 (April 5th, 2009):

Day 3 was mainly spent in the Dogo Onsen area and it was a long and very interesting day :) Enjoy~



Bocchan Train at Dogo Onsen station.



The famous Dogo Onsen clock:

Botchan Gizmo Clock (坊っちゃんカラクリ時計). Chimes between 08:00-21:00. Admirers of the aforementioned Botchan may enjoy watching the Gizmo Clock located beside Dōgo Onsen Station at the mouth of the shopping arcade when it chimes every hour and half hour. Botchan Karakuri Tokei was completed in 1994 to memorialize the 100th year of the last reconstruction of Dōgo Bathhouse, and the animatronics that emerge during the musical interlude depict special scenes from the novel. (source: wikipedia)

Performance time! <3



Right next to the clock is a small onsen for your feet.



At first I decided to visit a few shines that where close by. On my way to one of them I found this: is it just me or does this look like a kanji?!?
Maybe it's really one XD I have no clue!



There's always only one huge problem with several Japanese shrines/temples .... the 23423042034239234 stairs you have to climb before you reach your goal (x_X) .... XD



That tree and especially its roots looked really interesting.



Isaniwa Shrine (伊佐爾波神社)

Sitting upon Dōgo Hill and assessable by car or climbing 135 stone steps, this important cultural asset is one of three great examples of Buddhist Hachiman-zukuri (God of War) architecture in Japan. As promised by the lord of Matsuyama Castle, Matsudaira Sadanaga (松平定長), if the gods awarded him victory in the 1667 Edo Castle Yabusame (horseback archery) competition, the outer walls of Isaniwa Shrine are modeled after the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto, while the inner sanctum (the oldest part of the shrine) are in various Shinto styles of the 17th century. Memorials honoring the warlords who fought against the Kamakura battalion are guarded by stalwart dogs who watch over the four deities adorning the four corners of the vermillion structure, and to whom the shrine is dedicated. It should be understood that to the Japanese, the literal objects at important locations are not exactly as significant as the location itself, so purposely moving, dismantling and rebuilding sacred sites is not frowned upon. Isaniwa Jinja, in all of its various forms and styles, has been worshipped at least since the 900s, and is the marker of where two Heian Era monarchs bathed in Dōgo springs. There are exhibitions of feudal era armor (including Matsudaira's helmet) and swords (Tachi Mei, a mid-Kamakura era piece crafted by the famous Kuniyuki Rai) as well as occasional events such as weddings and Shichi-Go-San throughout the year. (source: wikipedia)

Yeah, we got it! It's the year of the cow (丑).





I really like the Hachiman style in general :)



Back at the Dogo Onsen station I took this blue cute tourist bus to go to a few sightseeing spots that only can be reached with that bus anyway (or you walk for a few hours ..).



After remembering the route somehow I got off here (Russian Graveyard) and decided to walk the whole way back while stopping at interesting (tourist) spots (took me forever but was a lot of fun!).



Russian Graveyard.





And then I slowly walked back the whole way. There were SO MANY temples and shrines, some of them were part of the 88 temple pilgrimage of Shikoku (I wrote about it in one of my previous entries).



Of course I took a lot of random photos. The scenery was so beautiful there no matter where you looked!









They seem to like Qoo and ...



... Coke! XD



Maybe I've been walking for too long or ... wait .. HUH???!!! XD









Finally back on a main road and far away from the evil shrines everywhere that force me to stay, stare and take photos! XD
Yay for the cherry blossom path! <3



Cute!



As you probably can guess by looking at the photos it was a really random day with TONS of nice discoveries and experiences ^-^



And just when I thought I'd finally left behind all the temples/shrines/graveyards some more were showing up (o_o') ....









And 2 pilgrims on their way (~> 88 Shikoku temple pilgrimage)



Finally reached 一草庵 (Issou-An hermitage) where the famous haiku poet Santoka (山頭火) lived.
I went there without knowing anything at all, just because I had some time left, but in the end it turned out to be one of my highlights in the end :D
Right when I came there a female middle-aged Japanese guide approached me and told me it was her first day and I'm her first customer today asking if it's okay if she shows me around and explains everything.
I thought it might be a good practice for my Japanese so I agreed. (It was free, of course.)
Actually there's nothing much to see, but with a guide you get to know about quite a lot of things.
Santoka was a famous haiku poet who actually was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture (which is where I live NOW!!!!). When I told that my guide she was freaking out! XDDDDD
She showed me some of his haikus and tried to explain their 心 / meaning to me. It was quite difficult. I guess even for Japanese people it might be difficult, but very interesting.
I think that's when I became KIND OF interested in haikus.

After the tour she invited me to meet some other people and have tea and all. Then a really famous haiku poet joined and everybody was freaking out and then they started to take photos of me together with that haiku poet and together with just everybody. I was the only foreigner, everybody else was staff, no tourists XDDDDD In the end we exchanged addresses and meanwhile I got a letter from her with some photos of that day.
Guess I should reply one of these days (^^'') .....





As you might have guessed already I was on my way again and couldn't resist and just had to take photos of random things XD





Finally back at Dogo Onsen. This is the main building. Remember? I went there the first night! It's the oldest Onsen in Japan ^^



Bocchan love!~



More photos of the main building of Dogo Onsen.



Natsume Souseki again.



Dogo Onsen is actually quite huge, huh? :)



Finally I went to the Dogo Park where a cherry blossom festival was held (like everywhere in April XD).
Tons of people!!







Finally reached one of the REAL highlights of my trip!
Although this photos doesn't look very impressive, I know XDDDD ....
We're talking about the Ishite Temple (石手寺) here. It's about 30min. by foot from Dogo Onsen St.

This is one of the most impressive of the 88 Temples in the Pilgrimage, housing a variety of statues, haiku stones and treasures scattered about the grounds, some of its more interesting aspects being the Deva Hall with its murals of gods, the belfry and the giant stone stature of Kōbō Daishi whose head, if you can touch it, will absolve you of making the entire pilgrimage. Founded in 728 and part of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism, Ishite Temple embodies one of the most moving of Buddhist legends of greed, sorrow, repentance and reincarnation. The Niomon Gate is a National Treasure and the 3 Story Pagoda and hall are in the Kamakura style. Smoke from the incense of pilgrims making their prayers fill the inner sanctum. Ishiteji celebrates the New Year like no other temple in Matsuyama with vendors selling regional fares, nightly performances and excessive, colorful decorations and thousands of candles from those seeking good fortune in the new year. (source: wikipedia)

So, first of all it was HUGE!!!! And I mean HUGE!!!!! I think I wasn't able to see even half of it (because they were closing at 5pm ;o; .....)



Then, there were SO MANY interesting things to discover! You probably could spend hours there!



Of course, there were a lot of pilgrims as well. The pagoda was nice, too, but ...



... the awesome thing about this temple are the caves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (*____*)
On my photos it all looks kind of bright because I used flash, but let me tell you that it was completely dark inside!! The stone caves were HUGE!!! Some 100 meters long and there was so much stuff inside, but you couldn't see anything! There was no light. I took some photos with flash to check what was actually in there XDDD and sometimes to find my way through the caves!!! A little bit scary but such an awesome experience (*___*)



So ... imagine that, just pitch dark, cold and maybe quiet (if nobody else is there).





I probably didn't see all of that cave (well .... "see" is not the right word anyway XD ...), because it was so huge and you couldn't see where you were going to, but after a while you want to GET OUT again XD .....
This is where I finally got out of the cave :)



And across the street the whole thing continued. I told you it was HUGE!!!!!!!!







That statue was a little bit scary, but the cat was cute! XD



Another really interesting thing right in front of my eyes! This whole temple and its surroundings were just too awesome ;o;



You probably can't tell from the photos, but the blueish things are marbles :)



Then this huge statue far away on a hill (doesn't look too far away thanks to my super-zoom XD)



Back at the center of the temple. Found another cat (*_*)



And just couldn't resist (^^')>



Oh, and the pagoda, of course! :) Only 3-storied, but still very nice ^-^



Well, it was past 5pm, I was tired, they were closing and it was time to go back to the station.



But not without taking a few more nice shots XD







And somehow I finally made it back to the shopping arcade in the center of Matsuyama and that even before the sunset ^-^;



Matsuyama is famous for this kind of mikan juice, so of course I had to try it :)





And that was my last day in Matsuyama. I'm sorry that it were so many photos this time! I already selected just a few (originally there were WAY more).
Ishite is an awesome temple! If you ever have the chance to go there, DO IT!! (*_*)
Next will be Kochi! XD

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