Tsuwano 津和野 Photo Gallery by Matthew Haswell at pbase.com

Tsuwano 津和野

A somewhat remote, but very picturesque mountain town in southwestern Shimane-ken, Tsuwano is often referred to as the "Little Kyōto of the San-in Region" for its traditional atmosphere and attractive setting. Located in a narrow valley on the edge of Yamaguchi Prefecture, it was once guarded by a near impregnable castle, the ruins of which still overlook the town from the western mountaintop.

Tsuwano-bound train at Masuda station	Storefront near Tsuwano station	Curve of the Tsuwano-kawa at the edge of town	Old residences in the town center
Stairs up to Kakuōzan Yōmei-ji	Bell tower at Kakuōzan Yōmei-ji	Outdoor altar with carp and wagon	Cemetery at Kakuōzan Yōmei-ji
Amongst the gravestones	At the edge of the cemetery	Outside the main complex of Kakuōzan Yōmei-ji	Otome-tōge Maria Seidō (Chapel of St. Maria)
Interior of the chapel	Image of the Virgin Mary	Jizō at the entrance to Kōmyō-ji	Down the tracks from Tsuwano station
Antique lantern and decorative window	Sake brewery in Tonomachi	Carp in the stream outside Yōrō-kan	Carp, bright and dark
Decorative streetlamps along Tonomachi	Main street through the former samurai quarter	Canal along the Yōrō-kan	Carp swimming down the stream
Decorative gate outside the town office	Tourist group coming out of the Yōrō-kan	Koi beside the checkered wall	Tago Karō-mon
Entrance to the Yōrō-kan	Bicycle parked along the street	Statues of the Gion Matsuri's heron costumes	Torii leading to Yasaka-jinja
Tunnel of torii zigzagging up the mountainside	Walking up through the vermilion gates	At the edge of a break in the torii	A brief glimpse of the town below
Lanterns and main hall of Taikodani Inari-jinja	Main gate into Taikodani Inari-jinja	Southern edge of Tsuwano viewed from the shrine	Main courtyard at Taikodani Inari-jinja
Flags flapping in the wind	Main hall at Taikodani Inari-jinja	Blue-tailed skink at the shrine	Lanterns and shimenawa on the main hall
Entering Yasaka-jinja	View down on a rice paddy	Southern end of central Tsuwano	Shuttered window on the Mori Ōgai House
Former house of physician Mori Ōgai	Tsuwano Castle ruins high on the hill	Outside the Nishi Amane House	Former house of Nishi Amane
Interior of the Nishi Amane house	Rural southern outskirts of Tsuwano	Archery grounds at Washibara Hachiman-gū	Torii outside Washibara Hachiman-gū
Chairlift leading to the castle ruins	Path up to the ruins of Tsuwano-jō	Tsuwano town amidst its mountain surrounds	Site of the De-maru quarter of Tsuwano-jō
Safety bridge leading to the main ruins	View down on the southern outskirts of Tsuwano	Path out of the Sanjūkan-dai	Karaku-en Monomi-yagura
Pathway down from the Taiko-maru	View over Tsuwano from the castle ruins	Babasaki-yagura	Houses along the river canal
Outside Tsuwano Catholic Church	Large whitewashed kura on the main street	Lunch set of chirashi-zushi and mountain vegetables	Grand old residence in Tonomachi
Washi lanterns outside a machiya	Lanterns and trees in the samurai quarter	Next to the Catholic Church	Interior of the Catholic Church
Albino koi	The SL Yamaguchi-gō steam train	Roof detail on a sake brewery	Tourists taking shots outside the steam train
Looking down the samurai quarter in Tonomachi	Old barrels outside a sake brewery	Quieter end of Tonomachi's main street	House in the Shimane countryside
Rural scenery in Shimane-ken	Zodiac display at Nishihara station	Rows of rice fields	Passing back through Tsuwano by train

comment |

click on thumbnails for full image

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment