On Saturday (9/9) I decided to make the trek to Mt. Shosha since I had the spare time! I was joined with some of my new colleagues. We left early in the morning, catching a #8 bus to the rope-way station; we cut through a small suburb in order to reach the beginning of the hiking trail. It was a hot, muggy day despite our early start and before long we were all melting along the trail. Occasionally a cool breeze would reach our skin through the dense foliage, and the brief relief was welcome. Eventually, after frequent breaks, we did reach the top (of the rope-way). Alas, it was a hazy day, and the photos of the view over Himeji did not come out particularly well.
I still think my favorite part of Mt. Shosha is the statue-lined path leading up to the first gate. During this part of our journey we were joined by a nice gentleman from New York who was visiting Himeji for the day. We all had a blast photographing the statues on our way up! The lighting was tricky, or maybe I'm just out of photography practice, so very few of the photos came out.
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| Every time I visit, the statues are always a little different. This time around, many of the Buddhas were sporting handmade prayer bracelets. |
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| This is still my favorite of the lot! He's just... so sassy! |
I always enjoy admiring the architecture on Mt. Shosha. The roof tiles are just so ornate and lovely, and the wooden paneling underneath is just as intricate. I'm still learning how to photograph these details properly, but hopefully these photos serve to showcase the beauty of these temple roofs!
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| Being summer, the season of giant bugs in Japan, the spiders were out in full force throughout the mountain. Some of the webs we passed were works of art, albeit uncomfortably large ones. |
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| Some of the roof tiles even feature the angry faces of oni! |
When I wasn't looking up and admiring the roofs, I occasionally did pause to take notice of the smaller beauties along the trails. I particularly enjoyed photographing the little army of mini-Buddhas and their red-bibs. The lighting was most definitely not in my favor (though it never seems to be in this particular spot) but I did manage to get a couple cute photos!
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| The dragon fountain outside Maniden is always quite impressive! The cool water felt soothing after the heat of the day. |
Maniden, the large tiered temple at the center of Mt. Shosha, was as lovely as ever! We had lunch in the little restaurant at the base of the temple. I enjoyed some chilled somen noodles with mushrooms. Afterwards, before we headed back down (to take the rope-way, out of pity for our poor feet), some of my colleagues paused to feed some ducks in a koi pond outside the restaurant. The duck crackers were just 30 yen, and the koi enjoyed eating them as much as the ducks did. The photo opportunity was too good to pass up! I'm particularly proud of how this one turned out, though I got quite a few cute duck photos overall.
I'll definitely be visiting Mt. Shosha again in the future when I have a free morning. I might wait a bit until it cools off a bit more, though. I'm looking forward to the autumn colors!
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