Komaki Castle and Oppai Kannon
Yesterday was Japan's national holiday - Cultural Day (文化の日). It was windy and cold in the morning. I mentally debated whether I should go out or stay home, even though I had plans on going out.
When you see a single rail for both inbound and outbound train, you know that you're somewhere pretty country.
Metetsu Komaki station 名鉄小牧駅
On my way to my first stop, the Kannon temple, I spotted the Komaki castle. History lesson later.
The way I found out about this temple is from Komaki's (small) tourism homepage. This is the first stop of the 4-hour walking course it suggested. I didn't know what was famous about it. Obviously not the size because the one in Kamakura is the biggest (in Japan).
After entering the front gate, I reached the sink where everyone should wash their hands before proceeding further. As soon as I saw this, it's a good clue that this is not just any regular temple.
These turtles are at the feet of the sink, are they cute?
間々観音 Here she is, the Mama Kannon. I named it Oppai Kannon myself XD "Oppai" in Japanese means breats, yep, women's breasts. And you shall soon see why.
Apparently, women come here to wish for anything to do with breasts. This girl, "Miiko", wishes her breasts (only) to become big. I guess that means she doesn't want any other parts of her body to get any bigger than now. I wonder if the Kannon accepts such specific requests.
Even the omamori (charms) here are specially made. Pretty cool. Though I didn't think I want to carry a pair of mini breats around.
Destination number 2: Komaki Castle. This is a simple map of the castle.
The reason why this is an important castle is that firstly, Nobunaga (信長) lived here for four years. He then moved to Gifu and abandoned this one. 17 years later, after the Honnou-ji's Change (本能寺の変), there was debate as to who should succeed Nobunaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) and Nobunaga's second son (信雄) had a great battle with Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉), the 長久手の合戦, at this very Komaki Castle. The battle lasted half year. Both sides retreated in the end.
Look at the steep ascend of this mountain! Nobunaga must have been very fit to walk up and down this all the time. They most likely didn't have nicely laid out steps back those days.
This is the rebuilt Komaki Castle, now a historical museum.
View of Fuji-san at the top of the castle. It's not a very big or tall castle, only 3 storeys (4 if you're Japanese who do not count the ground floor).
This is my third and final stop, the museum! Why? Because...
I received a free entry ticket and didn't want to waste it. It was the last day to see this exhibition. I'm glad I came to Komaki. I had a really good day, very suitable for this very Cultural Day!
When you see a single rail for both inbound and outbound train, you know that you're somewhere pretty country.
Metetsu Komaki station 名鉄小牧駅
On my way to my first stop, the Kannon temple, I spotted the Komaki castle. History lesson later.
The way I found out about this temple is from Komaki's (small) tourism homepage. This is the first stop of the 4-hour walking course it suggested. I didn't know what was famous about it. Obviously not the size because the one in Kamakura is the biggest (in Japan).
After entering the front gate, I reached the sink where everyone should wash their hands before proceeding further. As soon as I saw this, it's a good clue that this is not just any regular temple.
These turtles are at the feet of the sink, are they cute?
間々観音 Here she is, the Mama Kannon. I named it Oppai Kannon myself XD "Oppai" in Japanese means breats, yep, women's breasts. And you shall soon see why.
Apparently, women come here to wish for anything to do with breasts. This girl, "Miiko", wishes her breasts (only) to become big. I guess that means she doesn't want any other parts of her body to get any bigger than now. I wonder if the Kannon accepts such specific requests.
Even the omamori (charms) here are specially made. Pretty cool. Though I didn't think I want to carry a pair of mini breats around.
Destination number 2: Komaki Castle. This is a simple map of the castle.
The reason why this is an important castle is that firstly, Nobunaga (信長) lived here for four years. He then moved to Gifu and abandoned this one. 17 years later, after the Honnou-ji's Change (本能寺の変), there was debate as to who should succeed Nobunaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) and Nobunaga's second son (信雄) had a great battle with Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉), the 長久手の合戦, at this very Komaki Castle. The battle lasted half year. Both sides retreated in the end.
Look at the steep ascend of this mountain! Nobunaga must have been very fit to walk up and down this all the time. They most likely didn't have nicely laid out steps back those days.
This is the rebuilt Komaki Castle, now a historical museum.
View of Fuji-san at the top of the castle. It's not a very big or tall castle, only 3 storeys (4 if you're Japanese who do not count the ground floor).
This is my third and final stop, the museum! Why? Because...
I received a free entry ticket and didn't want to waste it. It was the last day to see this exhibition. I'm glad I came to Komaki. I had a really good day, very suitable for this very Cultural Day!