Nachi Falls and Hydrangea

Another photo of Nachi waterfalls. And another photo of hydrangeas. It is Hydrangea season at the moment and their showy bright blooms were a constant in each village we passed through when walking on the Kumano and at Nachisan.

More hydrangeas

One more photo of hydrangeas, just to show the abundance of the bloom and the blueness of the colour - maybe its the volcanic soils of Japan that produce such vibrant blues??

Round Window

A "Play School" moment at this round window at Meigetsu shrine - the hydrangea temple in Kamakura.  Would love to walk through to the other side.

Sooo Blue

Today I (along with 100s of others) visited a shrine known for its hydrangeas in Kamakura.  Sooo many people, soo many hydrangea and soooo blue - almost living in a Paul Kelly song!

Nachi Falls

There is a shrine at the base of Nachi Falls, that were shown on Monday's blog.  Of course as it is a Shinto shrine there is a tori gate at the entrance and an altar for offerings.  You can also pay money to walk to up to a small platform to experience the peace of the waterfall.

Three Shrines on a Tuesday

Kumano Hayatama Taisha Shrine - Shingu

Kunano Hongu Taisha Shrine- Hongu

Kumano Naichi Taisa - Nachisan

The Kumano Kado is also known as the Kumano Sanzan - referencing the three grand shrines (san is three in Japanese) in the Kii Mountains.Originally, each of these three Grand Shrines had their own distinctive form of nature worship; later in the 10th century, they started to give worship to all of the three guardian deities at the same time under the influence of Buddhism. 

The Money Shot(s)

The Three Storied Pagoda with Nachi waterfall in the background is the famous or most common image used for promotion of the Kumano Kado as a walk.  It looked fantastic- vermillion and green make a great combination.

The pagoda is a 1971 reconstruction - built to commemorate 300 years since the original burnt down.  At 133m Nachi Waterfall is the highest in Japan.