A Day In Tashibu

I got this wonderful opportunity to participate in a tour organized by the City Hall of Bungo Takada city to go around Tashibu, a small district full of nature. This district is also famous for its temples and stone statues/carvings that has been preserved for hundreds of years. If you access their website, it features this piece of land that has not changed one bit ever since a 1000 years ago.

Our first destination was this stone statue. I’m not familiar with the Japanese religion and I couldn’t recall the names of their gods (there were so many) but this was one of it, carved into a mountain. You need to climb very steep stone-like stairs to enjoy this view. It’s really a challenge if you’re an indoor-type person to climb all of these (apparently there are a total of 99 stairs). I could only climb 3/4 way before my thighs gave out.

We rode the car around the area and spotted a lot of these scarecrows. They really look like humans from afar if you’re not aware of it. Since Tashibu has a lot of fields, these scarecrows can literally be found almost everywhere in the district. I do find it interesting that they’re not placed in the middle of the streets, but at the corners instead.

I just love seeing the colorful shades of autumn
One of the temples
Maple leaves at Fukiji temple

We visited a temple named Fukiji, which is apparently considered a national treasure. One of the people said that if we came at the right time, we could’ve seen the temple roof covered in golden leaves. Sadly, we visited a bit too early during the season so we couldn’t see it. (I also didn’t take a picture of the actual temple itself since there were too many people).

A stray cat at one of the other temples
The famous 1000 year old land

I think this was the second to the last stop that we visited, and it’s the one that left the biggest impression in my brain. The view from the top of the mountain was really breathtaking. My potato quality pictures can’t do it justice, really. The fields are supposed to light up at night time. I really wanted to see the night view but going down the mountains without proper lighting would be really dangerous so we had to leave while the sun was out.

There are multiple other places that we visited but I wasn’t able to take a good picture of it (either it was too dark, or I was dying because I had to hike or climb the stone-like stairs). I wish I was more fit physically so I could scale the mountains easier haha. Among the students in this small tour group, I am definitely the weakest since I even made one of the other students pick up a random tree branch to pull me uphill. Embarrassing.

That aside, this adventure was truly fun and I was able to learn new stories and histories about this place. I wish to return to this land one day in the future (but maybe after I train my body better so I could climb without dying).

Comments

2 responses to “A Day In Tashibu”

  1. Hanako Avatar

    Those are some nice photos you took! They look so professional! I’m glad you had fun going out and hiking! I would be tired out too!

  2. Hanako Avatar

    Hey there! I’m just seeing how you’re doing and how the work-force is going! Haven’t heard from you for awhile, and I check your blog every day to see if you have posted yet! I hope you are well and everything is going well!

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