A museum near the top of Shiudeyama displaying finds from a Yayoi-period site. Its café corner has a fine view and is said to serve zenzai (sweet red bean soup) and an original Shiudeyama drink. From the window counter I looked out over the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, holding a strawberry-topped ice cream from the café.
451-1 Ohama-otsu, Takuma-cho, Mitoyo, Kagawa
Sources: mitoyo-kanko.com rurubu.jp
This moment in the journey
A mountain from a fairy tale
Shiudeyama is tied to the legend of Urashima Taro. When Urashima opened his treasure box, the white smoke that rose from it became a purple cloud trailing over this mountain, and that, the story goes, is how it got its name: shiun means "purple cloud."
Through a grove where cherry blossoms filled every branch, the sea peeked between the trees. Beside a cluster of rocks, an old cherry tree spread its limbs wide. Had I wandered into a fairy tale?
Near the summit stood a building with a guide board about the Shiudeyama archaeological site and figures dressed as Yayoi-period people: the Shiudeyama Site Museum. I sat at its window counter, the glass filled with islands, an ice pop piled with strawberries in hand. This mysterious scenery, it seems, really is part of the real world.
Watch this scene on YouTube4:21
More notes from this journey
Mitoyo (Mt. Shiude)
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At 352 meters, the highest peak on the Shonai Peninsula.
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Chichibugahama Beach
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Kamogawa, Chiba
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Kamakura, Kanagawa
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