Touhou Pilgrimage
Last Sunday, I invited a Touhou fan to go for a drive to Touhou Pilgrimage in Suwa district, Nagano. My French comrade @THakkai is a website master of Touhou.net and I heard that he is a big fan of the Touhou character 洩矢諏訪子 Moriya Suwako. So I felt sure that it'll be a great time for him to visit her place while he stays in Japan. Twas terribly cold on that day but we had a really pleasant short trip around Suwa Taisha Shrines and Suwa-ko 諏訪湖 lake... sounds like her name Suwako 諏訪子^^;;;. This time, we made the pilgrimage by reference to this useful webpage "Suwa Grand Shrine – A Touhou Pilgrimage « Moé Passion". This blog is highly recommended for foreign otakus who plan anime pilgrimages in Japan.
Suwa Taisha - Honmiya shrine. Here is the head shrine of Suwa Taisha (there are four shrines around Suwa district).
早苗さん | イセキ [pixiv] http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=4782486
Suwa Taisha - Akimiya shrine. I guess here is familiar among Touhou gamers.
夏の守矢神社。 | 此方がぜる [pixiv] http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=20730788
Spotted my fave monster BAKU "the Dream Eater" on the pillar of Akimiya shrine. Awesome artworks just like WonFes figures^^
Lovely Touhou Ema, votive tablet:)
Twas absolutely cold today. Everything was frozen like this...
I bet Cirno was together at all hours of the day^^;;;
We had tasty Soba lunch:)
After the lunch, we enjoyed walking on the frozen lake of Suwa-ko 諏訪湖, not Suwako 諏訪子^^;;;
Spotted a sniper on the ice. A kind of Simo Häyhä?
Twas really cold but beautiful sunny day.
Awesome :D
May I ask what are these papers for ?
Those are おみくじ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omikuji Strips of paper that is written your fortune and you can choose one randomly from a small box in the shrine. Then, tie it here for the good fortune to have greater effect. You can also keep it for luck though.
Oh thank you for the information ^^
Awn have a look again at your post and still find it's interesting. Love those old wooden-temples so much （*´▽｀*）
Wow~ Sure seems cold. :O
Twas -2 degrees centigrade even during the daytime.
Water from a hot spring? Seems sort of warm~
Yes, exactly. That's hot water from 温泉 Onsen. There are many Onsen hot springs in Suwa district. http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?q=%E8%AB%8F%E8%A8%AA+%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89&hl=ja&ie=UTF8&ll=36.056316,138.096943&spn=0.084654,0.154324&client=firefox-a&fb=1&gl=jp&hq=%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89&hnear=%E9%95%B7%E9%87%8E%E7%9C%8C%E8%AB%8F%E8%A8%AA%E5%B8%82&sqi=2&t=m&z=13&brcurrent=3,0x601c55cc640541df:0xeda76322bde62046,0
Looks like an awesome trip. Love the pics especially of the shrines and fountains.
Yes. Where are you planning to go around for sightseeing in Japan this time?
Well, so far I've visited Asakusa, Akiba, Ikebukuro, Yokohama, Roppongi and Hibiya. Got another 8 days to go and got the rest of Tokyo to go plus maybe Kamakura. Planning on doing the Sumida river cruise to Odaiba tomorrow and hitting several places including the Oedo Onsen.
its shaped like a Christmas tree
Haha, that must be Cirno's artwork.
Wow! Amazing shots!
Thanks:) Have you tried anime pilgrimages in Japan before?
Oh unfortunately not! I'm not sure if I am that hard core tho XD But it would be nice to be able to recognise places from anime in person XD Ikebukuro definitely felt a lot more awesome when I see it on Durarara for sure :3
My another pilgrimage^^ LuckyStar OP http://yfrog.com/hst6q8sj http://yfrog.com/kf0apxj
I'd like to go on a trip like that someday
omg gensoyko is real i dant have to open a portal now to se flander yes she will be happy
omg gensoyko is nice in the summer