Sunday around town

My town has approximately 18000 people but it is an amalgamation of 4 towns and has an area of 952 km2. My small town in the town is called Mikawa (which is further divided into smaller sections but I have no idea what their names are) and has a pop of 4000 and an area of 250 km2. On Sunday I decided to explore the back country a bit more since thus far I have only covered a small area on my granny bike and it was along the main highway. The area is so incredibly beautiful with mountains, rivers, and shrines dotted here and there. The further I traveled from the main highway the more rustic the areas became, though often they all still had new vehicles parked in front of their shacks. I happened upon one hamlet like area where all the farmers were sitting in front of their houses on mats and cleaning their vegetables. It was very interesting and I received many a stare from this lot.

I found a dam I didn't realize existed because we by pass that view by driving through a tunnel in the mountain. It is actually mesmerizing watching the intensely constricted power of the water surge through this small fissure. In much of Japan nature is contained and it is somewhat sad. Riverbank are concrete, waterfalls are manufactured even the roads between the rice fields are paved. It causes me to lament on how difficult it will be to find an untouched, unaltered piece of earth in the future. Although, there is still much beauty to be found. This is a picture from this crazy mountain road I found. It clung to the side with barely a guard rail to prevent a long plunge but the view was spectacular. It continued going although nothing was along it and I do not believe anything was at the end. I did not follow it through however because places to turn were becoming few and far between.

I found this surprisingly long stair case in a very small hamlet. I believe there were bear droppings on the stairs so I was a little scared but there an old man cleaning vegetables at the bottom so I figured he could protect me!

This is the shrine that lives at the top of the staircase. All areas have their own shrines but this one is fairly large for such a small area. It was a very peaceful and picturesque spot if a bit shabby. When praying at a shrine you wash out your mouth and your hands, if a fountain is available, and then you throw money in a wooden box, if this is available, you then ring a bell that is at the top of a rope and clap your hands two times. After this you can make a wish to the God of the shrine and then bow when you leave. Well the bell at this shrine was ripped in half and needless to say did not work. I am not sure if the God is a malignant one or if the bears perhaps had a bit too much fun.

Bamboo forest along the stair to the shrine. It is the first one I have seen in Japan though bamboo is used quite often and is prevalent in every day life.