叶神社 Kano Jinja

There are a pair of famous old Yokosuka shrines which face each other across Uraga Bay.

East Kano Shrine and West Kano Shrine.

"叶"  the kanji character used in the name of the shrines, is normally pronounced "kana-u", and means to have a wish or prayer come true.

West Kano Shrine is adorned with some very intricate and beautiful woodcarving decorations of dragons, elephants, and sumo wrestlers.

It was founded on the current site back in the 12th century, and the current building was constructed in 1842.

A large copper lantern was presented to the Shrine and paid-for by contributions from the local red light district.

The Kano Shrines are considered “power spots” ... and many people buy good luck charms and amulets during their visits.

They are rivals, but also have a business arrangement where you buy a lucky stone (maga-tama) at the west shrine, but then you need to go to the east shrine to buy the small decorative cloth bag to contain it ..... and there is a cool WATER TAXI which can take you across Uraga Bay to complete the purchase.

Here is what a maga-tama looks like:

The shrine's Japanese website:

http://kanoujinja.p1.bindsite.jp/

The Lonely Mikasa Park Fountain Performance

Located right next to the U.S. Navy base is Mikasa Park.

The main attraction there is the Memorial Battleship Mikasa, which has been turned into a wonderful museum ..... Here the museum's an English language PAMPHLET.

Go deeper into the park, and there are greenery areas, a music stage, places to sit & relax, watch the ocean, etc. --- all-in-all, a well maintained, clean, and peaceful park.  (And it is free.)

Then, there is the fountain, which does musical performances (every one-and-half hours, starting at 11:00) ..... It is place where one can feel a sense of pathos, or lonely magic, an existential moment perhaps --- especially at times like weekday afternoons, when there is pretty much no one in the park, and the fountain performs for nobody...

     













From April to October, the fountain performs at night, with lights ..... beauty in emptiness

   











Someone recorded a performance HERE.

入鉄炮出女 IRI-TEPPO DE-ONNA

I previously briefly wrote about the Uraga Magistrate's Office ( 浦賀奉行所 )  HERE.

Starting in 1720, the Magistate's Office complex served as a check point for ships and vessels going into and coming out of Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay) ..... It was located along Yokosuka's southeastern coast, as shown in this model:

   

　

A similar facility to check on land-based travelers & traffic along the Tokaido Road was built up at Hakone.  It later was closed and fell to ruin, but was excavated and rebuilt as a museum in 2007:

A couple of things, in particular, the checkpoint officials looked for when they did their interviews and inspections were: (1) guns and (2) women ..... so, this came to be called IRI-TEPPO DE-ONNA "guns going in, women coming out"...

Keeping guns from being smuggled into Edo was obviously to maintain public order and control & crime prevention, etc. --- all important to the ruling Tokugawa (Shogunate) government.

As for departing women, the Shogunate had a system where the regional Samurai Lords (Daimyo), who could be pretty independent & powerful, were required to send their wives or other important family members to live in Edo, as hostages ..... so, naturally, there were instances of wives or daughters who tired to get out of Edo to reunite with their husbands or families, etc. --- hence the strict checks at Uraga and Hakone.