Amanohashidate in Miyazu City, Kyoto (3) Promenade through the sandbar

After lunch, we walked along the sandbar across the bay. There are four ways to get to the opposite shore. You can walk, bicycle and take motorboat and pleasure boat. The sandbar is only about 3.5 kilometers long and it was very fine! In order to enjoy the nature enough, we challenged walking along the sand promenade.

The starting point
The seas spread out to the right and left.

The sand promenade runs the pine forest over sandbar.

The outer side of Miyazu Bay, from the sandbar beach.

The inner side of Miyazu Bay, from the sandbar beach.

There is a gun.

NOTE:
This gun was gifted by the Japanese Navy on 5th February, 1923.
Name: (sorry, I cannot translate it.)
Maker: Armstrong, UK 1902
Price: 16,000 yens
Weight: 5t
Length: 6.40m
Weight of cannonball: 45kg
Distance: 12,500m
Time: 38s
Price of gunpowder: 100 yens par 1 shot
Former owner: The Battleship Kasuga

We came across small Amanohashidate Jinja Shrine.

Amanohashidate Jinja Shrine(Amanohashidate Dai Myojin)

Amanohashidate Jinja Shrine has been sometimes called Isoshimizu Jinja Shrine, because the spring of fresh water named Isoshimizu appeared nearby.

One archive says that the main deity is Izanagi and the other says that it is Toyoukebime. Also, it is considerd that this shrine moved from Chionji Temple to here Atsumatsu area according to several old archives and pictures. It is clear that Amanohashidate and this Shinto shrine has belonged to Chionji Buddhist Temple since at least Edo Period (1603-1867). The main hall was built in 1907. (The rest is omitted)

Miyazu Municipal Board of Education

There is Isoshimizu behind Amanohashidate Jinja Shrine.
Very mysterious or unique water is sometimes deified
by the way of Shinto,
and that kind of Shinto deities has a relationship to Buddhism.
In this case, very pure water Isoshimizu is appreciated and deified,
therefore it is guarded by Amanohashidate Jinja Shrine,
in addition, this well and its guardian shrine belong Chionin Temple.

Isoshimizu
This well, Isoshimizu has been regarded as a miraculous spring for a long time. Its water is fresh with no salt at all instead that it is encircled by the sea. Travelers has been valued it very much.

A waka poem by Isumishikibu (?-AD.976?)
Hashidate no Matsu no shita naru Isoshimizu Miyako nari seba Kimi mo kumamashi
(There is Isoshimizu under pine trees in Amanohashidate. If this place were the Capital Kyoto, you would draw its water, too.)

A haiku poem by someone
Hitokuchi wa Geni senkin no Isoshimizu
(A sip of the Isoshimizu water is priceless indeed.)

The fresh water has appeared also now, and people appreciate it. In 1985 this well was selected one of the best 100 waters of Japan by the Ministry of the Environment
Miyazu Municipal Board of Education

A large tree named "Senkan Matsu"
"Sen" means thousand and "kan" is an old unit of weight.
One kan equals to 3.75kg. 

Senkan Matsu
A pine that people said was equaled to one thousand kans.

3.5 kilometers might be long, especially when you walk through the same forest. Actually, we nearly got tired of the same scenery.

However, there are a lot of special trees which have unique stories like "Senkan Matsu". Miyazu City sets information poles under each special pines. Or, it sets various information boards of literally and history related to Amanohashidate, too. We could find them here and there, and enjoyed them very much. We appreciated the historical nature here, indeed.

If you can read the Japanese language, try to search one!

This is the ending point.

We reached the opposite after about an hour. Very enjoyable walking!


Fee:

Walking: of course free
Rental bicycle: 400 yen (first 2 hours, and next, 200 yen/1 h)
* You can find rental bicycle shops near parking areas and the mouth of sandbar.
* You do not have to return your bicycle to the same shop. You can return it to the other shop on the opposite shore.
* There are tandem bicycles in some shops, but I am sorry, I did not watch it.




Thank you for reading! Sorry for my poor English. If you have any questions, take it easy to ask me! Also, I would like you to correct my errors, if you could.

Amanohashidate in Miyazu City, Kyoto (2) Chionji Temple, one of Three Manjusri of Japan

After the View Land, we went to Chionji Temple which was sacred to Manjusri, or, a bodhisattva associated with transcendent wisdom. The statue is not usually shown to the public, but people have believed in its benevolence very much. So, this temple is one of main spots around Amanohashidate.

The Entrance to Chionji Temple.

We say Monju for Manjusri in Japanese. Many places were named after Monju or something related with wisdom. For example, we had come down from View Land on Mt. Monju and the word "chion" of this temple's name means "the benefit of wisdom".

Zen, Rinzai Denomination
Tenkyo-zan Chionji Temple*
at Aza Monju, Miyazu City

Chionji have been believed very much and wel-known as "Manjusri, the wisdom". Or, people used to call it "Manjusri of Kireto" or "Manjusri of Kuseto" after acient place names around here. The tradition says that Chionji was built about one thousand years ago, during the Engi period (AD.901-923). What is called the Three Manjusri of Japan are here in Chionji, in Abein Temple, Sakurai City, Nara Pref. and in Konkai Komyoji Temple, Sakyo-ku Ward, Kyoto City (or, in Daijoji Temple, Takahata Town, Yamagata Pref.)

Amanohashidate is a government-designated special place of scenic beauty. It does not include only the sand spit 3.6 kilometers long across the bay, but also "Kasamatsu Area" from where people can view the sand spit and also here, the precincts of Chionji Temple where you stand.

Its old archive says that;

originaly, in Kuseto in Amanohashidate, there have been both of the principal statue of Manjusri and the Shinto shrine of its guardian, Hahidate Myojin. They have deep relations on the same Manjusri.

Therefore, the sand spit and Chionji have been regarded as the same one for religious faith.

The principal statue is Manjusri mounting a lion accompanied by Sudhana (Child of wealth) and Udayana (a prince in ancient India). There are Mahavira hall, gate, pagoda and so on within its precincts. From them we can understand the history around here, too.

Miyazu Municipal Board of Education

Pagoda, 1501
Designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan
An architecture in the Medieval Period is very rare in Miyazu City.

Monjudo, the Mahavira Hall
Although it have been rebuilt many times,
it is said that the four innermost columns are left from the mythological age.
The statue of Manjusri is in this hall.
His accompanied animal is a lion.
There are a lot of place names related Manjusri, wisdom and a lion
around Amanohashidate.
That proves ancient religious belief in Manjusri here.

Tetsu Yubune, an iron vessel for hand washing, 1290
Designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan
This was originally used as a bath tub for Buddhist monks.
Today, we usually wash our hands to purify ourselves
before going to worship at Monjudo

An incense holder in front of Monjudo
People offer sticks of incense from the both sides before entering to the hall.
Instead of getting the stick, we usually make
a little monetary offering into the box on the center.

The smoke from incense maybe makes us wiser.
We usually gather the smoke to our heads.

The inner side of Monjudo from a garden.
People are expected to stop taking photos
of the most sacred space.

We tried the fortune
whose shape was a fan very singularly
My fortune oracle was "Blessing"
It was not good, and not bad.

This house was in Chionji, too

In front of it, a cat was sleeping like a doll

After Chionji Temple, we walk around there.

Chie no wa, a big ring of wisdom.
It is said that if you can pass through it,
you should be given the wisdom by Manjusri.
A kid or a baby could do it. 

For lunch, I ate Kaisen don,
rice covered with fresh sea foods in a bowl.
We were near the sea indeed!

Access
Chionji Temple: several minutes walk from Amanohashidate St. and the Lift and Monorail St.
Chie no wa ring: a few minutes walk from Chionji

Fee
Chionji Temple:  free (but monetary offering around a few hundred yen are expected to worship.)
Fortune of fan shape: 300 yen (maybe)
Chie no wa ring:  of course free

More detailed for Chionji Temple: (Japanese)
http://www.monjudo-chionji.jp/



* The formal name of temple in Japan is composed of a mountain name and a temple name. The formal name of Chionji is "Tenkyo-zan Chionji". In this case, "Tenkyo-zan" is its mountain name and "Chionji" is its temple name. "Ji" means a temple, "zan" means a mountain and "Tenkyo" is another way of saying "Amanohashi(date)".


Thank you for reading! Sorry for my poor English. If you have any questions, take it easy to ask me! Also, I would like you to correct my errors, if you could.

Amanohashidate in Miyazu City, Kyoto (1) View Land, the best but dilemma spot

Amanohashidate (天橋立／あまのはしだて), one of Nihon Sankei, or, the Three Views of Japan is located in Miyazu City, the northern Kyoto Prefecture. It is very famous for its singular view of sandbar covered with pine woods, which looks like a very long floating bridge across Miyazu Bay.

The name "Amanohashidate" means "the standing bridge to heaven"("ama" is a refined diction meaning "heaven", "hashi" is a "bridge" and "date" means to "stand"). According to the Japanese myths, Izanagi, the father of the sun goddess and the moon god, built a bridge from heaven to the earth and used to pass up and down it. However, one day when Izanagi was taking a nap, it toppled to the ground to become what it is today. Although the bridge does not stand but just lie now, people regard it as to stand.

I went there with my friend on September 24th. We parked our car at a municipal parking area and the staff gave us a free sightseeing map. It was very useful! Enough detailed but brief ! I think you can get one at Amanohashidate Station, too. If you can read the Japanese language,  I recommend you to get one.

The municipal parking area is next to Monjuhama Koen Park.
The green belt above is the sandbar of Amanohashidate.  

The view of Amanohashidate from the parking area

It was very fine this day! It remained the heat of late summer, but the wind was blooming enough, so we were able to enjoy seeing everything very comfortably.

We went to the lift and monorail station to "View Land" located halfway up Mt. Monju. Travelers view the sandbar from its lookout point with a very unique way. The view called "Hiryukan" is the most famous of all spots around Amanohashidate.

The entrance to View Land is this station.
Travelers can choose one between a lift and a monorail.
The monorail car leaves every twenty minutes,
and the lifts go up and down at any time.
Of course we chose the lift.

From my lift.

 We reached the View Land after several minutes.

This is Hiryukan.
Do you notice anything strange?

People bend over to view the sandbar from between their legs.
This unique way of viewing is called "Mata nozoki",
and the view itself from here is "Hiryukan"

"Hiryukan" means "the view of a flying dragon". Dragons are the guardians of water in Chinese legend. Can you imagine that a dragon is flying up to heaven from the mixed world where the sky and the sea are upside down? Ancient travelers used to have a break here and enjoy its beautiful scenery.

This is the original view.
The green belt of pine woods across blue Miyazu Bay is beautiful.
Ancient people used to regard the belt as the bridge to heaven.

Name: Hiryukan

The cliff of Mt. Monju rises straight up from the sea dircetly and the landform around it is very rock-bound. So, ancient travelers could not go along the beach but had to move on through the mountains to a small pier at the foot . After reaching there, people used to take a boat to visit to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples like Monjudo and enjoy sightseeing around Amanohashidate.

Here View Land is located where the ancient observation deck used to be. Travelers coming through the mountains reached here, soon took their luggage down to have a break, enjoying the views of the beach of Amanohashidate with white sand and green pines. Also, a lot of poets, writers and artists created their works.

The name of "Mata nozoki" has become popular among travelers. You can stand and bent over on every "Mata nozoki dai" which looks like a bench in order to see the scenery. During bending over to view it, you can find that your blood gathers on your head and feel dizzy gradually. After that you can look Amanohashidate illusorily as if it leads to the blue sky. Please try it.

The ancient waka poem by Murata Harumi,

Kami no yo ni Kami no kayoishi Ato nare ya Kumoi ni tsuzuku Amanohashidate

(Is this just the vestige? During the age of the gods, they went up and down Amanohashidate, which lead to clouds)

The improvised poem of a Chinese quatrain with seven-character lines by a Japanese traveler from Namba, 1820,

(Sorry, I cannot pronounce it, but the poem says about the famous "Mata nozoki". The traveler enjoyed the beautiful view and named it "Hiryukan".)

After this poem, people have called this view "Hiryukan".

People love "Mata nozoki" and "Hiryukan" as historical traditions, too. However, I cannot understand why, this observation decks is located within a childish, cheap and noisy amusement park.

This is the gate.
People must enter this amusement park
to enjoy historical "Hiryukan".

The beautiful views are spoiled at all
by noisy attractions.
There are lot of rose trees,
but rose has no relationship to the history of Amanohashidate

In order to appreciate the historical, very beautiful view, we had to enter this amusement park, but it is very ugly and noisy. We had to have BIG patience at that time. View Land is ultimate dilemma spot.

The lift returning to the foot.
The views of green sandbar and blue see are very beautiful.

Access
Amanohashidate Station, KTR line:
* JR line connects to KTR line. You can take the JR express Hashidate at Kyoto St.  It takes about 2 hours from Kyoto St. to Amanohashidate St.
View Land: several minutes walk from Amanohashidate St.

Fee
JR express Hashidate from Kyoto St. to Amanohashidate St: 4,380 yen
Round-trip fare of lift or monorail: adult 850 yen, child: 450yen
* Included to the entrance fee to View Land
* You can take lift or monorail as you like.

Open Hours
View Land:
Feb. 21-July 20: 9:00-17:30(entrance 17:00)
July 21-Aug. 20: 8:30-18:30(entrance 18:00)
Aug. 21-Oct. 20: 9:00-17:30(entrance 17:00)
Oct. 21-Feb. 20: 9:00-17:00(entrance 16:30)

More detailed for View Land:
http://www.viewland.jp/~e/



Thank you for reading! Sorry for my poor English. If you have any questions, take it easy to ask me! Also, I would like you to correct my errors, if you could.