Mihonoseki - Blog Posts
Meoto Iwa - the married rocks of Futami
We noted the presence of "married camphor trees" at Meiji-jingû last time, so I guess we can talk about other sacred things linked by rope.
One of the most famous of these is the couple of "married rocks" on the coast of Mie, on the premises of Okitama-jinja at Futami, near Ise. The Meoto Iwa represent the founding couple of Japan according to Shinto, Izanagi and Izanami.
The shimenawa ropes are more heavy-duty than what we saw on the camphor trees: 5 strands, 40 kg each. Still, as they are exposed to the seawater spray from crashing waves, they need to be changed several times a year, which involves quite a few people as you'd expect, as shown on the poster below. Ceremonies occur in May, September and December.
The ropes certainly look heavy on the smaller rock in particular, they look like they could slip off, but instead they cling on rather gracefully.
Dotted around the shrine are statues of the messengers of the gods: frogs.
While Futami's Meoto Iwa is the most important example of "paired rocks" in Japan, owing to how far the tradition dates back and its proximity to Ise Grand Shrine, there are quite a few others across the country. Below is another Meoto Iwa in Mihonoseki, Shimane.
The destination on that sweltering day I saw the Jetfoil was Jizôzaki and Mihonoseki lighthouse. It's just a 2 km walk from the village, but gosh it was difficult that day! Still, the views of the coastline were, as always, well worth the effort.
The lighthouse itself is a nice little building, built at the end of the 19th century, and nicely kept (if you can spot the ladies raking in front of the entrance in the picture). It's circled by a short walking trail.
The tower doesn't need to be too high as it stands on a cliff, while the former residence now houses a shop and a tea room with a view out to sea.
Like Shionomisaki I covered some time ago, Mihonoseki lighthouse has a "Guardian of Light" character designed for it! This one looks somewhat more confident than the pensive guardian of the South!
"Stick an aircraft engine in it" part 1 - Boeing Jetfoil
In the late 60s and early 70s, all branches of transport were hoping for an increase in performance similar to what the jet airliner brought to aviation, and the solution was invariably to use similar gas turbine technology, with invariably identical career trajectories when the oil crises hit, as, apart from in aviation, far more economical engine options were available. So I was very surprised to see this still active in Japan last summer:
This is a hydrofoil which uses gas turbines to power a pump-jet. Once it is going fast enough, it takes off and runs on foils, greatly reducing water resistance and achieving speeds up to 45 knots, over 80 km/h (which, on water, is very fast). I remember seeing exactly this type of vessel in ferry brochures when I was a child; Oostende Lines operated some between England and Belgium. The advent of the SeaCat, a class of huge Diesel-powered car-carrying catamarans, got the better of the hydrofoils and the hovercraft, which was incidentally another case of "stick an aircraft engine in it".
This specific class of hydrofoil takes the mantra to another level, as it was designed by Boeing, which named it the 929 Jetfoil. Production was licensed to Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, which made boats for the domestic market. The Rainbow Jet is one of these, running between Sakaiminato on the San'in coast and the Oki Islands. I saw more of them at Atami in Eastern Shizuoka, providing transport to the Izu Islands. So, despite the astronomical 2150 L/h consumption (though to be fair, I can't find consumption numbers for equivalent foot passenger-only catamarans), Japan still runs them...
