At the foot of Mount Kirishima - Tour of mythical and natural power spots♡ #Japan #nature #travel

At the foot of Mount Kirishima – Tour of mythical and natural power spots♡ #Japan #nature #travel

In this and the next two videos, we will introduce Miyakonojo, located 50 km south-west of Miyazaki City. The first stop is Tsumakirishima Shrine, one of the six Kirishima Gongen shrines that surround Mount Kirishima. It is marked by a large red torii gate along the road. We are now at the place indicated by the red arrow. We will go to the main shrine, which is circled by the red oval. Tsumakirishima Shrine was reportedly founded during the reign of the fifth Emperor Koushou (c. 475 BC – 393 BC). The shrine was later burnt down and buried by the eruption of Mount Kirishima, but was rebuilt in 963 by the Tendai Buddhist priest Shōkū Shōnin. The current shrine building was built in 1722. This large cedar was planted in 1600 by Shimazu Yoshihiro, a feudal lord in Satsuma Province (Kagoshima Prefecture), to pray for victory in war. There used to be a line of huge cedar trees starting near the entrance to the approach, but due to typhoon damage and old age, not much remains now. Look left from the large cedar and you will see a small shrine. As the path is very steep to visit the main shrine, pregnant women visit this shrine and return home, making it a popular place to visit for safe childbirth and child rearing. Next to the shrine of the god of childbirth, there is a very large camphor tree.
The tree is said to be 1000 years old! The tree is as magnificent as the camphor tree in the neighbouring Totoro, and I was mesmerized by it for a while… This was placed in front of the torii gate leading up to the main shrine. It says: Riciting that “Those who do Summer purification ritual in June will prolong their lives for a thousand years”, turn right three times and left three times to pray for good health, safety in the home and protection from bad luck. A statue of a demon is placed on the right side of the torii gate, because there is a legend that the stone steps leading up to the main shrine were built overnight by a demon by piling up 999 stones. Finally, head to the main shrine. 😊 The very large stones are piled up in tiers, and it is no wonder that there is still a legend that demons built this. It is said that if you climb up this stairs without turning around while chanting your wish, your wish will come true. It is a very steep staircase. 💦 Sorry it’s hard to see, I’m dizzy on my feet. 💦 We’re here! The deity is Izanagi no Mikoto, who is said to have created the land of Japan. It is a beautiful shrine building, with carved wooden guardian lion-dogs on the pillars and decorated with plants and geometric patterns. You can see a pair of magnificent pillars with a female and a male dragon carved on it at the back of the shrine . This is a view of the staircase from above. If you think these stairs are too steep, there is a back approach now. There are many legends about this Tsumakirishima Shrine, and the “Sacred stone” is one of them. You can see The “Sacred stone” behind the torii gate. It is interesting to note that the stones are piled on top of the torii gate. This stone was hardened from tears of Izanagi when his beloved wife Izanami was burnt to death after giving birth to the god of fire,… It is said that he cut this “Sacred stone” into three pieces with his “Ten Grips Sword” so that people on earth would not suffer such calamities in the future. The Ten Grips Sword is housed in the shrine hall we have just visited as a sacred treasure of the Tsumakirishima Shrine. After enjoying the mythical world of Tsumakirishima Shrine, head to Seki-no-o Waterfall, 14.5 km south-south-west from there. We’ve arrived at the parking lot.♪ The road to the viewing point near Seki-no-o Waterfall appears to be closed. You can already hear the sound of a large waterfall! First let’s go to the observation point of Medaki(Female) Waterfall. If you go to the right, there is a lookout point and if you go to the left, there is a campsite.
It would be nice to camp here.♪ You can see Seki-no-o Waterfall in the distance. This is the Female Waterfall.
It was a hot day and the splashing water felt so good♪ Now it’s time to go to Seki-no-o Waterfall. A ramp leads up to the first viewing point, so wheelchair users also can enjoy the falls up close. 😊 There were not many people, probably because it was a weekday. The Seki-no-o Waterfall were visible! It is very powerful! It is a width of 40 m and a drop of 18 m, has been selected as one of the 100 best waterfalls in Japan. There is also a legend about this Seki-no-o Waterfall. About 650 years ago, when Hongo Suketada, the first lord of the Shimazu family, visited the area and held a moon-viewing party,… Oyuki, who was pouring the sake, was so nervous that she spilled some of it and, ashamed of this, threw herself into this waterfall basin with the vermilion-lacquered sake cup clutched to her chest. Oyuki’s lover, Tsuneyuki, mourned her death and kept calling out her name by the waterfall, inscribing a verse on the rocks with the tip of his spear before disappearing. From then on, as if in response to Tsuneyuki’s feelings for Oyuki, a vermilion lacquered sake cup floats in the waterfall basin on the night of the harvest moon. The engraved tanka can still be seen on the rock face by the waterfall, and the Oyuki-san Sake-nagashi is held every year on the last Saturday in July to pray for Oyuki’s repose.
(Photo: taken by Miyakonojo City) Let’s go to the suspension bridge directly in front of the falls. This path leads straight to a viewing point right next to the waterfall, but is closed due to falling rocks. Proceed slowly as the footing is slippery. This waterfall is Odaki(Male waterfall). It is also known as a marriage spot, with the legend that if two lovers pour sake into Male Waterfall and Female waterfall respectively, they will surely be united, based on the story of Oyuki and Tsuneyuki mentioned earlier. The negative ions from the waterfall are amazing ♡ Next, let’s go to another attraction here.♪ Seki-no-o Potholes Continue through the woods where you can hear the sound of the waterfall. There were benches in the woods and it would be nice to relax here. We came up above the waterfall. This is the Seki-no-o Potholes that is said to be the world’s largest group of potholes. It is 600 m long and up to 80 m wide and is designated a national monument. ‘Potholes’ are circular holes on the bed of a river or on the rocky surface of a riverbank,… and these “Seki-no-o potholes” are formed by clear water flowing from the Kirishima Mountains into a layer of fused tuff created by the Kakuto pyroclastic flow some 330,000 years ago,… then it was formed by the rotation of small stones and rock fragments over a long period of time. So, although it looks like a collection of craggy rocks, it is actually all one connected bedrock! Art of nature created over a long, long period of time that is mind-boggling. It’s breathtaking… After feeling the power of nature, we enjoyed a picnic on a bench in the square, looking out over Seki-no-o Waterfall.

In this and the next video, we will introduce you to Miyakonojo at the foot of Mount Kirishima in the south-west of Miyazaki City.
We visited power spots of myth and nature, such as Tsumakirishima Shrine, where legends remain such as the ‘Oniiwa Staircase’ said to have been built by a demon in a single night and the ‘Sacred stone’ said to have been cut by Izanagi no Mikoto(He is said to have created the land of Japan), and Seki-no-o Waterfall, which has been selected as one of the 100 best waterfalls in Japan, and the Seki-no-o Potholes, which is said to be one of the largest in the world.
Hope you will enjoy it all the way to the end♪
No talk. Only sound of nature and the music by Rinaldo and Satomi.
#Japan #Travel #Miyazaki #nature #waterfall

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Location map:
Tsumakirishima Shrine
https://www.google.com/maps/search/東霧島神社/@31.8455177,131.0599288,12z/data=!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDcwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Seki-no-o Waterfall
https://www.google.com/maps/search/関之尾滝/@31.7614508,130.9872544,17z/data=!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDcwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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