Takisaka-no-Michi Path

Takisaka-no-michi path is the former half of 21-kilomiter Yagyu Highway connecting Takabatake-cho, Nara City and Yagyu, a village of master swordsmen, the Yagyu family. As it name shows, "taki" for "waterfall" and "saka" for "slope", the path consists of quite steep slopes running along a river lined with large, aged trees between the two mountains, Mt. Kasuga and Mt. Takamado.

It is said to have been a training path for Shugendo since late 8th century. Shugendo is Japanese mountain asceticism incorporating Shinto and Buddhism concepts. Much later in Edo period (1603-1867), it was a commuting path for those who learned the art of Yagyu swordsmanship.

My husband and I travelled several times including this walk in 2017. Each time I felt like that the past travelers footsteps echoing.  

The path is quite an ascent right after the start from Nara Park area. It is mostly cobblestone path formed of irregularly-shaped stones, which is a relic of road repair operation undertaken by Nara Magistrate when the head of the Yagyu clan, Kendo (Japanese fencing) instructor to the Tokugawa Shogunate, was promoted to Daimyo (feudal lord) in 1636. It was the only road connecting Yagyu and Nara.

Hard climbing can be eased by the murmuring of a stream and the rustling of leaves in the dappled shadow 

of lush green.

A fallen tree stood in our way.

Wisterias grow wild, stretching and winding their vines.

After a while, stone Buddha images begin to appear, some beside the trail and others higher up on the mountainsides. They served as objects of worship for mountain Buddhism, and silent protectors for travelers, as well. The Asahi (Sunrise) Kannon, carved into a rock overhanging the trail, catches the first rays of the morning sun from the top of Mt. Takamado.

”Kubikiri Jizo" meaning "decapitated Jizo" has its name due to the cut in the neck. Legend has said that Mataemon Araki, a disciple of swordsman Jyube Yagyuu, tried out the sharpness of his new Japanese sword. (Jizo Buddhistava is a guardian of trevellers as well as children.) Around this stone Buddha image is called "Jigokudani", Hell Valley.

 In spite of the name of the place, it's really a serene, beautiful place.

Having enough rest, my husband and I returned from this place, going down carefully the wet slippery stone path.  Edge of the path was also slippery because of the piled-up fallen leaves.

Takabatake, where Takisaka-no-michi starts, is one of the oldest residential areas, where people who worked for the Kasuga Grand Shrine used to live. Along the road which we took our way to the nearest bus stop, the houses are traditional Japanese ones including grand mansions to protect the scenery of the historic area.

Bottom right is a popular buckwheat noodle restaurant 観 Kwan across the road from the bus stop

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Summer cosmoses

Cosmoses mostly start to bloom in autumn when they perceive the daylight becoming shorter and the blooms continue till the first frost.  At Yagyu Village, the fallow rice fields, river banks, some parts along the highway are often planted with thousands of cosmoses to be enjoyed in Autumn from late September to November.  (2011 post, Autumn walk through cosmos at Yagyu.)

 

in the early August

Today's post is about summer cosmoses.  I had been caught by the cosmoses blooming in mid-summer whenever I travelled along the road to Yagyu, though they didn't look so spectacular like autumn cosmoses.  One day in early August, I dared to get out of our car to take some pictures of them braving the intense, sizzling heat.  It was hot, hot, too hot, outside, but the cosmoses through my camera lens looked so cool and refreshing as to make me forget the temperatures for a short while.  Some cosmoses looked in good shape, and some weathered though still graceful.  See how they were.

They looked enjoying their lives in the hottest but the sunniest season.
 



 

 

They were flowering in harmony with the fox tails and other weeds as one of the wild grasses.

 

 

 

I like them wild.

 

I was reminded that a cosmos was really a hardy plant like a weed,
resistant to heat and drought as well as to poor soils.

This early-blooming sunflower lady was  going to end her long tireless and ceaseless labor of scattering seeds already in early August.  Now at late August, summer looks to be nearing to the end with cooler air in morning and evening.  I look forward to the cool and crisp air of autumn.

Autumn walk through cosmoses

Cosmos is one of the typical and the most loved autumn flowers in Japan.   They might be thought to have been blooming since the ancient times because they are too often seen here and there, but in fact they are native to the meadow areas of Mexico.  They were imported into Japan via Spain around 1887.

In Japan, cosmos means Cosmos Bipinnatus Cav., which comes in pink, rose, red, and white. It is written 秋桜 meaning autumn cherry pink.

In spite of their wispy texture and elegance, they are prolific and as strong as weeds.  Climate of Japan would be suitable for cosmos. 

Cosmos are seen throughout the country, along the roadside or riverside, in the fields, in the gardens, either wild or cultivated.   Not only flowers but also feathery foliage is lovely.

This place is Yagyu Village on the outskirts of Nara City.   Yagyu Iris Garden  is about 10 minutes' drive from here. Yagyu has been a heart of Japanese swordsmanship, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school.  

Though it was Sports Day today, a national holiday, people were sparse except some people who stopped their cars or bikes.  My husband and I could almost monopolize these scenery.

Cosmoses are swaying in autumn breeze overlooking the village.

Cosmoses are blooming along the brooks, on the paths between the fields or the paddies, which makes pastel pink borders.

Cosmic beauty?

Why is this flower called cosmos?    "Spanish priests grew cosmos in their mission gardens in Mexico. The evenly placed petals led them to christen the flower "Kosmos," the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe."

Hana-shobu irises at the home of swordsmanship, Yagyu

Yagyu is a small village on the outskirts of Nara City.  It looks just like any other ordinary rural area, but actually it is special, the home of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship.  The place is also known for iris fields,　柳生花菖蒲園, located near the old manor house of Yagyu.

Local farmers started cultivating "hana-shobu", or Japanese water iris, utilizing their fallow paddies which have a good irrigation system. Water taken from a brook which flows down from the moutain criss-crosses in the area.  Visitors walk on ridges between iris fields while hearing comfortable rustling sound of water.  A blade of hana-shobu looks like a Japanese sword: a perfect flower for the home of swordsmanship.

Due to torrential rain the previous night, some petals got hurt, but they are still elegant and noble.

looking up at the mountains

From the top of the terraced fields, visitors have a panoramic view of 800,000 irises in 460 varieties stretching over an area of 10,000 square meters.  Flowers bloom one after another till the beginning of July.

In contrast to the gardens of temples or parks, the arrangement ot these iris fields is less refined or more natural. The place is a paradise not only for flowers like irises, hydrangeas, and water lilies, but also for small creatures like frogs, tadpoles, butterflies, bees.... and so on.

I like blades of irises as well as flowers. 

By the way, as many Japanese people know, hana-shobu and shobu are of different families despite their names.  Shobu is a relative of the yam not iris.  Their blades look alike but their flowers are different.   (See here.)  Blades of shobu are used in shobu-yu (shobu in hot water) on May 5th, Children's Day.  It is a Japanesel custom that parents put blades of shobu in the bustub filled with hot water for purification.  The powerful fragrance of shobu is believed to ward off evil spirits.  Blades of hana-shobu don't produce such a strong fragrance.

 

Finally I found a snail for the first time this season ... resting on the back of hydrangea leaf!  I'm amazed with its hanging-in-there, but perhaps being upsidedown is a piece of cake for a snail?  Many people say they have rarely seen snails these days.  Are your companies doing hide-and-seek so skillfully?

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