We caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji as we arrived in port. Unfortunately, it was the only time it was visible during our stay.
Miho No Matsubara
Touted as one of the “three new views of Japan,” Miho-no-Matsubara Pine Grove is a seven-kilometer stretch of coastline lined with 54,000 pine trees. Legend says an angel hung her hagoromo—a special celestial kimono—on one of the trees while she went for a swim. A local fisherman found the garment and held it for ransom, in the form of a dance. Most visitors come to this beach for its stunning view of Mt. Fuji. However, we were not so fortunate today.
Mary is pointing Mt. Fuji, which cannot be seen
Torii gate of the Miho shrine
Main shrine building of the Miho shrine
The Hagoromo Pine stands at the end of a pine tree-line boardwalk called "the path of the Kami" which stretches from the Miho shrine to the seacoast. The kami (Shinto spirits) that come to land from the sea use the Hagoromo Pine as their landmark for descent. The current Hagoromo Pine is the 3rd iteration, estimated to be 300 years old.
Hagurama Shrine
Shizuoka Shengen Shrine
Shizuoka Sengen Shrine is the name for a collective group of three shrines, the Kambe Shrine, Sengen Shrine, and Ohtoshimioya Shrine. It was worshiped as the Suruga Province Soja, and received the veneration of Tokugawa in the Edo era. The main buildings are richly colored in urushi coating.
Sunpu Castle Park
Sunpu Castle originally started as a yakata, or fortified palace, for Imakawa Norimasa in the 1400's. However, the exact location of this palace or any other details about it are unknown. An actual castle of the type of castle we think of today was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1585. The main keep of Sunpu Castle was said to have been built three times. The second by Ieyasu in 1605 after he turned over the shogunate to Hidetada and the third was two years later after it burned down in a fire. The third keep also burned to the ground in another fire in 1635 and was never rebuilt. The castle lasted in this state until the Meiji Period when the it was dismantled and the moats were filled in. Sunpu Castle is most well known as the "retirement castle" of Ieyasu after he relinquished the shogunate to Hidetada.
