Satoshi Nihonyanagi
Welcome to my blog, Green Tea Club !
I'll show you all the beauties and goodies in Shizuoka through this blog.
If you have any inquiry, please feel free to post your messages on it.
Hope to see you around in Shizuoka !
Main content starts here.
11/01/2011 [Tue]
Around Mitsuke Inn Town along the Old Tokaido road ― Iwata City [Iwata]
After the “Museum of Fragrance, Iwata”, I took JR Line from Toyoda to Iwata Station. Remember the blue statue ? Yes, “Jubilo-kun”＾＾ He welcomes any visitors any time, maybe. Hi. Sorry for my Pul-chan cell-phone strap.
Now, I took a #1 bus to “Mitsuke”, one of the old Inn towns, to walk along the old Tokaido road. “Yanahime Shrine” ( or Mitsuke Tenjin Shrine ) has been meant to come first today but due to the catastrophic typhoon, some of huge sacred trees around the shrine had been uprooted and we were forced out of it that day. Too bad…… I had no choice but to walk away from it and stroll along the Tokaido. Though the Old Tokaido itself looks rather contemporary, it still retains some historical evidences in various spots. You may miss some of them without careful looking.
Now, I reached the Old Mitsuke School, one of the symbols of Iwata City. This very historic architecture is said to be the oldest existing wooden western-style school ( established in 1875 ) in Japan and has been also registered as a National Historical Site. Now, let’s get in there ! Then……, I had trouble again…… That is, the building had been seriously damaged by the typhoon and needed to be closed for a while to get repaired. You can go inside now to see the educational materials and scenes of classes of that time free of charge !
All right, I knew there was a unique shrine, “Omikunitama Shrine”, beside the school. But there……, the vestiges of typhoon, again. A huge tree had been uprooted and fallen on the Honden ( God’s house ) roof. What a scene ! Honestly, these ravages were quite a blow to me.
Around Mitsuke (127KB)
Now, this shrine is to worship “Okuninushi-no Mikoto”, the same god as one enshrined in Izumo Taisha Shrine. He is, according to Japanese myth such as “Kojiki” and “Nihon-syoki”, legendarily believed to have had about 180 children ( or Gods, each enshrined in various shrines in Japan ) and these rabbits are to represent the famous old story, “Inaba-no Shiro Usagi”. “Rabbit” also has it that it would bless someone with plenty of babies. Pray for the babies ?＾＾ It may also bless you with someone very special in your life ! Get your Honey or Darling to come♪
After leaving Omikunitama Shrine, I walked down to “Old Akamatsu Memorial House”. I’ll report it next time !
Have a good day !＾＾
Yanahime Shrine ( Mitsuke Tenjin Shrine )
Access from JR Iwata ： 10 minutes by bus and 5 minutes walk
Admission ： Free
The Old Mitsuke School
Access ： 10 minute walk from Yanahime Shrine
Admission ： Free
Open Hours ： 9:00 – 16:30 ( closed on Mondays )
Omikunitama Shrine
Access ： 1 minute walk from The Old Mitsuke School
Admission ： Free
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
Tags :
Posted by Satoshi Nihonyanagi at 10:20 Trackback ( 0 ) Comments ( 0 )
Trackback
Trackback
http://www.shizuoka-guide.com/blog-trip/tb.php?ID=211