[61/200] Akagi Castle Ruins (2023-01-29) I didn't know quite what to expect deep in the Kumano mountains but the rare occurrence of blizzard the past few days made the whole experience a memory of its own. The itinerary for today was actually quite the walking challenge: a single bus operates 4 times a day, and to make it to the last bus back, I'd have to hike for one hour and trek for another two. But all the effort was worth it. As the bus passed some tunnels, I was greeted with a white landscape. While it has been sunny for the past few days, the mountainous areas were still completely covered in snow from last week. That said I did have to muster up some courage, hoping it wouldn't be too bad for the hiking part. As it turns out, as long as the snow isn't slippery ice, it's not too bad! And the scenery is dazzling too. After hiking through of the Toritoge pass, I arrived at the pictoresque Maruyama Senmaida, the "Thousand Rice Terraces". Seeing layered rice fields has always been on the bucket list, and what are the odds that I would get to see them in a snowy fashion? Not too shortly after, I arrived at the Akagi Castle Ruins. It's kinda similar to Naegi Castle, ruins on a relatively small hill overlooking the mountain passes. From here on out, unfortunately the closest bus departs from a resort 2 hours on foot. That's also where you can get the stamp for this castle. Overall though, I'd say this trip was a great success. Just 139 castles to go! #赤木城跡 #丸山千枚田 #通り峠 #熊野古道 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #akagicastle #maruyamasenmaida #toritoge #kumanokodo #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPvXE6ry6R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Kijimuna are legendary small tree spirits from the Okinawa Islands in Japan, who live in trees (generally old banyan trees). They are said to look about 3 or 4 years old and have red hair.
Another name for the kijimuna is bungaya, which means roughly large-headed. The Kijimuna are known to be very mischievous, playing pranks and tricking humans. One of their best-known tricks is to lie upon a person's chest, making them unable to move or breathe such as sleep paralysis. Even though the Kijimuna are tricksters, they have been known to make friends with humans.
They are skilled fish catchers and only eat the left or both eyes of the fish they catch. Therefore, if you become friends with a Kijimuna, you can always get a fish and become rich. They are good at diving and fishing and catch a lot of fish in seconds. But all the fish they catch have no eyes. They can also run around on the water surface and can stand on the water while carrying people.
They are extremely hatred of hot pot lids, octopus, chickens and human farts, and it is forbidden to let them near the Kijimuna. They also die (or are forced to move to another tree), if a nail is driven into the tree in which they live. They will take terrible retribution, including murder, against anyone who breaks these prohibitions.
Nevertheless, as long as one do not break these prohibitions, they are basically harmless to humans, and many lores say that they are "good neighbours" with humans.
[History of Ryukyu Islands (collective name for Amami Islands, Okinawa Islands, Miyako Archipelago and Yaeyama Archipelago)]
The Ryukyu Islands are known to have been inhabited by humans for about 32,000 years.
The Ryukyu Kingdom was a monarchy, existed in the southwestern islands of Japan for about 450 years, from 15th century to 19th century. It developed through diplomacy and trade with China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asian countries, and the castle of the Ryukyu dynasty, Shuri Castle, was the political, economic and cultural centre of its maritime kingdom. In the late 19th century, the Japanese Government, dispatched troops to oust King Shoutai from Shuri Castle and proclaimed the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture (Ryukyu Disposition). Here, the Ryukyu Kingdom was destroyed.
Genetic studies have shown that populations in the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Islands, Miyako Archipelago and Yaeyama Archipelago) have no direct genetic link to mainland China or Taiwanese populations and have identical paternal lines to mainland Japan, and nuclear DNA analysis in 2018 showed that genetically, Ryukyuans are the most closely related, followed by mainland Japanese, from the Ainu (Ref) perspective.
Furthermore, in 2021, a paper on archaeogenetics published in the journal Nature stated that DNA analysis of prehistoric human bones excavated from the Nagabaka (lit. Long graveyard) site in Miyakojima City showed that they were "100% pure Jomon", a research finding that indicates that prehistoric archipelago people came from the Okinawa Islands.
p10: In the show, Himeno chimed in herself about the DNA test instead of Rita asking for her testimony.
p11: the Chikyuu-go is かんぜんいっち/完全一致 [completely consistent (with each other)]. Same as the show but there show has a few lines more text.
-> which should've been a warning sign because with their obvious age difference, Gira's and Racules's DNA should not have shared 100% similarity like identical twins even if they are related. I suppose it was looked over due to the subtle difference between "sameness" and "consistency".
p12: 王族が王家(自ら)のものを使い the word is written as 王家 but pronounced 自ら instead. In the show, Rita said 自分
[60/200] Shingu Castle Ruins (2023-01-28) Only a few more castles left in the Kansai region! For this trip, I used a special kind of ticket instead of the usual Seishun 18 ticket: the Kansai Wide Area Pass, a variant of the almight JR pass. Normally it's similarly restricted to foreigners that come into Japan as a Temporary Visitor, but until March 2023 they released an "Excursion Pass" that allows any non-Japanese resident regardless of their visa status. And yes, that includes shinkansen rides between Okayama and Shin-Osaka! While my original plans did not include any shinkansen ride, I did end up riding one eventually because I overslept and missed the first bus I needed to ride. Because of my strict scheduling it almost lead to missing my 4 hour train ride to Shingu, but this limited edition ticket already paid for itself. That said, turns out there was no need for hurrying to begin with; due to recent heavy snowfall and such, the aforementioned train got delayed by 100(!) minutes. Oh well, what can you do. At least I was able to get to my destination. Shingu is located in the southern end of Wakayama; a remote place but still known for its strong cultural history to this day: it's part of an old network of pilgrimage routes known as the Kumano Kodo. These routes are of importance to those who want to visit the three major Kumano shines: Kumano Hayatama Taisha, Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha. The first of the three, Kumano Hayatama, is located in the center of Shingu. Due to my delayed arrival, I couldn't really explore the area as much as I would like to, but I got what I came for: a quick stop at the Asuka Shrine for the castle stamp and a castle seal for commemoration. Apparently, the park used to be privately owned with a cable car and all, but after that got deserted the government slowly bought everything back to its current state. #新宮城跡 #熊野速玉大社 #阿須賀神社 #熊野古道 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #shingucastle #kumanohayatamataisha #asukashrine #kumanokodo #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/Co1d6VNLRAZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=