Since I'm getting lazy about blogging already, I'm going to forgo lengthy descriptions of our trip to Mt. Tsukuba. Instead, I will let the photos do the majority of literary work. I will however say that the entire experience was totally surreal. I've seen many photos of temples and shrines like that of Mt. Tsukuba, but actually being there is indescribable. I wanted to take a picture of everything I saw there. The people, architecture, vegetation, and the journey were all beautiful.
Mt. Tsukuba is believed by some Japanese to be the birthplace of Japan. The twin peaks are representative of two deities, a man and a woman. In short, I think Mt. Tsukuba has influences in reproduction, vegetation, rain, and frogs. In the past, there have been festivals where people would go to Mt. Tsukuba...and...um....practice reproduction with various partners on the mountainside. I read that it has been compared, in some respects, to Woodstock. Well, enough of that talk. If you would like to learn more, you can go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tsukuba
Our trip was not like that at all, I assure you. Enough of this gibber-gabber, I will let the pictures do the talking.
Mt. Tsukuba is believed by some Japanese to be the birthplace of Japan. The twin peaks are representative of two deities, a man and a woman. In short, I think Mt. Tsukuba has influences in reproduction, vegetation, rain, and frogs. In the past, there have been festivals where people would go to Mt. Tsukuba...and...um....practice reproduction with various partners on the mountainside. I read that it has been compared, in some respects, to Woodstock. Well, enough of that talk. If you would like to learn more, you can go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tsukuba
Our trip was not like that at all, I assure you. Enough of this gibber-gabber, I will let the pictures do the talking.
I'm assuming you used to have to cross this bridge before entering the temple area.
Some sort of spring. I watched some people pour the water on their hands before proceding.
Matt standing in front of an entrance before the steps to the main shrine. There were marble-carved guards on each side of the entrance, but it was hard to get a good pic.
Back side view of the entrance.
The main shrine. Tsukubasan Shrine. Breathtaking. Toward the front they have wooden tablets you can write your prayers on. You then hang the tablets and hopefully the gods grant your prayer. There is also a bucket that you put your money in. I'm not sure if it's the same as tithing or not.
A cherry blossom overhanging a cemetery by the cable car.
Looking up the track on the cable car. We decided to ride the cable car to the top and hike down since we weren't sure what to expect. We didn't want to take too long and miss our bus back to town.
Shrine at the top of the north summit.
View from the top of the north summit. Too bad it was a cold and cloudy day. We will be back when the weather is better.
Much like U.S. tourist attractions, there are a bunch of little shops with trinkets and memorabilia. This was taken between the north and south summits.
We decided to hike down on the main trail. There are a million little wooden steps. As you can see, they are very close together. From some angles the look less like steps and more like a sloped wooden road.
As it was Easter, I had to take a picture of the largest Easter egg I had ever found!
On our way back to the bus station, I saw a store with this on it. It looks like the frog launched from the moon and is heading to Saturn....hmmm....anyway, there was a lot of frog stuff at the shops.
It was one of those places that you have to visit time and time again to truly process everything. Next time we will be hiking the whole thing, up and down. You can bet on it.
I took a ton of pictures that I did not include in this post. You can view then by going here: http://s744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/sethrwalker/
-Seth
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