Kitano Tenman Shrine

On Septmenber 26th we went to Kobe City. Unsure of where we were going we decided to head for the Foreigner's Village. An obvious choice for foreign visitors wishing to experience Japanese flair! North of the "village", we found Kitano Tenman Shrine, our first shrine experience.

The hardest part of the trip was climbing the stone steps after walking 20 minutes UP HILL to get to the shrine. We were unsure if we had to pay to go into the shrine, but when no one came running after us we assumed it was ok.

The shrine had several little garden areas, what looked like housing units for priests and other workers, a souvenir shop (like all good shrines have), and a washing well. It was quite interesting.

Ikuta Shrine

This really orange shrine is in the middle of a very busy downtown area in Kobe. If it hadn't been for the map that we picked up at the information center, we would never have known it was there.

Herb Garden

Once at the top of the mountain, we enjoyed walking through the Herb Garden. It was full of different plants, Herbs (go figure), and some amazing flowers. Since it was a really humid day, it was nice to be up the mountain where the air was slightly cooler.

The white wind mills are all through the garden. They looked a bit strange at first until we noticed that they were all wired up and connected to generators. They are used to store electricity for all the lanterns at night. The picture below is a miniature pepper plant with all different colour peppers.