 Most viewed - Toyooka 豊岡市 |
When you arrive JR Toyooka Station, you will soon notice that the Oriental white stork ("kounotori" in Japanese) is the symbol of the city. Even the roof looks like a soaring bird. 129 views
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Oriental White Stork manhole in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.109 views
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Directional sign at JR Toyooka Station.107 views
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Oriental white stork eating a fish.101 views
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Oriental White Stork manhole in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.101 views
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I didn't expect to see the storks flying around, so I was thrilled when a few of them flew overhead while I was in the park. They flew in during feeding time.100 views
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White stork landing in the paddy during feeding time.97 views
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Two Oriental white storks on a nesting platform. Each nesting platform has a video camera monitoring it 24/7 especially during the egg-laying and hatching season in spring.97 viewsThe park is likely crowded during this time until the babies leave the nest in June/July.
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White stork mail box at Oriental White Stork Park in Toyooka, Hyogo.96 views
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The Oriental white stork is a big, beautiful bird often mistaken as the Japanese crane. Wingspan is 2 meters.94 views
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Grey herons also drop by, but they are always fighting each other.94 views
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Toyooka was where the last living Oriental white stork in Japan died in 1986. Pesticides in rice paddies (where they feed) and other environmental problems caused their demise.93 views
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Feeding time for the storks also attracts unwanted birds like black kites. They swoop in and steal a fish, then don't come back.93 views
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Kinosaki Onsen manhole in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.92 views
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Manhole with Shinkoro Clock Tower design in Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.87 views
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Manhole with Shinkoro Clock Tower design in Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.83 views
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Vending machine with Oriental white stork design motif at JR Toyooka Station.77 views
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On Caban Street, this drink vending machine designed like a bag. Toyooka, Hyogo.75 views
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Love Toyooka's bag bus.68 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda.67 views
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Yanagi-yu public bath in Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka, Hyogo. "Yanagi" means willow tree. The third public bath I've seen (but didn't enter). Open 3:00 pm–11:00 pm, closed. Thu. 柳湯63 views
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Onsenji Temple. Enter the temple here. Onsenji belongs to the Koyasan Shingon Buddhist sect. It worships an 11-face Kannon statue. Founded in 738 by the priest Dochi, Onsenji Temple is regarded as Kinosaki Onsen's guardian. 温泉寺63 views本坊
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Izushi soba is famous for having cold soba served on five small plates. Dip the noodles in the broth while adding different garnishes like grated yam, onions, and raw egg. 出石そば61 views
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Lots of soba restaurants in Izushi. This lunch cost ¥870. You can also order more plates of noodles. The history of Izushi soba goes way back to the early 18th century when the local lord brought it from Nagano (Shinano soba). 出石そば60 views
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Ichinoyu, perhaps the most famous public bath in Kinosaki Onsen. Looks like a kabuki theater. 一の湯60 viewsToyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.
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Gosho-no-yu public bath in Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka, Hyogo. Looks palatial. (御所の湯).59 views
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Onsenji Temple's Hondo main hall. National Important Cultural Property. Photography is not allowed inside the temple. temple founder and priest Dochi (道智上人) is also the founder of Kinosaki Onsen hot spring. 59 views
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Airline with a plane donning an Oriental White Stork motif.58 views
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Shinkoro Clock Tower in Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture is one of Japan's oldest clock towers along with the Sapporo Clock Tower also built in 1881. 辰鼓楼56 views
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Bus stop shelter near Kou-no-Yu in Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka, Hyogo.53 views
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Spider web.53 views
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Caban Street's most prominent bag shop is this one called Artisan Avenue. The front has a woven basket motif. Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.52 views
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Eirakukan's rotating kabuki stage.52 views
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You can also go underneath the stage and see the revolving stage. It's rotated by hand. Wow neat, how often can you see something like this?51 views
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The bus going to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork Park is designed like a bag to promote Toyooka as a bag-producing city.51 views
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Shinkoro Clock Tower was orignally used to beat taiko drums from 7 am to 9 am to notify people that the castle lord arrived at the castle. A mechanical clock from the Netherlands was later donated by a local doctor to make it a clock tower in 1881. 辰鼓50 views
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Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork has a few buildings amid large rice paddies and mountains.50 views
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The Oriental white stork has black and white wings and a black bill.50 views
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The storks are carnivores, feeding on fish, frogs, snakes, rabbits, mice, etc. 50 views
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As of Oct. 2018, Japan has over 140 Oriental white storks in the wild. They are also successfully breeding in Tokushima, Shimane, and Kyoto Prefectures. 50 viewsIt's still an endangered species, with only slightly over 2,000 of them in the Far East.
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Crows also drop by.50 views
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Park's website: http://www.stork.u-hyogo.ac.jp/en/50 views
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Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture is a major producer of bags. Thier local bus even has a bag design.49 views
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Toyooka's bag bus.49 views
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Eirakukan (永楽館), the Kansai Region's oldest kabuki theater built in 1901. Toward the left was the theater's front entrance that is not used anymore because of the road right in front. They now use a side entrance.49 views
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Toyooka Oriental White Stork Culture Center's open cage for Oriental white storks. It includes paddies used for feeding. The cage is "open" because it only hasa fence and no roof.49 views
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Toyooka Oriental White Stork Culture Center's open cage for Oriental white storks. There are about nine storks in the open cage. Their wings have been clipped to they cannot fly. 49 views
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About the Oriental white stork open cage.49 views
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They are throwing small dead fish into the paddies. 49 views
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Landing on a nesting platform.49 views
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The hanafuda card with the "crane" is actually an Oriental white stork. It actually looks like a cross between the two birds...49 views
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Gift shops in this building next to the parking lot.49 views
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Eirakukan Theater in Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo.48 views
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Oriental white stork decoration at JR Toyooka Station. To see real, living Oriental white storks, you have to visit the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork Park.48 views
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Huge rice paddy within Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork.48 views
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Inside the Oriental White Stork Culture Center. Walk through this building to the other side of the building to see the open cage.48 views
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So if you go to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork, you can see real Oriental white storks.48 views
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In 1985, six wild Oriental white stork chicks from the USSR (Khabarovsk) were acquired to be raised in Toyooka. From 1989, the birds from Russia started to breed successfully in captivity in Toyooka every year. 48 views
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They make a loud clacking noise with their bills.48 views
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Storks swallow the fish whole.48 views
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Exhibits.48 views
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Even insects.48 views
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Confection shaped like stork eggs.48 views
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Rice paddy has a high nesting platform. The nest still intact.47 views
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The building in the middle is the University of Hyogo Graduate School of Regional Resource Management.47 views
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Once found all over Japan, the Oriental white stork ("kounotori" in Japanese) became extinct in the wild in Japan in 1971 despite preservation efforts since 1955.47 views
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From 2005, the park started releasing Oriental white storks into the wild in Toyooka, which was a great celebration. The birds then started to breed and reproduce in the wild.47 viewsThey've been releasing only a few birds (fewer than 5) almost every year.
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Oriental white stork nests are large, about 2 meters diameter, made of tree branches and straw.47 views
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Nesting platform.47 views
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About the biotope.47 views
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From JR Toyooka Station, there are buses that go to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork Park. However, they run only once or twice an hour. Bus schedule under the purple column.46 views
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Kounotori can also mean "bird bringing happiness." Sculpture related to the bird of happiness. Makes people happy especially when the stork delivers your baby.46 views
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Gate to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork. Open: 9:00 am–5:00 pm, closed Mondays (open if a national holiday and closed the next day instead), December 28th–January 4th.46 views
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Basic map of Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork. Only one building on the left is open to the public.46 views
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Around 9:30 am to 10 am, they feed the storks. This is the best time to visit the park. And the best chances of seeing storks flying around.46 views
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Back inside the Oriental White Stork Culture Center. On the left is the European white stork with a red bill, on the right is the Oriental white stork with a black bill. Very similar.46 views
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On the right is the park's administrative building.45 views
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On the left is the Toyooka Kounotori Bunkakan or Oriental White Stork Culture Center.45 views
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Screening room.45 views
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Aquariums with fish.45 views
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Part of the park is a large biotope used as a stork sanctuary and research facility. Only part of it is open to the public.45 views
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Large biotope used as a stork sanctuary and research facility.44 views
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Dressing room.41 views
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Izushi's symbol is the Shinkoro Clock Tower. This area is also a National Important Traditional Townscape Preservation District (重要伝統的建造物群保存地区). 辰鼓楼39 views
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Also a good snack is the Tajima beef bun.38 views
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Warning sign for drivers for small children. (It means to go slow.)38 views
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Shinkoro Clock Tower in Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture is one of Japan's oldest clock towers along with the Sapporo Clock Tower also built in 1881. 辰鼓楼37 views
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Izushi Town Hall37 views
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Next to the station is this collection of donated geta wooden clogs from local inns.37 views
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Drinkabke hot spring water in front of JR Kinosaki Onsen Station.37 views
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Guests who stay at a ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen can visit all seven public baths for free. But daytrippers like me have to pay admission for each one, costing ¥600 or ¥700. 37 viewsHowever, they have a public bath day pass for only ¥1,200 (外湯めぐり券). Use it to enter all seven. Great deal! Definitely one of the best bargains in Japan!
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On Nov. 3, Izushi holds the Oshiro Matsuri to reenact the daimyo procession.36 views
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Gokurakuji Temple's Sanmon Gate. 山門36 views
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Kinosaki Onsen's hot spring source. 源泉36 views
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Aboit Tajima beef and Kobe beef.36 views
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Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway station.36 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda. 多宝塔36 views
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Kinosaki Art Museum near Onsenji. Mostly Buddhist art. Small admission charged. Open 9 am–4:30 pm, closed second and fourth Thu. of the month when the ropeway is not operating. 城崎美術館36 views
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Kou-no-Yu is open 7:00 am–11:00 pm, closed on Tue. Oriental white stork statues next to Kou-no-Yu.36 views
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Advertising posters on the walls.35 views
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Backstage has the dressing rooms for actors. Normally hidden by a curtain.35 views
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Shinkoro Clock Tower was first built in 1871 without any clock. 辰鼓楼35 views
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About the Shinkoro Clock Tower. 辰鼓楼35 views
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Inside JR Kinosaki Onsen Station.35 views
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Jizo statue at Jizo-yu public bath.35 views
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Willow trees along the river at Kinosaki Onsen hot spring. 柳の木35 views
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Foot bath next to Ichinoyu public bath. 海内第一泉35 views
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View from the cavern bath.35 views
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Hiking path to Onsenji Temple, but taking the ropeway is easier and faster.35 views
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Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway takes only 7 min. to the mountain summit. The ropeway runs three times an hour most of the day from 9:10 am to 5:10 pm.35 views
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View of Kinosaki Onsen from the lookout deck.35 views
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Crab monument. For all the crabs that are caught and eaten every year in northern Hyogo. かに塚35 views
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Onsenji Temple's Hondo main hall.35 views
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About Onsenji Temple.35 views
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Onsenji Temple's bell dates back to the early Edo Period.35 views
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At the bottom station of the ropeway is a small museum dedicated to Otagaki Shiro (1894–1964) who proposed the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway that opened in May 1963. He was a native of Kinosaki and the first president of Kansai Electric Power Company.35 views太田垣士郎翁資料館
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Entrance lobby of Kou-no-Yu. Shoe lockers on the left, and entrance to the women's bath on the right. 鴻の湯35 views
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Stage curtains.34 views
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Tojobashi Bridge to Izushi Castle's Tojomon Gate. 出石城 登城門・登城橋34 views
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Ariko-yama Inari Jinja Shrine atop Izushi Castle's main foundation. 有子山稲荷神社 34 views
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Toyooka also has Kinosaki Onsen (城崎温泉), a hot spring only 10 min. away by train from Toyooka Station. It's one of the best onsen I've ever visited in Japan.34 views
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Free foot bath at Sato-no-Yu Onsen さとの湯. Great to relax your feet before getting on the train.34 views
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People are encouraged to stroll around Kinosaki Onsen while wearing yukata. You can see more of them in the evening.34 views
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The building is right next to a rock wall.34 views
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Walking further along the mian drag.34 views
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Jizo and Kannon statues along a rock wall.34 views
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Gift shop and plaza next to the Kinosaki Onsen's hot spring source. 温泉たまご場34 views
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Hot spring foot bath in Kinosaki Onsen.34 views
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Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway goes up to Mt. Daishi.34 views
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Golden Jibodai Kannon built in Oct. 2007. 慈母観音像34 views
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Onsenji Temple's prayer tablet with Kannon on it.34 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda. 多宝塔 34 views
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First floor of Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda.34 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda dates back to 1768. It houses a Buddha statue. 金剛界大日如来34 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda.34 views
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Locker and dressing room for men. 鴻の湯34 views
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Kou-no-Yu's outdoor bath in a garden-like setting. 鴻の湯34 views
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You have to take off your shoes.33 views
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Rotating kabuki stage.33 views
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Bathtub for actors.33 views
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Other stairway.33 views
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Izushi Castle in Toyooka was built in the early 17th century. No original structures remain except for the stone walls and foundations. Reconstructed turrets and a small shrine are on the castle grounds. 出石城33 views
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Izushi Castle's Honmaru has a large stone foundation for the main tower,33 views
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There are over 30 torii gates to the shrine.33 views
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Ariko-yama Inari Jinja Shrine atop Izushi Castle's main foundation. 有子山稲荷神社 33 views
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Views of Izushi.33 views
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Views of Izushi from Izushi Castle.33 views
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Japanese pine tree.33 views
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Going back down through the torii gates.33 views
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Gift shop in Izushi.33 views
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Gift shop in Izushi.33 views
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Samurai residence.33 views
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These five plates are not much for the average stomach. It was a good snack. 出石そば33 views
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In front of JR Kinosaki Onsen Station.33 views
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Next to JR Kinosaki Onsen Station is one of the seven celebrated public baths. This one is named Sato-no-Yu Onsen. Chinese-style building that includes a cold bath. Open 1:00 pm–9:00 pm, closed Mon. さとの湯33 views
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The main drag of Kinosaki Onsen goes along the Otani River (Otanigawa) lined with pretty willow trees. 大谿川33 views
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Entrance hall of Jizo-yu. Entrance for the men's bath on the left, and women on the right. Jizo-yu also has private baths. 地蔵湯33 viewsAll the public baths are segregated for men and women. A few of the public baths also have private baths that families or couples can rent.
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Dressing and locker room for men at Jizo-yu.33 views
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About Jizo-yu. 地蔵湯33 views
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Willow trees along the river at Kinosaki Onsen hot spring. 33 views
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The traditional building is Yanagi-yu. 柳湯33 views
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The hot spring water came from the bottom of a willow tree for this public bath. Wooden interior.33 views
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It says "Kinosaki Onsen well matches people in yukata."33 views
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About Yanagi-yu public bath. 柳湯33 views
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Foot bath next to Ichinoyu public bath. 海内第一泉33 views
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Near Ichinoyu is this fountain for drinkable hot spring water.33 views
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Gosho-no-yu (御所の湯).33 views
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Rest area inside Gosho-no-yu (御所の湯).33 views
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About the Benzaiten shrine.33 views
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Near Mandarayu is Gokurakuji Temple, a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple. It worships Amida Nyorai. 本堂33 views
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Way to Onsenji Temple.33 views
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Niomon Gate to Onsenji's Yakushido Hall. 仁王門33 views
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You can soft-boil your onsen eggs yourself in hot spring water. Boil the eggs for 11 min.33 views
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After 11 min., the eggs were perfectly soft boiled. A niftly tool cut away the top portion of the egg shell. Sprinkle some salt and yummy!33 views
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Sights near Onsenji Temple.33 views
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Going up Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway which is 676 meters long.33 views
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Midway is the Onsenji Station.33 views
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Lookout deck on the roof of the ropeway station.33 views
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View of Kinosaki Onsen from the lookout deck.33 views
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Small Jizo statues.33 views
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Onsenji Temple's Oku-no-In temple reconstructed in 2010. 奥の院33 views
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Not much to see on the summit except for the lookout deck. So we go back down to Onsenji midway. 山頂駅 (大師山山頂駅)33 views
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They charge a small admission for a guided tour to see the Kannon statue in the Hondo main hall's altar.33 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda at the top of the stairs.33 views
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Onsenji Temple's Tahoto pagoda33 views
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Onsenji Temple and the ropeway station.33 views
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The seventh public bath I saw. I entered this one called Kou-no-Yu named after the Oriental white stork. Kinosaki Onsen's oldest hot spring where an Oriental white stork was bathing in the hot spring to heal wounds. That's how the onsen started.33 views
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About Kou-no-Yu. 鴻の湯33 views
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The street in front of Toyooka Station is lined with shops too. Sun Stork Avenue.32 views
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Toyooka City Hall32 views
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The theater's original front entrance that is not used anymore because of the road right in front. They now use a side entrance.32 views
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Theater entrance on the side. The theater is a short walk from the Izushi bus stop and Izushi Castle.32 views
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Inside Eirakukan. You can freely tour inside the theater. Very impressive and rare glimpse of a Meiji Period theater. 32 viewsThat's the hanamichi on the left. You can walk on it too.
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View from the stage.32 views
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Inside a booth for instrument players.32 views
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Dressing room.32 views
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Dressing room.32 views
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Way to Izushi Castle and Shinkoro Clock Tower.32 views
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Castle moat.32 views
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Stone work on Izushi Castle.32 views
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Reconstructed West Corner Turret is not open to the public. 西隅櫓32 views
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East Corner Turret.32 views
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Ariko-yama Inari Jinja Shrine atop Izushi Castle's main foundation. 有子山稲荷神社 32 views
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About the Samurai residence.32 views
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Kinosaki Onsen's main highlight are its seven public hot spring baths (sotoyu 外湯). Some of them look palatial, and they are all distinctly different, the baths, decor, etc.32 viewsKinosaki Onsen has a long history of 1,300 years. A favorite hot spring for centuries.
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Scenic train ride from Toyooka to Kinosaki Onsen.32 views
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JR Kinosaki Onsen Station on the JR San'in Line.32 views
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Sato-no-Yu Onsen さとの湯32 views
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Walking further along the main drag, some pictureque buildings. Kinosaki Onsen is a compact hot spring town, most things are within walking distance.32 views
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Even the convenience stores were designed to blend in with the local townscape. 32 views
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