merpmonde - the finer details

The video is of 風鈴 fûrin wind chimes, obviously. They were outside the main hall of Kameyama Hachiman-gû in Shimonoseki.

It is readily located behind the main wharf on the Kanmon Strait, the short channel separating Honshû and Kyûshû. Slightly elevated, the shrine offers a fantastic view of the strait and Moji-kô on the other side.

Both elements are quite common: the wind chimes are a summer classic in Japan, and shrines dedicated to the kami Hachiman, widely worshipped by the samurai class, are the second most common in Japan, behind those dedicated to the kami of abundance, Inari (in fact, there is a smaller Inari shrine just behind this one, complete with a staircase of red torii).

The second decoration is the unmistakable 折鶴 orizuru paper crane, fashioned into impressive curtains at Sakae no Yashiro in Fukui, located behind the park immediately to the West of the site of Fukui castle.

The paper crane is known as a trial of perseverance, making one thousand of them is said to lead to a wish being granted. The sign in front of the main hall states:

25万羽の折り 禍を乗り越えて 250 thousand folded cranes to overcome disaster

If we believe this, the curtains are made of a quarter of a million cranes! And to be honest, the figure looks correct, these curtains are massive! Also, one would expect all these cranes to be hand-folded, and the connections to make the curtains also hand-made...

But first, the two castles in the hills. Both date back to the 13th century, with the larger Ortenbourg, above being built first by a Habsburg. The ruin is rather large, with a pentagonal dungeon preserved.

The other, below, is the smaller Ramstein (one m), placed a few hundred metres away and slightly lower. As it was attributed to the rival Ochsenstein family, it has long been believed that the Ramstein was built to lay siege to the Ortenbourg, but recent theories dispute this, as the location seems off for the purpose.

I haven't visited the Gironde region of France, where the worst fire in France has flared up in the past couple of weeks, so I have no memories to share there, but I have visited Kumamoto, which was the epicentre of this week's earthquake. In fact, Kumamoto castle still bore scars of the larger 2016 earthquake nine years later: walls missing, buildings cracked.

The keep, which is a 1960 concrete rebuild, weathered the quake as expected, only losing loose ornaments and roof tiles. This was repaired fairly quickly, and if I remember correctly, the wall below the building to the right of the keep had also slipped, and was repaired. However, there were still parts of stone walls missing, and this week's quake damaged another section of wall, so now there's more work to be done...

Previously, the Japanese National Railways, the public company which was privatised into the JR Group in the 1980s, had a wide range of ferry routes to complement their rail network. This had been the case in Europe as well, basically any ship with a black hull marked "Sealink" was BR, SNCF, SNCB, DSB (check the funnel)... These companies operated purpose-built train ferries to carry wagons, while passengers would typically leave one train, settle in a lounge on the ship, and board another train on arrival. I have previously talked about two Japanese train ferries from JNR's northernmost route to Hokkaidô.

Japan's train ferries disappeared as rail bridges and tunnels were built between islands. The shortest, the Kanmon tunnel to Kyûshû, was completed as early as 1942, and in the late 1980s, both the Seto Ôhashi connected Okayama to Shikoku and the Seikan tunnel linked Aomori and Hokkaidô - overnight, the need for train ferries between Uno (no, not that Uno) and Takamatsu, and between Aomori and Hakodate was gone. Since then, the hop to Miyajima is the only ferry route operated by a JR company, with a couple of small car and passenger ships, under 40 m long. There were never any train ferries here as there is no railway on Itsukushima.

Not much more to add, really. It's a short trip, so the boats just have sitting lounges and decks to stand around on, and enjoy the views of Itsukushima and the famous torii as we approach. I should review some other ferry trips in Japan one day though, as they were quite different to what I'd known on the English channel.

Obviously, the seaside shrine is the main draw. It has existed since the 6th century, with expansions and fame coming from its associations with powerful figures of Japanese history, Taira no Kiyomori and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and is dedicated to the 宗像三女神 Munakata sanjoshin, three kami of the sea and daughters of Susanoo no Mikoto. Besides the torii, it is famous for its kagura dance stage and long red corridors.

The obvious downside of the main shrine is that it's very busy, and any deviation from the main path between the port and the shrine is an opportunity to escape the crowds. Or so I thought when going up to this pagoda and the Senjôkaku to the left. This large hall, said to measure 1000 tatami mats, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi is the nearest elevated viewpoint to the shrine, so it was busy, to the point it reminded me of an airport departure hall...

No, you'd have to go even deeper to get some proper space and the impression you're doing something different. On the day I visited, three years ago to the day, it was hot and I had plans to catch the Hello Kitty Shinkansen on its afternoon run to Kyûshû (RIP). So I only got as far as Fujinotana Park, which is definitely not far. Miyajima deserves a second visit in a cooler season, to see more of the less trodden areas.

"Any post, deer?"

One last unmissable part of the Miyajima experience is the deer. Like at Nara, they're everywhere, including on the most touristic paths, and they're not very afraid of humans. Is the one below booking its spot as head of the queue for the restaurant?

Gion Matsuri first took place in 869, with a procession to pray to the gods enshrined at Yasaka-jinja for purification and protection from epidemics. Designed as a "parade of the provinces" of sorts, with one 'spear' for each province, today there are two parades, 前祭 saki-matsuri on 17 July consisting of 23 floats, and 後祭 ato-matsuri on 24 July with 11 floats. There are two types of floats: 鉾 hoko, or 'spears', the taller floats on wheels as shown in the video and the photo above, and smaller 山 yama, or 'hills', or 傘 kasa, 'umbrellas', transporting mikoshi miniature shrines, which tend to be carried, as shown below.

The floats are richly decorated with wonderful tapestries. One would expect these to be traditional Japanese motifs dating back to the festival's origins, but you'd be mistaken. For example, the two tapestries featured below, "Egypt" and "Baghdad", are definitely not traditional Japanese!

They are more reminiscent of 19th-century European orientalist imagery and... well, they are. The associations which operate the Gion Matsuri floats have collected tapestries (link to gionmatsuri.org article) from various time periods and locations, including 19th-century Europe. I remember the Egypt one being from Belgium, but I can't find the source again. Below, we have two examples with a more classic Japanese feel.

As mentioned in my previous post, Gion Matsuri was, for a while, unfinished business for me. On my first trip I'd left Kyôto two days before the parade, and had only seen the run-up. Seven years later, I had the opportunity to return to Kyôto in July and witness the main event. I had been concerned about the crowds, but arriving early and looking to watch from the middle of Kawaramachi-dôri, the mid point of the course, I had no trouble securing a spot to spectate, and it wasn't all that busy in that area, I could still walk around and change vantage point with little difficulty. A wonderful, colourful, vibrant moment, I'm glad I went back for!

14 July. Yes there's a big parade in Paris, but in Kyoto, the big parade is three days away. The floats are largely finished - @chitaka45 has just posted a video on Instagram with the floats being tested on 13 July -, now it's just fine-tuning the decoration and starting the festival.

I've always been a scaredy-cat for crowds, so a morning walk was a great chance to see the streets occupied by floats and food stands.

It was also a great chance to see some floats up close, such as 船鉾 funeboko, the unique boat-shaped float which traditionally closes the parade. Notice the temporary roof structure and plastic sheeting to protect the tapestries.

Of course, all this is very well organised and mapped out. I've kept the programme from 2016 (Heisei 28) preciously: it shows the parade itinerary and order for the 17th, and the locations of the floats for the days before, the 16th being 宵山 yoiyama, and the 15th is called 宵々山 yoiyoiyama. The 15th would be my last day in Kyôto on my first trip to Japan, so the parade became unfinished business...

I briefly walked around on the evening of the 14th, the day logically known as 宵々々山 yoiyoiyoiyama. The floats were lit up, the bands were playing the traditional festival music... but it was busy! Security was enforcing one-way circulation for pedestrians in most streets!

The term "decorations" is quite inadequate, because what's actually blocking lanes and entire streets around the Shijô-Karasuma intersection is the construction of the festival floats for the parade on the 17th.

By the 12th, the main structures are ready, the gangways are in place, and the top of the yama floats are installed, giving onlookers an idea of just how high these things are going to be.

The music combines flutes, small gongs and drums. Having heard lots of it just walking in the streets near the hotel in 2016, I have strong memories of it, and I'd say it's rather haunting and evocative of that first trip. Unfortunately, I don't have my own quality recording of the typical Gion music, so for illustration, here's someone else's, with their impressions of the build-up to the 2025 festival.

Lindau, Germany. Austrian Vorarlberg Lines's eponymous vessel Vorarlberg arriving for a stop on its tour.

Bregenz, Austria. When I passed the harbour on the train to Bregenz, from a distance and behind some buildings, I was convinced this was a terminal building. But no, this is VLB's Sonnenkönigin, the lake's luxury party cruise boat. Make of that what you will.

Romanshorn, Switzerland. Car ferry Friedrichshafen arrives at dawn. Two car ferry routes remain: Friedrichshafen <> Romanshorn and Konstanz <> Meersburg. The ferry become restaurant Konstanz would have operated on the latter route.

Meersburg, Germany. Bus 700 from Ravensburg boards the current generation ferry Konstanz, with passengers - the ferry trip is part of the bus route! I also saw the ferry carry an international Flixbus coach.

Diessenhofen, Switzerland. Tours of the smaller Untersee blend into trips down the Rhine to Schaffhausen, as is reflected in the name of the main company here, Untersee und Rhein. Their boats, such as Thurgau above, are therefore smaller than the ones on the Obersee as they have to fit under bridges such as the cross-border bridge at Diessenhofen-Gailingen.

Radolfzell, Germany. DB Regio BR 650 RegioShuttle Diesel railcar about to depart at sunset on a S61 local service to Stockach.

Überlingen, Germany. DB Regio BR 245 Traxx DE Diesel loco with Dosto carriages in tow on a rapid RE3 service to Friedrichshafen. Radolfzell to Friedrichshafen is the only non-electrified section on the lines around the Bodensee, and this (gorgeous) tunnel in particular might be the sticking point to get the whole circuit electrified.

Nonnenhorn, Germany. DB Regio BR 425 on a RB93 local service between Lindau and Friedrichshafen about to leave Bavaria.

Bregenz Hafen, Austria. ÖBB Rh 4748 Desiro ML, likely on a S1 service to Lindau, about to pass the Nostalgiebad Mili.

Bregenz, Austria. Not a Bodensee train, but a chance at this station to hear the "do-re-mi" of an ÖBB Rh 1116 Taurus on start-up, pushing a Railjet service to Vienna, IIRC.

Rorschach, Switzerland. Appenzeller Bahnen BDeh 3/6 heads for Rorschach Hafen, the terminus of its S25 service. This one-of-a-kind unit runs on normal tracks and on the rack railway up to Heiden.

Ermatingen, Switzerland. SBB Thurbo RABe 526 GTW on a S1 local service from Feuerthalen to Wil, via Romanshorn.

Bodensee S-Bahn map. All the routes used on the trip, including Seelinie and Höribus buses, appear on this map. The network is across three countries and operations are split between DB Regio (Radolfzell-Lindau and the RE2 between Radolfzell and Konstanz), ÖBB (Lindau to St Margrethen) and SBB (St Margrethen-Konstanz-Stein am Rhein, plus the S6 between Radolfzell and Konstanz). Going around the large lake, the Obersee, requires seven different trains! But this can drop to five if you get a direct S7 service between Lindau and Romanshorn, which does exist, but operates most frequently on weekends (ad for the extended S7 on a Thurbo GTW below).

1, 2 or 3 countries in one train. With the S7 direct from Romanshorn to Lindau-Insel. No changes, under 60 minutes.

Yasaka-jinja appears to be the first shrine I ever visited, 10 years ago almost to the day. For a starting point, it was rather impressive! Beyond the main gate, it was the maidono, or kagura dance stage, which stood out to me, anchored in the centre of a square, decorated with lanterns.

One finds a multitude of smaller shrines on the grounds, away from the main halls, along charming alleys. It seems so obvious now, expected almost, but there's a bit of emotion to reflect on the fact that this was once new, a basic notion but one that I was discovering.

Heading back West along Shijô-dôri to the hotel, I pass a statue - Izumo no Okuni, the lady credited with inventing kabuki theatre. At the time, I would have had no idea who this was. In fact, I've only just looked it up for this post. I didn't know much about Japan before my first trip. It was a work opportunity, a brief research collab - but it started something else. It started in Kyôto, maybe it started at Yasaka-jinja.

Wangen (19 km) is a nice stop by the lake, featuring a reconstruction of a prehistoric stilt house. We've seen stuff like this on a larger scale... on our previous bus trip coincidentally, but pile-dwellings have been found at many points on the lake. The town also has some nice timber-framed houses, and a cute sign with walking distances on our route.

Gaienhofen (15 km) is the next location, and I walked along the lake shore to the next village, Horn (13 km, to not be confused with the village of the same name between Rorschach and Arbon), and its church. Further along, Iznang (9 km) is apparently quite nice, but I didn't stop there. The bus goes inland for a bit, before heading back towards the lake at Moos (4 km).

And here we are, back at Radolfzell, a town celebrating its 1200th anniversary this year. I'll probably come back to this place, both on this blog and literally, at a future date, but for now, let's enjoy the fact that we've completed the tour of the Untersee, for a total of 72 km, with a walk out to the Mettnau area. From here, where I had my hotel for last week's trip, we've got some great evening views of Radolfzell town with the Hegau volcanoes in the background - notice the Hohentwiel just about the rowing boat.

Stein am Rhein is a picturesque town in two senses. It is, as shown in the top photo, genuinely wonderful to look at from some angles, but it is also a town with lots of pictures on the buildings. Colourful trompe-l'oeil, artistic representations of episodes of urban life or other symbols, timber frames and ornate oriels are everywhere on the delightful main square.

Our next stop is Diessenhofen (36 km), where we find a common feature of previous episodes of the Hochrhein series: a border bridge between Switzerland and Germany. Like at Säckingen, this one is largely made of wood, but unlike others we'd seen previously, it does not connect two villages with the same name (on the German side it's Gailingen), and cars are allowed on it, which can make it not the most pleasant crossing.

The Swiss railway line doesn't follow the Rhine very closely from here, so what I did last week was catch a boat to Büsingen (42 km), a German exclave, which means it is German territory surrounded by Switzerland - and its logo says so much! I would have hiked from Diessenhofen to Schaffhausen, but I'm glad I didn't because it was getting very hot, and the edge of the Rhine didn't seem that interesting. In fact, Büsingen was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't find much there, though I might not have been looking in the right places, and the walk was a very exposed affair, not immediately along the river.

The border back into Switzerland is intangible but boy, can you tell you've changed country! The path is back along the river and you've got trees! What's more, Schaffhausen (47 km) and the Munot forteress are in sight.

We've now completed the connection between the Hochrhein and the Bodensee, and, when it comes to purely train connections around the Untersee, the route is Radolfzell > Konstanz > Stein am Rhein > Schaffhausen > Singen > Radolfzell. The link is to our numerous posts on Singen, and there's not a lot to talk about outside Singen on that last leg as far as I can tell, so I'm considering this circuit done. Around the Untersee by local train is 96 km, but a lot of it is away from the lake. In fact, at the time of writing, completing the circuit by train is impossible as the bridge between Feuerthalen and Schaffhausen is closed for works, but I did ride it in April.

I'm under the impression that there's not much going on from here on out, the area is rather residential, though I didn't stop to check anything out either. Maybe another time. Above, we've just passed Bottinghofen (4 km), with the German Bodanrück peninsula in the background.

We've reached Kreuzlingen Hafen (1 km), from where some trains cross the border and terminate at Konstanz. We can also get off and walk through the park, where the border is materialised by a line of abstract statues representing the tarot major arcana - here, Sun and Moon.

And that concludes the Bodenseegürtelbahn, or the railway line that goes around the Obersee, for a total of 173 km. We'll get to operations and trains in service another time, but for now, we've got another lake to tour - the Untersee! For this circuit, we start at Radolfzell and go down to Konstanz (20 km), so part 1 in reverse. Kreuzlingen is a triangle junction, with the Swiss trains from Romanshorn not going to Konstanz continuing straight on to Kreuzlingen station (21 km).

The highlight of the Swiss shore of the Untersee is Arenenberg, served by Mannenbach-Salenstein (30 km), where a short climb will take you to a 19th-century estate previously owned by the Bonaparte family, in exile from 1815. Emperor Napoleon III occasionally returned to this place. I feel the château itself isn't very special, but the view of the Untersee, with the German Höri and Reichenau sides visible opposite, as well as the park and fields around the estate are worth the visit, before reaching Stein am Rhein (47 km), which we'll get into next time.