In Yamaguchi-cho Shimoyamaguchi, right next to Kinsenji Lake, there’s a round, gently rising mountain, and at the top is “Maruyama Inari Shrine Okusha”
This time, I tried climbing up from the entrance on the Route 176 side
There was an impressive torii gate beside the Maruyama Water Purification Plant, which made it a good landmark!(^^)!
You can see Maruyama beyond the slope
Once you pass through the torii gate at the entrance to the “mountain climb”(?)
There are so many torii gates all the way to the summit! Just what you’d expect from an Inari shrine ← Torii gates are built through donations. The vermilion color is said to represent “sekishin,” or sincere devotion, and because of the belief that passing through a torii gate lets you receive the blessings of the gods, Inari shrines apparently have lots of torii gates(*^^)v
At last, the final torii gate! Beyond it, I could see the Okusha!(^^)!
While I was paying my respects, on the right side…
Believe it or not, I found a mystery circle!
And as a bonus, I also found a mysterious bag!
After thinking about it calmly, I realized it was a sumo ring, since dedication sumo matches are held at shrines…I was tired from the climb…^^;
As for the mysterious bag, there was also a boy nearby who looked like a high school student(^_^;)
Diagonally behind it…
There was also a stone monument for the “Maruyama Castle Ruins”(*^^)v
There used to be a castle here!!!!!
What a surprise^^;
On Nishi2, we had an article called There was a castle in Nishinomiya too! The stone monument for “Koshimizu Castle Ruins” at Taisha Elementary School [Nishinomiya Photo]
but there was one here too!(^^)! I found it!(^^)!
Details about the castle are here↓
Here it is on the map↓
Finally
Mistaking a sumo ring for a mystery circle…^^; You might be thinking, “Get it together!” but maybe it’s proof that I’m developing a very Nishi2-like sensibility!(^^)!
There’s also a trailhead up Maruyama from the Kinsenji Lake side, and since I didn’t know that, when I heard people’s voices getting closer near the summit, I got a little startled like, “Something’s coming…(・_・;)” But the atmosphere at the summit was crisp and refreshing, and it felt really nice
It’s low enough that even younger elementary school children can climb it, so how about heading out into nature sometime?(*^^)v
If you climb from the south approach, taking the Sakurayamanami Bus to Kinsenji bus stop seems like the easiest way↓
From the Yamaguchi-cho website
