Mitsumine Shrine

I had the day off today because the whole school takes a break, because of the sports day that was on Saturday. The school librarian had planned in advance for this (she knows I like taking photos of shrines and other nature places) so she had planned a day trip with her friend and another ALT from her previous school to one of her favourite shrines – Mitsumine (三峰神社)! Woke up at 8:00am and had bread and fruit jelly for breakfast. Then I set off at 8:45am to arrive at the meeting spot ららん藤岡 at 9:00am – it wasn’t too far away at all (only a 15 minute drive) despite being in the next city over in Fujioka! They were waiting at the parking lot entrance which was really nice of them – it made it easy for me to see where the entrance was and where to park! The librarian was the driver for the day so we all piled into her car.

The drive to the first stop in Chichibu took exactly 1 ½ hours – precisely what the librarian had written on the schedule! She doesn't even use Google Maps or any navigation system (her car doesn't have one of those built in ones), she searches the routes beforehand and writes them all down. Too pro. We went to the café she had found before and really liked (Jurin’s Geo) – it was really hidden away! There weren’t even any signs advertising it on the main road or anything. It was literally down this random driveway that looked like it would go nowhere, but at the end of it is the café and two other soba restaurants! The café was very chic and pretty, but unfortunately they had had an extremely busy day yesterday (Sunday) so they had run out of a lot of items on their menu. The skillet pancakes and ice cream sandwiches are the popular choices so those were all gone, leaving us with very little to choose from (their menu didn't have very many items in the first place). I ended up choosing their ice cream (you get 2 scoops of different flavours), and the librarian got their pudding. Thankfully their ice cream actually tasted very good – I think they make it themselves! I got caramel and chocolate – after the long car ride I was feeling a bit drowsy so needed something sweet to perk up. The café really had great atmosphere and styling though, so despite the menu shortage, it was still a nice stop and I’d like to go there again!

Next we drove to Mitsumine Shrine! It was a very lovely drive because you’re driving along the windy roads up the mountain, giving you gorgeous views down into the gorge/river below. Not sure if these mountains turn red in autumn, but the view would be absolutely gorgeous if they did! The shrine was very lovely – since it’s on top of the mountain the temperature was super nice and cool. We were actually in the clouds because they were so low into the mountains! I just have to mention the parking lot bathroom too because it was so nice and new and clean with the actual non-squat toilets!!! Normally in the mountains and 田舎 places like this you’d be hard pressed to find the western style toilet, but here they were super clean and new. Anyway, we walked up the stairs towards the shrine area where there were a few restaurants and souvenir shops, and then walked down some other stairs to the actual shrine. It was very a beautiful shrine, and the first one that I’ve seen that is so colourful and detailed in its design! It had a lot of animals carved into its roof, and just so many bright and bold colours – very different from the usual simple and plain shrine design. This shrine has a story where a wolf lead the god down the mountain, so there were statues of wolves everywhere. The weather was actually really perfect for today’s shrine visit, because the clouds created a lot of fog and a very mysterious aura, so it was very fitting and made for some great moody photos. There was also the 縁結びの木 which were two trees intertwined together, so couples like to go there to write wishes and stuff.

For lunch we headed back to the restaurant area and had the famous わらじカツ丼! It’s basically a katsu-don, but what makes it special is that the katsu is shaped like わらじ which is the traditional flat straw Japanese sandals. So that means it was two massive pieces of katsu, thinner than the normal kind, on top of rice. I seriously think this is the best katsu-don I have ever had to date! The thinness of the cutlet made it super juicy and easier to eat than the normal thick kind. Plus the rice was extra delicious too, which the Japanese friend explained is probably because of the mountain water that they use for cooking up here. That’s why there’s also so many soba shops around, because for good soba, you need good mineral water apparently! The grandma who was serving us also said that in the spot where we were sitting, Yoshitaka Yuriko (a Japanese actress) had sat there before for a meal too! That was cool. Plus since the restaurant is on top of the mountain, they’ve got a large window and you sit on the tatami mats overlooking this beautiful view. The clouds were rising up and down like a river in the sky so it was super cool.

After lunch we drove to the next shrine on the list – 宝登山神社 (Hodosan Shrine). This was also a very lovely cute shrine. It had a white tori gate instead of the usual red! It was also quite similar to Mitsumine Shrine in that it was very colourful as well, but this time with etchings of dragons instead of the many animals that Mitsumine Shrine had. After this we drove back to the original meeting spot this morning where we parted ways. I went home first but they were continuing on for golf this evening! At home I had rice and soup for dinner, then edited today’s photos.