I went for some retail therapy this two weekends ago at Umie, a large shopping complex which is located on the waterfront (did I mention that there's a store that sells everything Studio Ghibli? ^^). I posted night pictures of Harbor Land previously and because I was there again, wanted to take a few daytime pictures.
Because a truck sticking out of a restaurant is not something you see everyday :]
Apparently Japan is pretty big on Halloween- they have so many decorations in their stores and outside as well!
There's a boat that can take you around the area on a cruise just to the left of Kobe Port Tower
Attempted to make a panorama picture on Power Point because I don't have one of those panorama makers >.<;
This weekend, I wanted to explore a different side of Kobe and ended up going to Nagata Shrine in Nagatajinja-mae. It is a Shinto shrine that enshrines a deity named "Kotoshironushi-no-Ohkami" who is famous for successful and flourishing businesses and industries. It has a lot of history as it celebrated its 1800th anniversary in 2001! It is also said that prayers for recovering from diseases would be answered here. This was the first shrine that I visited since coming to Japan so it was very special and meaningful for me.
Walking towards the shrine after getting through the main entrance
It was quite an impressive sight to see the shrine with the trees behind it. There weren't many people visiting the shrine while I was there so it was very quiet (aside from a Sports Day event going on at a nearby school)
There were many smaller shrines that were placed around the main shrine. People would go to every shrine and pray there as well.
Many people write wishes and prayers on wooden tablets or plaques called 絵馬 (ema). They write their names and wishes on the backside of the tablets which are hung up in hopes that the deity will answer it.
Many paper cranes were displayed at the shrine--both old and new. It was interesting to see the contrast of the old, faded tsuru to the bright colors of the newer ones.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! :)
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