はなぶさ

Jun. 25, 2023

The "lights" of the cityscape swaying in the "light" of dawn...

One of the hidden gem this time is from Ichishoyama, which is famous for the illumination of the Kobe City Emblem.

At dusk, the city emblem and the Ikari mark are lit up on the mountains ...
I took a picture of the night view from this very symbolic landmark of Kobe to Kobe and the Osaka Plain.

With a vantage point, you can see farther than you can imagine.
The night view beyond the photo is the Osaka Plain, and the mountains in the background are the Ikoma Mountains. Beyond the mountains is already Nara Prefecture.
I was very surprised that Nara could be seen with the naked eye from Kobe.

And the location with a good view also shows various "lights".

The night sky, which was pitch black at first, gradually became bluer as the approaching sunrise approached, and then the dawn light appeared as if spilling over the eastern horizon.
There was no sound, and the lights of the cityscape, which had not yet awakened from sleep, were twinkling in the cool and pleasant breeze.

I like both the mysterious light of nature and this warm light of people.
The moment you feel both beautiful, you strongly feel that this world is not "nature and people" but "people in nature".

This time, we have delivered ? a piece from a special hidden gem where you can enjoy such two "lights" at the same time.

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Jun. 11, 2023
In the forest on the ridge of Rokko, I found a secret place where a mysterious anecdote between Mr. Groom and a fox with a white tail remains. This is a place called Mikuniike on Mt. Rokko, which has flourished as a villa area since the Meiji era. I knew from the map that there was a villa of Arthur Hesketh Groom, a trader who came to Kobe in the Meiji era, but I stepped in to find out why Mr. Groome, who loved Japan, Kobe, and Mt. Rokko, built a villa here. Groom was born in Vernon Terrace, a coastal city overlooking the English and French Straits, and came to the Kobe Foreign Settlement in 1868 (Keio 3/Meiji 1st year). In this way, he was involved in the trade of Japan tea and Chinese tea, and eventually in 1895 (Meiji 28), he built a villa named 101 House here on the banks of Mikuni Pond. One day, when Groom hid a lost fox chased by a hunter, he stayed near the villa and fell asleep on Groom's lap. Eventually, after Mr. Groom's passing, a man who said that this fox had moved to his family came to visit him, and the surprised family built a shrine on Mt. Rokko to enshrine the fox. The man who visited had no connection with the Groom family and had a dream (was told by you?). It was said that he had arrived at the Groom family. Because the tail was white, this shrine was named Shirohige Shrine. Actually, I found this Shirahige Shrine first, visited it to learn about its origin, and this time I came to the site of the villa site of Mikuni Pond. Now, when I entered the mountain a little from the bus stop of Mikuni Pond, I heard the sound of a frog like the sound of a cello of a stringed instrument and the murmur of the water flowing smoothly. Soon we reached a path overlooking a large pond through the bushes. There was a small island in the pond, and I could see in the distance how the frog, startled by my presence, jumped to the surface of the water and its ripples spread soundlessly. That's when I was stunned. A short tree stands on the other side of a small island with trees... The surroundings were slightly bright, and I could feel the children of families who had come to hike and running around. I felt like I had seen Mr. Groom as a young child. At that moment, oh, yes! !! I felt convinced. I'm sorry if it's just my imagination, but this is a mountain with the same atmosphere as the waterside of the happy memories that Mr. Groom spent with his family when he was a child... Perhaps this Kobe, which faces the Seto Inland Sea, was very similar to his hometown Vernon Terrace facing the English Channel. The sense of security of hometown... For some reason, I couldn't help but imagine that this was conveyed to the white-tailed fox. Since building his first villa here, Groom has embarked on resort development, tree planting, and mountain trail maintenance on Mt. Rokko. I am sure that this is a power spot where various ideas are excited. This time it was ? a piece from a "secret place" surrounded by such healing greenery.