Tsuwano (Tuesday, October 5)

A sightseeing day started with a heavy rain shower that threatened to derail our plans.  So, we had breakfast and went back to our room to wait it out.  Fortunately it stopped at about 9:30 and off we went to our various sights.

We are still largely “off the grid,” however, with no Internet access.  Our proprietress told us that there was Internet access at the tourist office.  That turned out to be true, although it consisted of a laptop computer that you could use for 30 minutes for ¥100.  I suspect that I could have downloaded all my pent-up copy to a disk and then uploaded it to the blog, but I’m not sure any readers are so in need of the next installment to make that worth the while (feel free to post if you violently disagree!).  So I’ll save them and upload them en masse when we next hit a wireless hot spot.

Tsuwano is a nice little town, as I think I’ve already noted.  You can easily “do” the town in a day, though, and perhaps even less than that.  We set out and walked through Tonomachi, the former Samurai residence district (seems to be a constant theme to those careful followers of the blog), which was picturesque, etc.  Then we climbed up to the Taikodani Inari Shrine, which according to the pamphlet, is counted among Japan’s five greatest Inari Shrines (not sure how to calibrate that accolade).  It has a commanding presence on the side of the mountain, overlooking the town.  From there we walked through the streets of the town out to the Ogai Mori house and memorial hall, which celebrates the life of this famous (for Japan, of course) military surgeon and novelist who lived in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  We were thinking of someone who might be comparable from the US, but drew a blank.    The exhibits were totally in Japanese, so I really can’t tell you much about his life, although to have a museum devoted solely to you – even in a dinky little town – he must have accomplished much. 

We had bad luck for lunch.  Both places we wanted to eat – one an okonomiyaki place, the other a sushi place – were both closed.  We ended up at a noodle shop (udon) – just a little hole in the wall that could not have seated more than a dozen or so people.  It was ok, but just ok.

In the afternoon we visited the Hokusai museum, dedicated to the works of Katsushika Hokusai, a famous artist of the late Tokugawa era.  He lived from 1760 to 1849 and is recognized (at least according to the museum pamphlet) as one of the most influential Japanese artists in the world.  The works exhibited included woodblock prints, illustrated books and paintings.  Some of his more famous paintings are the multiple views he painted multiple views of Mt. Fuji.  Moving a rung or two down from the aesthetic, we then visited a local establishment that makes sake and, after sampling a number of the offerings, bought a keepsake of Tsuwano to enjoy when we return.

Tsuwano really is a very pretty town.  Fact is, though, that without internet access and with limited sightseeing opportunities, a day is probably enough.  And so tomorrow early we are off to Kurashiki.