58. YouTube: Castles & Shrines
THIS WILL PROBABLY be my last entry (for a while, at least). As I write this, I am sitting at home in Australia, the memories of Japan already fading. It was, without a doubt, the most formative year of my life. A part of me misses it terribly, and wants to return. So it seems fitting that my last entry should be about monuments: structures that have persisted through time, to preserve our memory of times past.
FUSHIMI-INARI TAISHA was erected in 711 AD. It is dedicated to the god of rice and sake. The videoclip shows just some of the 4km trek, with its estimated 10 000 torii (鳥居, gates).
MATSUMOTO-JO (松本城) was built in 1594 AD. It changed hands a few times during the Warring States period (戦国時代): from the Takeda clan, to the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans. The videoclip shows the castle in its full glory -- and in its original condition.