Atsuta Jingu is one of the most famous shrine in Japan. It is in Nagoya city but I haven't visited this place before. My friend visit Nagoya and so we went there together. Actually, our first aim to go to Atsuta is to eat
Hitsumabushi. "Hitsu" means a wooden container of rice. And "Mabushi" means...? I am not sure. In some region (such as Kansai district) they call it also "Mamushi". I guess its origin is "Mammeshi" which means rice with eel. Yes,
Histumabushi is rice with grilled eel on top.
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| A set of Hitsumabushi lunch! by Atsuta Houraiken |
There are three steps to eat this Histumabushi. 1st, Eat rice and eel simply. 2nd, Eat rice and eel with spices. 3rd Eat rice, eel and spice with hot soup called "Dashi". Dashi is soup of fish or seaweed (In red pot of the photo above), often used for Japanese cuisine.
Next step is to visit the shrine. I was impressed with a gate of Atsuta Jingu because it was very big but not too shiny.
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| The gate (Torii) of Atsuta Jingu |
With some woods around, it looked literally awesome. Especially,it looked nice on such pleasant day.
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| Hongu (Principle palace) of Atsuta Jingu |
Here is a
Hongu which means a principle palace. We pray just at the entrance of Hongu but we couldn't enter inside.
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| The entrance of Hongu where people bow and pray |
We crap hands twice and bow. Then we pray putting hands together for a while. I am not religious person but I like this moment because I can be very quiet and calm. I often think about my family and someone who is very precious for me but not together right at the moment. I hope my wish reaches to the god and good things come true.
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| Inside of Hongu entrance |
We cannot enter inside of Hongu. This makes us to feel the god of Hongu is so sacred. I imagine what is inside while it stays mysterious forever like this...
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| Ume (plum) tree with a lot of flowers. |
Spring is the best season in Japan (I think). We can enjoy seeing flowers. It was too early to see cherry blossoms but we could enjoy plum flowers. I prefer plum as a symbol of my elementary school was plum. Plum is called "Ume" in Japan.
Ume stays in cold weather during the winter and when the spring comes, they start to bloom at once. So with such cold winter,
Ume can be beautiful. That was a way of teaching how to endure hard occasion to Japanese elementary students... When I was a child, I am honestly impressed with this story. I started to like
Ume. In fact, the aroma of Ume is much better and stronger than cherry blossoms.
We see a couple just married by accident. They looked very happy and beautiful in the spring sunshine!
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| Just married couple |
Then, at last... Sweets! This is a Japanese parfait with Marcha (green tea) ice cream, Dango (rice cake with a stick) and Anko (red bean paste). Also, there were some grains of rice at the bottom.
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| Dango parfait in Osu. |
We had moved to Osu town in the center of Nagoya city from Atsuta. In Osu area, we can find many sweets shops and funny stores. It is very fun to walk around. I think Nagoyan (people in Nagoya) like Japanese sweets. I could find many sweets shops not only in Osu area but all over Nagoya.
Oh, I will stay in Nagoya only two weeks more. Next destination is not a bad place, but maybe I will miss Nagoya a little bit. A reason is... yes... Japanese sweets!
