Last additions - JAPAN PHOTOS by Philbert Ono

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Last additions - KANAGAWA　神奈川県

Apr 19, 2020

They lit the bon fire made of prayer tablets. This was the fire festival (火祭) part of the event.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Before it got dark, some people dressed as samurai arrived near the Noh stage with sacred fire torches.Apr 19, 2020

Entrance of the sacred fire that was created in the Haiden in the early morning.Apr 19, 2020

Wooden prayer tablets for a bon fire.Apr 19, 2020

I was very impressed by their English. Very good explanation and excellent English coaching. Wish all festivals in Japan did this.Apr 19, 2020

Before the Noh play, these local kids went on stage and explained about the Noh play in English.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Noh stage at Oyama Afuri Shrine (大山阿夫利神社) for Takigi Noh performance. "Takigi" means "firewood" so the Noh play was held in the evening with burning torches. 火祭薪能Apr 19, 2020

Cheap seats were ¥1,500.Apr 19, 2020

Bleachers.Apr 19, 2020

Audio guide for English interpreting.Apr 19, 2020

Google Map to Mt. OyamaApr 19, 2020

Way to Oyama Afuri Shrine's Noh stage at the Shamukyoku shrine office. 社務局Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Himatsuri Takigi Noh is held annually on two successive days in early Oct. It's an outdoor Noh play under firelight. This Noh tradition goes back 300 years. Saw it on Oct. 3, 2019. PR poster for Takigi Noh on Mt. Oyama.Apr 19, 2020

Manhole in Oyama, Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture.Apr 19, 2020

Baby gourds.Apr 19, 2020

Atago Falls 愛宕滝Apr 19, 2020

Way to the Takigi Noh venue.Apr 19, 2020

Bridge over Oyama River.Apr 19, 2020

Atagodaki bus stop for the bus bound for Isehara Station.Apr 19, 2020

Local Oyama beer. The local sake is also good because of the good water.Apr 19, 2020

Walking down the main road.Apr 19, 2020

Roadside shrine for Fudo Myo-o.Apr 19, 2020

About Roben Falls where ascetic Buddhist Priest Roben first bathed and founded Oyama-dera Temple in 755. Roben also had a hand in founding the famous Todaiji Temple in Nara that houses the giant Buddha and Ishiyama-dera Temple in Otsu, Shiga..Apr 19, 2020

Roben Falls. During the Edo Period, pilgrims would bathe under these falls for purification. Roben Falls was made famous by woodblock prints showing tattooed pilgrims bathing here. 良弁滝Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Plaque on "Tofu Road" where there were many tofu maker/sellers. Afuri tofu is famous because of Oyama's good water. Local inns started making tofu with the local water and the soybeans pilgrims brought as payment for lodging.Apr 19, 2020

Names of pilgrimage groups and individuals along the roadside.Apr 19, 2020

TanukiApr 19, 2020

We walked back down the Koma-sando steps.Apr 19, 2020

Motodaki Falls where worshippers would purify themselves before going to worship. 元滝Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable Station.Apr 19, 2020

Passing loop at Oyama-dera Station.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable car tracks going down.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable car going down.Apr 19, 2020

Steps back down. Mt. Oyama has Oyama-dera and a few other notable spots, but we didn't have time to visit them this day.Apr 19, 2020

Frog for a safe return. "Kaeru"Apr 19, 2020

Lion statue at the shrine entrance.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Hazy when we were there, but Enoshima island would be visible on clear days.Apr 19, 2020

Afuri Shrine's Sekison cafe also has this outdoor counter with a view. On clear days, Enoshima and the ocean can be seen. 石尊Apr 19, 2020

Galette for lunch. (ガレット)Apr 19, 2020

Afuri Shrine's cafe named Sekison, the indoor dining room. Open 9:30 am–4 pm. 石尊Apr 19, 2020

About Nuno-maneki banners.Apr 19, 2020

Nuno-maneki banners.Apr 19, 2020

Names of worshippers who had tattoos. Their names also have labels describing their tattoos for ID purposes.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Afuri Shrine priest Kunihiko Meguro showed us a large wooden sword that was offered by a pilgrimage group.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Names of shrine supporters.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Afuri Shrine priest Kunihiko Meguro showed us a large wooden sword that was offered to the shrine by a pilgrimage group in 1905. (大山阿夫利神社).The tradition of bringing and offering a sword by pilgrimage groups started with Kamakura-based Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) who offered a sword to the shrine to pray for the defeat of his enemy, the Taira Clan. The offered swords got as big as 6 meters long made of wood.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Afuri Shrine altar (大山阿夫利神社).Apr 19, 2020

Inside Oyama Afuri Shrine (大山阿夫利神社).Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

In the shrine's Kyakuden lobby, a screen partition depicting the Ranryo-o court dance. 蘭陵王Apr 19, 2020

ぼけ封じ守護神Apr 19, 2020

Religious sculptures, monuments, and a wooden sword offering displayed in the shrine's Haiden basement passage. 一礼来福Apr 19, 2020

In the shrine's Haiden basement passage, Oyama meisui sacred water from a natural spring in the shrine's basement. You can fill your water bottle with this drinkable water. 大山名水Apr 19, 2020

Steps to the Honsha main shrine on the mountaintop. From here, it's about a 90-min. hike to the Honsha main shrine on the summit.Apr 19, 2020

Entrance to the hiking path to the Honsha main shrine on Mt. Oyama's summit. Takes about 2 hours to reach the summit. Steep and rocky trail. 登拝門Apr 19, 2020

O-tengu goblin monument. 大天狗Apr 19, 2020

Children's monument from the city of Kawasaki.Apr 19, 2020

Monument from a pilgrimage group from Yanaka.Apr 19, 2020

Lots of monuments at Oyama Afuri Shrine.Apr 19, 2020

Ema tablet with a tengu goblin and Haiden Hall.Apr 19, 2020

Huge monument that everyone stares at and wonder what it is. This sculpture of steel water buckets seems to be related to fire prevention, donated by people from Kawagoe, Saitama. 武蔵川越Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Kyakuden waiting room for worshippers. 客殿Apr 19, 2020

Haiden prayer hall. On the right of the Haiden, you can see the entrance to the basement where there is natural spring. 拝殿Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Afuri Shrine (大山阿夫利神社) Haiden prayer hall. The shrine was built to bring rain for agriculture. One of the gods enshrined is the father of Mt. Fuji's goddess. 拝殿Apr 19, 2020

About Afuri Shrine.Apr 19, 2020

About Afuri Shrine. Google Map to Afuri ShrineApr 19, 2020

Oyama mountain of lions surrounded by animals from the Oriental zodiac. This is actually a large rock brought here from Mt. Fuji. Mt. Oyama's deity is the father of Mt. Fuji's goddess. 獅子山Apr 19, 2020

Torii at the top of the steps and Oyama mountain of lions.Apr 19, 2020

In the old days, it was a tradition for pilgrimage groups to worship at Oyama and offer a large wooden sword as depicted by this statue. The offertory swords were small at first, then they got as big as 6 meters long. Pilgrimage groups (called -ko 講) from the same area or occupation still come to worship at Mt. Oyama.Apr 19, 2020

Stone markers engraved with names of shrine donors and their locale.Apr 19, 2020

Steps to Afuri Jinja Shrine are lined with stone markers engraved with names of shrine donors.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Way to Afuri Shrine. Mt. Oyama once had many temples and shrines allied with local feudal lords. But they were forced to disband by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period until only two were left: Oyama Afuri Shine and Oyama-dera Temple. Apr 19, 2020

After about 6 min., we reached Afuri Jinja Station, the last stop.Apr 19, 2020

Passing loop at Oyama-dera Station.Apr 19, 2020

Inside the Oyama Cable car.Apr 19, 2020

To visit Oyama-dera Buddhist Temple, get of at this station. (During this trip, we didn't visit Oyama-dera Temple, dedicated to Fudo Myo-o.)Apr 19, 2020

There's only one station in-between where the trains going in opposite directions pass each other. This is Oyama-dera Station if you want to visit Oyama-dera Temple.Apr 19, 2020

At the Oyama Cable Station, we took the cable car halfway up the mountain to Afuri Jinja Station. It's 280 meters long up the slope and runs every 20 min. from 9 am to 5 pm on weekends or until 4:30 pm on weekdays. It's also possible to hike up.Apr 19, 2020

Poster to recruit omiko shrine maidens for New Year's 2020. They won't get paid much. ¥1,020/hour.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable Station ticket window.Apr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable StationApr 19, 2020

Oyama Cable Car hours.Apr 19, 2020

Almost at cable car station.Apr 19, 2020

Pilgrimage monument.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

Souvenir shops.Apr 19, 2020

Entrance to Negishi Ryokan, one of many pilgrims' inns called "shukubo" where pilgrims would stay. During the Edo Period, Oyama had hundreds of pilgrims' inns, but now only about 40+ remain. 根岸旅館Shukubo lodging rates start from ¥10,000 per person per night including dinner and breakfast. To search for a shukubo on Oyama, see http://ooyama-ryokan.com/english/index.htmlApr 19, 2020

More names of pilgrims.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

14th landing on the path.Apr 19, 2020

More steps. Just walk up at a leisurely pace.Apr 19, 2020

More tops.Apr 19, 2020

Looking back down the path.Apr 19, 2020

Apr 19, 2020

This path is not wheelchair accessible.Apr 19, 2020

Tanuki at shop entrances is common on Oyama. Afuri tofu cuisine is also recommended.Apr 19, 2020

Pilgrimage groups formed among neighborhoods and occupations and they sent delegations to Oyama every year to pray on the group's behalf. It took 2 to 3 days to walk from Edo/Tokyo.Mt. Oyama became a destination for fun besides religion. Along the Koma-sando, you can see these many stone monuments and plaques engraved with the names of pilgrims and pilgrimage groups who worshipped on Oyama. Lots of names everywhere on this mountain.Apr 19, 2020

Tops for sale.Apr 19, 2020

Maker of tops with a lathe.Apr 19, 2020

The Koma-sando path to Oyama Cable Station is mainly concrete steps lined with souvenir shops, restaurants, and ryokan inns for pilgrims.Apr 19, 2020

How to count the tops on the Koma-sando path.Apr 19, 2020

Tops on the Koma-sando path. "Koma" means "top."Apr 19, 2020

About spinning tops in Oyama. Made locally with lathes and used as amulets or gifts.Apr 19, 2020

Koma-sando is a path of steps leading to the temple and shrine. It passes by souvenir shops, eateries, and inns and goes to the Oyama Cable Station. It's not too strenuous, taking about 20 min. こま参道Apr 19, 2020

Way to Koma-sando path.Apr 19, 2020

Entrance to the uphill Koma-sando path to Oyama Cable car station. Apr 19, 2020

Statue from Oyama-dera Temple greeting worshippers.Apr 19, 2020

Sloping path.Apr 19, 2020

Tops on the local fire station.Apr 19, 2020

Got off the bus at the Oyama Cable bus stop and walk to the Koma-sando path nearby.Apr 19, 2020

From Isehara Station's North Exit, go to bus stop 4 and take the bus going to Oyama Cable bus stop, taking about 30 min.Apr 19, 2020

From Isehara Station's North Exit, there was this long line for the bus stop 4. Some people were going on a different bus, but we all got on the right bus.Apr 19, 2020

One easy way to explore Mt. Oyama: 1. From Isehara Station Kitaguchi (North Exit), go to bus stop 4 and take a bus for Oyama Cable (30 min). 2. From the bus stop, walk up the Koma-sando path to Oyama Cable Station (20 min.).
3. Take the Oyama Cable car to Afuri Jinja Station. (6 min.).
4. Visit Oyama Afuri Shrine Shimosha.
5. Take the Oyama Cable car back down. If you want, get off at Oyama-dera Station to visit Oyama-dera Temple.
6. From Oyama Cable Station, walk back down the Koma-sando path to Oyama Cable bus stop for the bus back to Isehara Station.Apr 19, 2020

Mt. Oyama once had so many pilgrims that several roads from Tokyo (Edo) and surrounding areas leading to Oyama were dubbed "Oyama-do Road" (大山道).The road named Aoyama-dori Oyama Road started from Akasaka and passed through Sangenjaya (Three Teahouses). Sangenjaya originally had only two teahouses serving pilgrims going to Oyama. A third teahouse was added to serve the many Oyama pilgrims and that's how Sangenjaya got its name.Apr 19, 2020

Pyramid-shaped Mt. Oyama is also called "Amefuri-yama" or mountain of abundant rain since it was often shrouded in clouds. Farmers prayed to the mountain for rain. The mountain's deity, Oyama-tsumi-no-Kami, is the father of the goddess of nearby Mt. Fuji. It is also a Japan Heritage site. A great time to visit would be in mid-November for the autumn leaves.Apr 19, 2020

Mt. Oyama in Isehara, Kanagawa is about halfway to Hakone near Mt. Fuji. Easy day trip from Tokyo. During the Edo Period (1603–1867), Mt. Oyama was very popular for pilgrimages by the fun-loving masses in Edo/Tokyo.It had many shrines and temples and mountain ascetic priests. When Edo/Tokyo's pop. was 1 million, Oyama saw 200,000 pilgrims per year. Today, there are fewer shrines and temples and pilgrims, but it's still a pleasant place to visit and less crowded than more well-known spots. The main attractions are Oyama Afuri Shrine and Oyama-dera Temple.
From Shinjuku, take the Odakyu Line to Isehara Station (about 1 hour). Get out the North Exit, and go to bus stop 4 to take the bus to the Oyama Cable stop. Google Map to Mt. OyamaApr 19, 2020

Buffet at Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel.Apr 13, 2020

Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel lobby with a ukiyoe mural of Hakone Pass.Apr 13, 2020

Outdoor hot spring bath at Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel.Apr 13, 2020

Foot bath with a view of Lake Ashi at Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel.Apr 13, 2020

Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel Apr 13, 2020

Near Togendai is Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel with good views of Lake Ashi.Apr 13, 2020

Jul 01, 2019

In May 2019, the giant kite celebrated the new Reiwa Era by having the kanji characters for Reiwa on the giant kite.Jul 01, 2019

Jul 01, 2019

The site is a riverside park. They fly the giant kite a few times each day depending on the wind. Photos were taken on May 5, 2019.Jul 01, 2019

Held annually on May 4 and 5 along the Sagami River from 10 am to 4 pm. Nearest train station is Sobudaishita Station on the JR Sagami Line (20-min. walk to the festival site). They have shuttle buses from the train station to festival site, but I walked.Jul 01, 2019

Jul 01, 2019

In May 2019, the giant kite celebrated the new Reiwa Era by having the kanji characters for Reiwa on the giant Zama kite.Jul 01, 2019

Jul 01, 2019

Zama Giant Kite Odako Festival is held annually on May 4 and 5 along the Sagami River from 10 am to 4 pm. They fly the giant kite a few times each day depending on the wind. Nearest train station is Sobudaimae Station on the Odakyu Line. They have shuttle buses between the train station and festival site.Jul 01, 2019