#mie-ken

[merpmonde]

Meoto Iwa - the married rocks of Futami

We noted the presence of "married camphor trees" at Meiji-jingû last time, so I guess we can talk about other sacred things linked by rope.

One of the most famous of these is the couple of "married rocks" on the coast of Mie, on the premises of Okitama-jinja at Futami, near Ise. The Meoto Iwa represent the founding couple of Japan according to Shinto, Izanagi and Izanami.

The shimenawa ropes are more heavy-duty than what we saw on the camphor trees: 5 strands, 40 kg each. Still, as they are exposed to the seawater spray from crashing waves, they need to be changed several times a year, which involves quite a few people as you'd expect, as shown on the poster below. Ceremonies occur in May, September and December.

The ropes certainly look heavy on the smaller rock in particular, they look like they could slip off, but instead they cling on rather gracefully.

Dotted around the shrine are statues of the messengers of the gods: frogs.

While Futami's Meoto Iwa is the most important example of "paired rocks" in Japan, owing to how far the tradition dates back and its proximity to Ise Grand Shrine, there are quite a few others across the country. Below is another Meoto Iwa in Mihonoseki, Shimane.

[kyotodreamtrips]

Autumn colors along the 48 Famous Waterfalls in Nabari, Mie-ken, Japan.

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Mie Prefecture (三重県, Mie-ken)

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Noren, Okage Yokocho por Eric Flexyourhead Por Flickr: Okage Yokocho, Ise-shi, Mie-ken, Japan. January 24, 2014.

[merpmonde]

I promised more impressive views from the hills above Toba, and here they are. They're not very hard to reach: the Hiyoriyama circuit is only a couple of kilometres long around the station and involves climbing around 50 m. Hinoyama is further away, further South and a little higher.

The views of the coastline at Toba were good enough for Hiroshige to use in his Famous Views from the Sixty-Odd Provinces to illustrate Shima province (though there wasn't much else, I presume, Shima province was tiny, it was just Toba and the neighbouring town of Shima - also Shima is 志摩 and not 島 "island").

Beyond the islands near Toba, lies the mainland again, the Southern part of Aichi prefecture across the Ise Bay (Minamichita and Tahara), which the car ferry in the above picture traverses.

[kyotodreamtrips]

Waterfall Splendour at Akame Shijūhachi Falls. Gankutsu Taki (巌窟滝 - がんくつだき) at Akame Shijūhachi Taki (赤目四十八滝) in Nabari, Mie-ken. I’s the last waterfall of this trail and now you’ve got to go back down. There is a deep bolder in the middle, therefore the name (巌 rock, boulder ) and (窟 cavern). Gankutsu Taki has a height of 7 meters and is about 3 meters deep.

[kyotodreamtrips]

Waterfall Splendour at Akame Shijūhachi Falls. Gyōja taki (行者滝), one of the 48 Famous Waterfalls in Nabari, Mie-ken, Japan.

[kyotodreamtrips]

Waterfall Splendour at Akame Shijūhachi Falls. Nunobiki waterfall (布曳滝): This waterfall, falling from a height of 30 meters high, looks like a long strip of cloth. No one doubts that it is one of the most beautiful falls in Akame Shijūhachi Taki (赤目四十八滝) waterfalls. It is 30 meters deep and reveals the power of water in the hollowed out the rock!