I has been snowing pretty hard in Takayama lately, much like other parts of the world. Takayama is surrounded by nature, forests, and mountains. All of these mountains shield us from the wind, so when it snows, it comes gently and fluffy, and piles up and up without getting blown over. This creates a beautiful frosted landscape.
With the constant snow, I wanted to go out and take some photos, and being test week, I had an afternoon available to do some exploring in the snow. There's a shrine at the edge of town nestled into the forest that I thought would be perfect to visit. This is Kumano Shrine.
The gate to the shrine is on the literal edge of the forest meeting the open fields. I parked near the side entrance, but then took the long route back down the road and back through the fields to meet this entrance.
We received about 1 meter of snow over the past couple of days on top of the snow we already had. The fields and paths to arrive to the gate were pretty deep, but the natural canopy of the forest shielded most of the rest of the path leading to the Shrine.
This presented a different problem, though. As the hardened tufts of snow in the tall trees got heavier, the branch eventually gave way to drop the snow, whiting out the path forward. The clumps of snow hitting the snow on the ground created the only sound available. A small gust of wind would rustle the branches, and then soft bum, bum, bums would follow, along with me curling up, protecting the camera, and facing away from the snow coming into my face.
It was not difficult to climb the steps and reach the shrine.
The Kumano Shrine was officially recognized and protected by the city starting from July 10th, 1975. It is believed to be built around the year 1680. This was almost 100 years after Kanamori conquered the Hida area, and established it as a mountain oasis for his rich friends. Much of this wealth did trickle down improved the area, too.
The shrine was built by artist Ikemori Gengo 池守源五 and funded by lacquerware artist Narita Sankyu 成田三休. Its style was totally fitting of other tradition buildings at the time, and the reliefs were made in the Shunkei lacquerware style, also notable in Hida.
According to the Internet, the main hall is the oldest original one still standing in Takayama. There was a hole punctured in the screen of the front door, so I could stick my camera lens through it. The shrine is still used today for Shinto ceremonies in the summer, like all shrines around town.
Being satisfied with my current stack of photos, I did not break in or walk around the back for more. I continued back to my car using the side entrance, while occassionally getting pelted by falling clumps of snow.
Before actually leaving, I remembered there was a small park behind the forest with the shrine. The shrine itself wasn't really deep in the forest. It was in a small pennisula of woods shooting out from the beginnings of the main western forest heading up to Mihakayama 見量山. I went hiking up there before in 2016.
I decided to take a look at the park real quick. Why not?
The park is an open area, but has a small preserved village next to it. This is the Akahogi Preservation Site, and the main thing it is perserving is a stone age wood furnace. It was discovered in 1954. Later in the 90s, archeologists and members of the historical society began restoring the area to capture the atmosphere of ancient Hida.
The most distinct buildings of ancient Hida are the Gasho-zukuri 合掌造り. They are mostly small wooden huts, although they can grow in size. They are very distinct because of their massive heavy thatched roofs which withstand the massive weight of Hida snowfalls. In the middle of the these homes, are fires that warm the whole interior.
There are a few open air museums in the area that have transported many of these buildings into their own town. In Takayama, Hida no Sato 飛騨の里 is most well known.
Within the Akahogi village, I did not travel too far. I only approached the closest building, which also seemed like the only one open.
The snow was deep, but these buildings are built to last. Looking in from the outside, it was completely black. The blinding white of the snow made it difficult to see anything past the door. With all the bear signs around, I was a little bit cautious of a confrontation. But... eh. It's probably fine.
I jutted inside and was completely sheltered from the snow outside.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it felt much warmer inside. Obviously, it offered complete protection of the wind, but it felt more than that. Maybe the straw of the roof retained or created some kind of heat.
In the middle, was the ancient fire pit, restored from the broken pieces found in the 50s. Nearby, a painted wooden plaque explained the purpose and usage of the fire pit. Obviously, it is pretty self explanatory to modern people, how the surrounding rocks can absorb and hold on the heat from the fire keeping the room warm. Also, how you can use the surface of the rocks to cook meat. The openings in the back and above the door allowed from the smoke the exit.
Overall, that was the end of my hike. I went back out the way I came, and returned to my car.
I parked in front of a building run by the Akahogi Historical Preservation Society. I thought about going in and poking my nose around, but I wasn't sure if it was actually open to the public. I'll come back in the spring for some comparison shots and updates.
Over night, it still continued to snow, and everyone had a chance the next day to show how bad of drivers they are. This included me, too, taking photos from my car while driving.
