Author: Benkei

Shiraito-no-Taki and Otodome-no-Taki, White thread falls and Sound stop falls, are located in the city of Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture. The size of the White thread falls is a 20-meter high and 150-meter wide and the size of Sound stop falls is a 25-meter high and several-meter wide (https://fujinomiya.gr.jp/guide/170/; https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1512/).

White thread falls and Sound stop falls, Fujinomiya-city, Shizuoka, 4/04&18/2024

Mount Kuno Tosho Shrine, Kunozan Toshogu (https://www.toshogu.or.jp/english/)

Mount Kuno Tosho Shrine, Shimizu-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 3/30/2024

The Pine Grove of Miho, Miho-no-Matsubara Pine Grove (https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1303/)

The Pine Grove of Miho, Shimizu-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 3/30/2024

https://www.tcmit.org/english/

Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, Nagoya, Aichi, 3/29/2024

Magnolia liliiflora (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_liliiflora)

Magnolia Flowers, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum, Fuefuki, Yamanashi, 3/29/2024

Oshino Hakkai, literally means the Eight Seas of Oshino, is a set of eight ponds in Oshino, a small village, located between Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Yamanaka. The eight ponds are fed by snowmelt from the slopes of Mount Fuji. The snowmelt is filtered down the mountain through porous layers of lava over a period of several decades, resulting in very clear spring water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshino_Hakkai; https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202301/202301_04_en.html;

Maps of Oshino Hakkai, Oshino-village, Yamanashi, 03/21/2024

Iris Pond (Shobuike), Sacred Place No. 8, Oshino Hakkai, Oshino-village, Yamanashi, 03/21/2024

Mirror Pond (Kagamiike), Sacred Place No. 7, Oshino Hakkai, Oshino-village, Yamanashi, 03/21/2024

Spring Pond (Wakuike), Sacred Place No. 5, Oshino Hakkai, Oshino-village, Yamanashi, 03/21/2024

Muddy Pond (Nigoriike), Sacred Place No. 6, Oshino Hakkai, Oshino-village, Yamanashi, 03/21/2024

Also, please refer to the articles on November 20, 2023 and April 10, 2018.

The Edo period lasted for 265 years from 1603 to 1868. The first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu unified the fragmented pieces of Japan to one country. Before the Edo period, there was a long period of civil war in feudal Japan.

Before his death Ieyasu had instructed his retainers to bury his remains at Mount Kuno. Ieyasu’s successor, the second Shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada carried out Ieyasu’s instructions and ordered a shrine to be built. A master carpenter named Nakai Masakiyo was chosen to build the shrine. He built an elaborately decorated shrine using the style of Gongen-zukuri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi-no-ma-zukuri). The shrine became a model for other Tosho shrines all over Japan, including the Nikko Tosho Shrine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu; https://www.grips.ac.jp/teacher/oono/hp/lecture_J/lec02.htm; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period

https://www.toshogu.or.jp/english/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kun%C5%8Dzan_T%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D-g%C5%AB

Japan Plateau Aerial Tramway, Suruga-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 03/12/2024

Suruga Bay, Suruga-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 03/12/2024

Mount Kuno Tosho Shrine, Suruga-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 03/12/2024

Also, please refer to the article on April 14, 2017.

Norwegian Jewel Cruse Ship, Port of Shimizu, Shimizu-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 03/10/2024

Pine Forest of Miho, Miho Beach and Suruga Bay, Shimizu-ward, Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka, 03/10/2024

Kofu Basin viewed from Takeda Forest, Yamamiya-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/24/2024

Most are probably Smaller white-moss (Leucobryum juniperoideum) and cones of Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi), Takeda Forest, Yamamiya-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/24/2024

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), Lake Chiyoda, Shimoobina-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/24/2024

Eurasian wigeon ♂ (Mareca penelope) and Eurasian coot, Lake Chiyoda, Shimoobina-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/24/2024

Indian Spot-billed duck ♀＆ ♂ (Anas poecilorhyncha) and Eurasian coot, Lake Chiyoda, Shimoobina-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/24/2024

Some smew (Mergellus albellus) were spotted in this lake recently; however, I was not able to spot any of them today.

It was a misty and rainy day. Thick clouds were over the Kofu Basin.

Looking down the Kofu Basin from the Wada Pass Lookout Point, Wada-town, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/23/2024

Today, the 23rd of February (02/23) is called Mount Fuji day in Japanese wordplay, Goroawase literally meaning “phonetic matching.” However, it was too cloudy to see Mount Fuji today.

Kofu Castle Ruins, also known as Maizuru Castle Park, is located in the city of Kofu and the only modern castle built in Yamanashi Prefecture. It has a 400-year history. Because of urbanization, the surrounding landscape has changed drastically; yet, it has been protected as a historic site where the stone walls during the construction period remain well.

(https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/english/staff-journal/201905_kofu_castle.html; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maizuru_Castle_Park)

The Yamanashi Prefectural Buried Cultural Properties Center has been conducting excavations in the castle and renovating the stone walls since 1990 to preserve the historic site for future generations. Stone walls of Kofu Castle are mostly made of andesite most likely brought locally and constructed by the method of uchikomi-hagi, fitting stones together by pounding and eliminating the gaps between them. Some stone walls are constructed by the method of kirikomi-hagi, connecting with adjacent stones more firmly using precise cutting of shaped stones. They seem to be repaired later in the Edo period. Another method, called sangi-zumi, was used for the corners of stone walls. In this method, stones were shaped into rectangles. The long and short sides were piled alternately. The alternating stones increase the pressure and strengthen the corners of the wall.

(https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp.e.aao.hp.transer.com/maizou-bnk/)

About Japanese castles: https://japanese-castle.com/en/home-en/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_castle

Most of Kofu Castle Ruins are built on the andesite bedrock; some remains of andesite rocks, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Stone walls; Nozura-zumi stacking natural stones as they are, uchikomi-hagi, and kirikomi-hagi, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Stone walls; Large stones called mirror stones were used to reflect the power and authority of the lord of the castle, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Remains of the bore holes used to cut the stone made by stone masons 400 years ago; and the drainage culvert, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Corner stone walls constructed by the method of sangi-zumi, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Stone walls constructed by the method of kirikomi-hagi, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

A toll stone wall, approximately 17 meters high, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024

Stone walls covered with moss and lichen, Kofu Castle Ruins, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 02/18/2024