4 November 2024
Time to get cultural
Shirotori garden
Actually yesterday was officially culture day, but the shrine district was still going off on the holiday Monday with small children forced into clothes they do not want to wear to pay to have their photos taken where there are signs warning people not to take photos because it offends the gods. Also because it is a holiday, things that are normally closed Monday are open today, and closed tomorrow, so for me it shall be a rest day, as in, non hiking day.
My first stop was Atsuta-Jingu shrine, strangely enough, in Atsuta. I am possibly reliably informed this is the main shrine in all of Nagoya, and so it was very busy. It is the brown wood type of shrine, not the more photogenic red painted shrine, I am too ignorant to understand which colour is which type of shrine, the choices being Shinto and Buddhist. Does one use the red exclusively and the other brown? The internet would suggest not. So that clears that up.
After pondering what the shrine was all about, I wandered over the road to what is the highest rated garden in Nagoya, Shirotori garden. This was pretty good, $3 cash only entry fee, and has a decent size lake. It would be better if autumn still existed, but it no longer does. They were however still trying to tie the trees up, but the trees were protesting a lot as they were still fully leaved!
Atsuta station area has some half covered streets of former shops surrounding the shrine area. I suspect many are long dead.
Today the shrine is as busy as it gets, and there are numerous vendors setup on all sides selling fried orange things on sticks.
The gardens are extensive, there are many such brown wooden gates to pass through.
Hmm, not the main shrine, but possibly the most photogenic building. I think this is quite a modern shrine.
Here is the main shrine. Not particularly impressive. You cannot actually go in as there is some kind of pay to pray thing going on.
The grounds were more impressive than the shrine buildings.
Now to explore the Shirotori garden, the entrance is a bit underwhelming and the car park was almost empty.
However inside it was great. Here is a stream. There are many men in blue overalls attaching lights, fog machines and loud speakers to blast jingle bells to every single tree in the place.
Here is the mini fake waterfall. You can see one of the men in blue working suits attaching lights in this photo.
Those poles are the things to tie the trees up in the winter so the snow does not snap the branches off. I feel they should delay doing this for a few more weeks.
There are quite a few bridges crossing the mini lake. Not many people at all in this place today, strange.
Possibly picture of the day. Needed more colourful leaves.
Whatever this metal snake in this part of the fake lake is supposed to do, it is not doing it. And so now it looks like a sewage treatment plant pond agitator.
After exiting the garden, I walked along a river and got to another sewage pond looking area, but what is that weird building in the distance? Let's go and find out.
It is Nagoya Century Hall, some kind of conference centre I guess. The thing at the top is earthquake bait. It all looks a bit run down. OK that is enough photos for a rest day.