Saturday, March 30, 2013

Hiking, Part 1

Did anyone else notice the excess commas in the previous post? I do like commas, add them in whenever I feel like it, and overuse them. My friend, the comma. I should go back and fix that post ... but I probably won't.

That confession aside, it is time to finally post our hiking trips. In one month we went hiking three times: up Bizan twice and once out to Kakurinji, Temple Number 20. I don't have photos of our second trip up Bizan, but not much changed anyway. In fact, the photos of Bizan look a lot like the photos I took when David and I hiked it last summer. Fewer leaves on the trees perhaps, but all-in-all not very different.




Of course the group photo is different : )



We hiked Bizan on Hina Matsuri, the Doll Festival, also known as Girl's Day. At the foot of Bizan is a large building containing a tourist shop, a small theatre, art exhibition space, and the terminal for the rope way. When we arrived back down the mountain, we saw the posters for the Hina Matsuri exhibit. I am glad we decided to go in.

Displays can be several tiers, such as these, or smaller ones for the home containing only the top tier with the prince and princess. Each of the lower tiers represents a member of the royal court: musicians, sake distillers, soldiers, etc.





I can't find the official name for the hanging decorations. I think they might be called Tsurushi Bina and represent prayers of health for daughters. The dolls in the photos below were handmade by community members. The blue fabric is dyed using Tokushima indigo plants (also known as Awa indigo).



Whew! One hiking post finished. One more to go!

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