Huge rain clouds appeared on Christmas Day and turned red at sunset. It’s the first sunset in a long time that even the sea turns red. It was a fitting sunset to end the year. I wish you all the best next year.
Saturday on Christmas Eve. It’s a perfect day for surfers with waves. The beach at Chigasaki was crowded with surfers. Surfers waiting and attacking their waves.
It’s cold. It’s a winter sea. The air is dry and the sunlight is strong, but the wind is strong and the waves are high. Winter is finally here. The winter solstice is approaching, and the sun is moving to its southernmost point. Shiwasu. There are two weeks left in the year.
On the beach at Yawatahama, tangerine berries were illuminated by the setting sun. Sada Cape can be seen beyond the tangerine fields. The early winter sky gradually turns scarlet. A landscape that feels the coming of winter.
The Tango Peninsula for the first time in 30 years. Waves in the Sea of Japan in late autumn were already rough. Statues of young Prince Shotoku and his mother, the empress, stood quietly by the sea. Far beyond the sea of Kyogamisaki Lighthouse is Russia. At an izakaya in Miyazu, I enjoyed local sake and fish from the Sea of Japan to relieve the fatigue of my journey.
There is something pathos about port towns. A ferry sets sail from Yawatahama Port in Ehime Prefecture to Usuki Port in Oita Prefecture. A two-and-a-half-hour boat trip across the hoyo Strait with Sada Cape on your right. A national sea route. I will go to Kyushu by ship someday.
An autumn day is coming to an end. The morning and evening temperatures will also get colder. The first day of winter in the 24 season is just around the corner. How soon will it be another two months this year?
I visited Osu Kannon at night for the first time in a while. The empty grounds are just tranquil. When I lived in Nagoya, I lived in Osu, and when I wanted to refresh my mind, I visited Osu Kannon Temple day and night. It is one of the three great Kannon in Japan and the bekkaku-honzan (special head temple) of the Chisan school of the Shingon sect. The principal image is Sho Kannon. Although it is a famous temple, it is a friendly temple that coexists with the town.