Above the stairs, this shrine appeared before my eyes.
Then I came to this gate. This was not the gate of the castle. Someone moved this old gate that used to belong to Tsuwano han. The sign explained that it was transferred to Hamada han. Tsuwano and Hamada han must have been like brothers, not only because of the fate of this gate, but some new information I gathered right before this trip, and luckily, I confirmed it during this trip.
Climbing up these steps was my good exercise. I opened and closed both my palms as I went up. Then I lifted my arms up like a jet plane and rotated my shoulders. I was pretty sure nobody was around.
I loved it although it was a bit cold.
How wonderful it was to reach the top!
This view was on my left.
This was on my right. It was unreal to me. Waves hit the frame of the bay throwing up white splash. The sign there said, in 1626, a Spanish missionary named Diego de S passed this spot. He reported he saw a fine castle. I'm sure the Hamada han's samurai were looking down with their curious eyes. I wonder if any of them went down and said hello.
I've never seen this flower before. I thought it could be from a foreign land.
The ground I walked on was soft, but it was windy. I wanted to stop at one more place, a local research center, if I needed to leave Hamada rather than staying one night. I received a call from the person in charge at the library. She said it would take a long time even if I showed her my family certificates. She probably has never processed this kind of request.
Probably I'll have a chance to step on the beautiful ground like above again. Nothing is in hurry for me. I'm just surprised at anything I've seen.
At the Hamada station, I found only one bakery where I had some sandwich, a sweet, and coffee. The bakery was a part of a hotel. I asked an assistant there if they had a vacancy. They were all booked except one smoking single room. No, thank you. I rather stay at a clean and reasonable business hotel free from cigarette smoke. I found one next to the Shin Yamaguchi station. Looking at these photos, I want to go back there again next year and travel further along Japan Sea.
