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TOMO-NO-URA |
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There are few more pleasant ways to spend half a day or more in
Japan than exploring the enchanting fishing port of TOMO-NO-URA , at the
tip of the Numakuma Peninsula, 14km south of Fukuyama. The town has one
of the most beautiful locations on the Inland Sea, and its narrow,
twisting streets and surrounding hills, liberally sprinkled with
picturesque temples and shrines, are easily explored on foot or by
bicycle. Boats unload their catch daily beside the horseshoe-shaped
harbour , which has hardly changed since the town's Edo-era heyday, when
trading vessels waited here for the tides to change direction or rested
en route to mainland Asia. Now, you're just as likely to see locals
dreaming the day away on the sea walls, rod in hand, waiting for the
fish to bite, or selling catches of prawns, squirming crabs, and other
seafood on the streets.
The best way to get your bearings is by climbing up to the ruins of the
castle Taigashima-jo on the headland immediately above the ferry landing
and pausing to take in the view from the temple Empuku-ji, where you'll
also find a small monument to the celebrated haiku poet Basho. To the
west, you can see the gentle sweep of the harbour and the temple-studded
slopes of Taisiden hill, while to the east is tiny Benten-jima, an
outsized rock crowned with a temple to the Buddhist deity, and the
larger island Sensui-jima, the best place to stay the night .
Heading west into the town from the bus terminal, you'll soon hit the
steps leading up to the Tomo-no-Ura Museum of History (Tues-Sun:
April-Sept 9am-5pm; Jan-March & Oct-Dec 9am-4.30pm; ¥150), which has a
few mildly diverting exhibits, including a miniature model of the
sea-bream-netting show held every day in May, when the local fishermen
use age-old methods to herd the fish into their nets. Even if you don't
go into the museum, the view from its hilltop location in the middle of
the town, across a patchwork of grey and blue tiled roofs dropping away
to the harbour, is one of Tomo-no-Ura's most pleasant.
Returning to the foot of the hill, follow the narrow road west past the
ships' chandlers shop and then turn left into the street lined with wood
and plaster warehouses dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, some of which have been converted into gift and coffee shops.
At the end of the street is the confusingly named Shichiky-ochi Ruins ,
a perfectly intact old sake brewery that briefly sheltered a band of
anti-shogun rebels in the turbulent times prior to the Meiji
Restoration. The water-washed steps of the harbour, topped off by a
handsome stone lantern, are directly ahead.
Much of the locally caught fish ends up being processed at Uonosato
(Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; free), a surprisingly engaging snack-food factory in
a commanding hillside position on the far western side of the harbour.
There's more of a craft shop than a factory atmosphere inside and you
can try your hand at making prawn paste sembei (crackers) and other
snacks after watching demonstrations by the friendly, blue-clothed
workers. Outside the workshops, seafood dries in the sunlight on large
wooden racks and there are craft shops on the surrounding terraces, all
of which provide marvellous views across the harbour.
Returning towards the town, keep an eye open for the sign pointing up
Taishiden hill to the pretty temple Io-ji . If you're cycling it's best
to leave your bike on the main road before hiking up to the temple, one
of many founded by the revered Buddhist priest Kobo Daishi . You can
hike down the hill eastwards past several more temples, include
Hosen-ji, where only a truncated stump remains of the previously
14.3-metre-wide Tengai pine tree. As the street turns the corner, just
beyond Hosen-ji , glance down to see the mini-stone bridge Sasayaki ,
where a couple of ill-fated lovers are said to have once whispered sweet
nothings before drowning.
Continuing north for a couple of minutes, you'll arrive at the hillside
approach to Nunakuma-jinja , a large shrine which, although ancient, has
been recently rebuilt in concrete. More impressive is the traditional
wooden No stage within the shrine grounds that used to be taken around
battlefields so the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi could be entertained. A
couple of minutes' walk further north is Ankoku-ji , founded around
1270, and containing two wooden statues of Buddha designated as national
treasures. Neither they nor the temple's tatty sand and rock garden are
worth going out of your way for.
Either wind your way back to the ferry landing along the narrow streets
or follow the seafront to the west, then hike up the hill immediately to
the north to take in one more view from the Taichoro reception hall of
the temple Fukuzen-ji (daily 9am-5pm). It costs ¥200 to enter the airy
tatami space with paper screens that open to a reveal a striking
panorama of the Inland Sea, a view which has changed little since 1711,
when a visiting Korean envoy hailed it "the most beautiful scenery in
Japan."
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