Road Trip to Iwakisan Shrine / 岩木山神社への旅

It was in the middle of March of this year that we decided to make another pilgrimage to the Iwakisan Shrine, also known as Iwakiyama. The snow has mostly melted away and it was a beautiful weekend for a drive.

今年の３月の中旬、私たちは岩木山神社にまたお参りに出かけた。街で冬の雪がやっと溶けたので、週末の天気はドライブに快適。

The mountain in front of us is Mount Iwaki and Iwakisan Shrine can be found at the foot of the mountain.

目の前にある山は岩木山。私たちが向かってる岩木山神社はその山の麓にある。

Here we are in front of the main torii about to walk the path to the main shrine.

岩木山神社に到着。鳥居の前に居て、これから参道をあるく。

There is still a lot of snow on the ground even at the foot of the mountain. You can see Mount Iwaki in the background.

山の麓でも雪がまだ積もってた。 鳥居の奥に岩木山が見える。

The red building in front of us is the gate you must pass through before reaching the main shrine.

目の前にある赤い建物は岩木山神社の本堂の前にある門です。

Yep, I would say its still a bit cold up here.

はい、この辺ではやっぱりまだ寒い。

This looked interesting so I had to find out what it was about.

これも面白そうだったので、ちょっと調べてみた。

"Yukidama Yaku Otoshi"

The sign says to make a snowball and throw it at the figure. If you hit the target, all the bad things will fall and you will feel relieved and whatever you wish may come true. So, challenge yourself now!

Walking through the gate now.

門のところまで来ました。

I thought it was unusual to see the Koma-inu （Guardian Lion-dog） stand sideways on a post.

狛犬が横に立ってるのは珍しいと思った。

Getting closer to the main shrine.

本堂に近づいた。

Hondo (Main Shrine) / 本堂

Did I tell you that this was in the middle of March?

もう一回言うけど、これは３月の中旬です。

One of the Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune.

七福神の一人だ。

Another one of the Lucky Gods of Fortune.

もう一人の七福神です。

I couldn't read the kanji of this sign but its easy to guess what it is.

この漢字読めなかったけど、場所はすぐわかる。

Iwakisan Shrine Seal / 岩木山神社の御朱印

Mount Iwaki / 岩木山

Mount Iwaki / 岩木山

We stopped at a market place Anneko where we thought we might have lunch. The restaurant was a bit crowded so we just bought a few snacks and decided to go somewhere else for lunch.

岩木山神社の近くに農産物直売所のあねっこに行って、ここでランチを食べようと思ったが、レストランが混んでて、ちょっとしたおやつなどを買った。

Sign advertising dakekimi (brand name of a type of corn) ice cream. Of course we had eat some.

獄きみソフトがあると書いてるから、もちろん食べますよ。

Dake kimi ice cream / 獄きみソフト

I had to have the dake kimi shake.

僕が獄きみのシェイクを飲んだ。

More sweets made with Dakekimi corn.

こんどは獄きみのロールケーキだ。

I also bought a bottle of shiso juice and fresh tomato juice.

そしてしそジュースとトマトジュースも購入した。

One last look at Mount Iwaki as we go in search of place to eat lunch.

岩木山神社から離れて、これからどっかの店を探してランチを食べる。