Persimmons Grow on Trees and Other Things

Here we are again. We took an extended weekend and hit the road for Nagano & Yamanashi prefectures. We spent the first night at a small Inn near lake Suwa and the next morning we visited this beautiful Shinto shrine.

One needs to purify before going any further.

Emi went in one direction and I another; I took the path less traveled.

I'm not of the Shinto faith but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Stop and listen to the sound of a water drop splashing in a water filled stone basin. Breath in... breath out.  Close your eyes and count backwards from 100 to 1, open your eyes, breath in - breath out.
I could go on forever with this kind of BS :-)

Stone lanterns to light the way.

This must be the way!

More way from a different direction.

This is proof that there are two sides to every Tori gate.

It's all these little things that add to beauty of the shrine.

The sound of one man's footsteps while descending the stone steps echo across the universe. I told you I could go on forever with this sort of philosophical gibberish!

Autumn is (in my opinion) the best time of year to visit a shrine. Although, any other time of the year is almost equally as good an experience.

So, after departing the lake Suwa area we followed the old Koshukaido road to Yamanashi prefecture went another shrine near Enzan city.

After parking the car we followed the tree lined path to the real entrance to this shrine.  

By the entrance is a beautiful gingko nut tree with dazzling yellow leaves.

These leaves remind of yellow butterflies; thousands of them clinging to the tree branches.

Well, back to the main shrine area.

I love the natural unpainted wood.

A frame in a frame in a frame in a frame - that's how I see it!

Cast iron ornaments in a massive wood door.

Cast iron hinges, really made to last forever.

More of the good old stone lanterns to light the way.

This gate had recently been completely refurbished. The newly thatched roof was amazingly perfect.

This gate makes a nice picture frame for this shot of the tree lined path.

Ok, moving on, we went to a nearby farm house where they in the process of peeling persimmons and then hanging them up to dry.

This is a whole lot of persimmons.

Not much to say other than... wow!

The work area.

These persimmons don't hang themselves. There's a lot of work to this process.

She's rolling up her sleeves and getting ready to peel them persimmons.

There are two kinds of persimmons around here - already peeled and soon to be peeled.

Heading back to where we parked the car.

One last look around and then we're off to our next destination. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike