There is an area called “Hirano” located northeast of Kobe Sannomiya. It takes about 20 minutes from Sannomiya by bus. People have lived there since long ago and a Capital was momentarily (a half year) established about 800 years ago.
I went to Gion-jinja Shrine and Minatoyama Aquarium in that area. It was a half-day trip in which I left the house around 8:00 am and came back home around 2:00 pm, and was an easy trip. When I got up that morning, I felt “It is fine today, so I’d like to go out for a while.”
Gion-jinja Shrine
After getting off the bus at the Hirano bus stop, I reached Gion-jinja Shrine walking on an old sloping narrow road for about 10 minutes. A torii gate stands at the foot of a mountain and you will find a steep staircase having 88 steps there.
This shrine has a relation to Yasaka-jinjya shrine in Kyoto if some of you may notice from the name of the shrine. In the Heian Period, epidemics were often prevailed and natural hazards frequently occurred in Heian-kyo (Capital). An oracle in which it was better to get the help of Susanoo-no-mikoto was issued in order to solve the problems. At that time, Susanoo-no-mikoto was defied in Hiromine-jinja Shrine in Himeji (Hyogo), and so the tutelary deity of Hiromine-jinja Shrine, Susanoo-no-mikoto, was divided (invitation of deity), and the deified sprit was transferred to Kyoto. The sprit stayed overnight there on the way to Kyoto from Himeji. The local people appreciated it after that, and made a small shrine at the place where the sprit stayed. It has been said that it is the beginning of this Gion-jinja Shrine.
The summer festival is held every year on 13th to 20th of July, which is called Gion Matsuri. During the festival days, there are many street stalls in the precincts and on the roads around, and the shrine is crowded with visitors from Kobe-City and the surrounding areas.
When I climbed up the steep stone steps, I felt a pleasant wind breezing from back hills and found a different space having no noise or bustle of big cities. There are big streets where trucks and cars constantly run around the shrine, but I felt that I was in refreshing air there.
Map of Precincts
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Torii Gate
88 Stone Steps
Back Route
Purification Trough
Front Shrine
Kobe seen from the Precincts
Inner Parts
Ichikisima-jinja Shrine
Shiratama Inari-jinja Shrine
Shimabara-jinja Shrine
Sarutahiko-jinja Shrine
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Main Shrine
Main Shrine
Kasuga-jinja Shrine
Main Shrine Susanoo-no-mikoto
Kotai-jinja Shrine
Japanese Maple
Sacred Tree
Red Seal
After visiting the shrine, I went to Minatoyam Aquarium in NATURE STUDIO. It took about 10 minutes on foot. While walking, I saw old townhouses, a unique sign, and a statue of a warrior associated with this area (Kusunoki Masashige).
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Maintenance of Mountains
Old Townhouse
Old Townhouse Utilized as a Shop
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Ancient Road
Unique Sign
Statue of Kusunoki Masashige
NATURE STUDIO
NATURE STUDIO is a community-based compositing facility built utilizing Minatoyama Elementary school buildings, which is now abandoned. The facility opened in 2022, but has many reminders of its former school buildings. Trees are planted in the former schoolyard (they say we changed the schoolyard to a forest) so that we can experience closely the nature. In the facility, in addition to shops, restaurants, and a nursery, various workshops are held.
Floor Map
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It stans just beside the entrance gate.
A good bakery is in the building.
Entrance Place
You can take a meal there.
The schoolyard became a forest.
It was fine!
Old Type School Building
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Atmosphere of Elementary School
Food Court
Yummy, yummy.
View seen from the Second Floor
Fishing Pond
Yellow stood out.
Minatoyam Aquarium
About 250 kinds of creatures live in the aquarium, and school fixtures including chairs are reused. I felt nostalgic when I saw them. There are chairs or cushions in front of water tanks. It is a concept of the aquarium that please observe carefully the creatures at a very short distance that you cannot experience in large-scale aquariums.
There are doctor fish in addition to tropical fishes, corals, deep-sea fishes, and various aquatic organisms. Asian small-clawed otters are Shutaro and Buntaro. A giant tortoise and a sloth live together in one room. There is a play room in which you can sit down on the floor in front of water tanks. It is really a unique aquarium.
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Shutaro and Buntaro
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Giant tortoise and Sloth
It’s good point that the distance between a water tank and observers is close, but for that situation, problems sometimes occur. For example, someone violently beaded glass plates of a water tank; children chased one another in the aquarium; or someone put a stone in a water tank. The aquarium says that the creatures in Minatoyama Aquarium do not exist for bulling by you or they are not your toys. I hope that everyone listens to the voice of the aquarium and the problems described above never occur in the future.
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