The Japanese word for all you can eat is 「バイキン」, that is, "Viking."
I love the images conjured up by this word. Dozens of horned and bearded warriors gathered around a long wooden table. Shouting, pounding down mead and fighting for food.
This contrasts delihtfully with dozens of Japanese people queing up quietly at a nicely laid out buffet.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
So I finally got arounds to going to Tsuwano
As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been trying to go to Tsuwano for a while now. But rain and laziness have stopped me. Though the other week I finally did it. I managed to wake up at seven in the morning and get my ass down to the train station. I didn't sleep at all on the way, partly becaused I ran into someone I knew on the train, and partly because I just got my iPod fixed and wanted to rock out with my new headphones. On the train ride I was confronted by two surprises seatwise. One, I was in the reserved car. Two, it was a special express so I had to fork over an other thousand yen to the conductor. However, the scenery was pleasant, pastoral and foggy, but not exceptional.
I arrived in Tsuwano around ten in the morning. A lovely was snaking it's way through the hills as I exited the station. I bypassed the bicycle rental shops. An attractive concept to be sure, but I am not acrobatic enough to take photos whilst operating a velocipede. Goal one was coffee. Well, to clarify, goal one was actually hitting the head, but that's not something that'd come up on a to-do list, even for a meticulously planned trip. Coffee has more of a chance of hanging out there at the top of a list.
Anyway, after coffee I meandered towards the Inari Shrine in Tsuwano. It's a shrine dedicated to the fox god, Inari. He's prayed to for wealth. If the prayers are granted those that were praying to him, family, individual, or company, either build a new shrine to him or add to an existing one. The new shrines are usually built on top of a building they were able to construct with their newfound wealth, preferably a high-rise. The cheaper option though, is to add to an existing shrine, usually buying a new torii to put up on the path leading to the Inari shrine. These torii are place one after the other, forming a tunnel almost, each one with the name of the donator posted on it. Most medium to large shrines have a small Inari shrine in the corner, but of course the best place to pray and build is one of the five (I believe) large shrines. Tsuwano is home to one of these. I took many pictures of the numerous switchbacks of red gates leading up to the shrine, ate lunch and caught the last express home. The trip was worth it to see the shrine. I could try to explain it, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
[Scroll past the next two posts.]
I arrived in Tsuwano around ten in the morning. A lovely was snaking it's way through the hills as I exited the station. I bypassed the bicycle rental shops. An attractive concept to be sure, but I am not acrobatic enough to take photos whilst operating a velocipede. Goal one was coffee. Well, to clarify, goal one was actually hitting the head, but that's not something that'd come up on a to-do list, even for a meticulously planned trip. Coffee has more of a chance of hanging out there at the top of a list.
Anyway, after coffee I meandered towards the Inari Shrine in Tsuwano. It's a shrine dedicated to the fox god, Inari. He's prayed to for wealth. If the prayers are granted those that were praying to him, family, individual, or company, either build a new shrine to him or add to an existing one. The new shrines are usually built on top of a building they were able to construct with their newfound wealth, preferably a high-rise. The cheaper option though, is to add to an existing shrine, usually buying a new torii to put up on the path leading to the Inari shrine. These torii are place one after the other, forming a tunnel almost, each one with the name of the donator posted on it. Most medium to large shrines have a small Inari shrine in the corner, but of course the best place to pray and build is one of the five (I believe) large shrines. Tsuwano is home to one of these. I took many pictures of the numerous switchbacks of red gates leading up to the shrine, ate lunch and caught the last express home. The trip was worth it to see the shrine. I could try to explain it, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
[Scroll past the next two posts.]
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