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.

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UPDATE -- 5/19/2023

The musical fountain, one of the symbols of Mikasa Park (Inooka-cho 82) and loved by local citizens, will end its operation around this summer.  Along with the wall fountain (waterfall monument), which has already been suspended due to equipment failure, the water landscape facilities will close due to aging.  The city has announced plans to significantly renew the park, and the musical fountain will be excluded from the plan. The city is considering a way to utilize the shapes of the pond and the wall fountain.

The musical fountain pond was created in April 1987, when Mikasa Park was redeveloped as part of the city government's 80th-anniversary project.  It is the main facility that expresses the park's theme of 'water, light, and sound.' At designated times, water sprays energetically in all directions accompanied by music.  The water columns can reach up to 10 meters high, and the colorful lights illuminate them in a fantastic display, delighting visitors.

Currently, it operates five times a day from 11 a.m., every one-and-a-half hours, until 5 p.m., though the performance with integrated lights can no longer be seen.

The music is selected monthly, featuring hit songs and standard pieces.  In the past, the song 'Town Feeling the Wind ~Yokosuka,' created for the city's 100th anniversary and sung by Kiyotaka Sugiyama, was also played.