Last Sunday (9/10), since the weather was lovely, my friend (Yukiko) and I decided to visit Kakashi-no-sato (literally: Scarecrow Town) in northern Himeji (I went there once before, about 4 years ago, during their autumn festival). The town is famous for having more scarecrows than people and seemed like a great place to spend a beautiful afternoon. First, we stopped at a traditional Japanese restaurant on the way and add a wonderful lunch! I was so hungry I forgot to photograph the appetizers--ごめなさい！
Then, once we arrived in Kakashi-no-sato, we met up with another friend (Masaki) who had grown up in the area. He said that there were two different waterfalls in walking distance of the town square and offered to guide us to both of them! It was a wonderful hike, with dense foliage and babbling creeks along the well-maintained trail. Masaki knew everything there was to know about the plants and creatures of the area, and it was really interesting to learn about them all. Not so fun was watching out for leeches and ticks, which were apparently endemic to the area. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any.
I still haven't figured out how to photograph the scenery in dimly lit forests, so most of my photos were a blurry mess. A few shots did come out, though they don't yet fully capture the beauty of the trail. After about twenty minutes, we reached the first waterfall! It was tall, with the sun hitting the water at just the right angle so as to create a permanent little rainbow arching across it! Seeing this waterfall was well worth the sweltering trek.
After spending a bit of time admiring the first waterfall, we hiked back towards the town square. On the way, a small snake slid down the slopes of the trail in front of us and startled poor Yukiko half to death. The snake was harmless, both Masaki and I assured her, and really quite cute! Alas, it was very shy and swiftly slithered out of range of my camera.
We visited the second area of waterfalls, and this area reminded me very much of Slide Rock Arizona, except it was greener and steeper. There was a series of cascading waterfalls and smooth stones, and the area was full of people sliding down them. One group of young boys we ran into were actually some of my former elementary school students! I didn't recognize them since they had grown quite a bit, but they were pretty surprised to see me and very reluctant to speak English on their day off. They did eventually explain, in English, that they had been playing in the river for about three hours so far. We left them to their play and hiked back down after chatting with a few other groups of people along the series of waterfalls.
Due to the crowds, I didn't have a chance to photograph the waterfalls, but I did manage to briefly photograph a pool at the bottom of one of the falls before another group slid down. There were a series of cabins at the foot of this trail that were available to rent, and apparently a bus comes to the area from Himeji Station. I'm already thinking of making plans for camping out and playing in the river next summer!
Masaki said that near Kakashi-no-sato there was an ancient Japanese home that we could visit. I briefly snapped a photo of a couple of adorable scarecrows before we left. It was a little bit by car (in the direction towards Himeji proper), but there was no mistaking the house and its straw roof! Accounts on the age of the house vary (anywhere from 457 years old to more than 600 years old), but it has been impeccably maintained. Masaki informed us that his friend had lived in the house with his family no more than 40 years ago, and that this family had been the ones to live in the house for generations and generations. This home featured the traditional thatched roof of architecture at the time and straw-and-plaster walls.
On the inside, the original stove and rice mill were all intact. There was even a small wooden stable built into the main area where the family's horse or cow could live. The wooden walls, beams, and floors were all finely textured from when the builders had painstakingly carved them.
At the back of the house was a beautiful little garden. Overall, the house was situated in an area with nine other homes and attendant farms. The locals take turns maintaining the house and grounds for visitors, an elderly lady informed us (who described in great length how poorly some of her neighbors did their jobs). Just across the street from the hamlet was a lovely view of the river and mountains and I couldn't resist pausing to photograph the scene! All in all, it was a lovely afternoon spent in a very rural, mountainous part of Himeji! I definitely plan to visit again sometime in November, when the autumn colors are on full display!
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