Just almost directly opposite of where we stayed, was a small local shrine. As custom for me, I always visit the nearest shrine to pay my respect before exploring other part of the place. So first stop, we made our way into the shrine via the stone torii gate. It looked pretty boring from the outside.
The long path into the inner shrine.
The name of the shrine written on the top of the entrance. And further inside is the main shrine.
What was cool about this shrine was actually the water feature surrounding it. Smaller shrine house was placed in a kinda 'island' where you have to cross some stone bridge to reach it.
Plus at the back of the shrine, and next to it were actual forest. The trees were super tall here. It felt really old and ancient. The water running around it made the place rather cooling. There wasn't many people here, almost empty actually. And that alone made the place my favourite place in Yufuin!
At the garden of the shrine, there were some ancient tree bark on display. Preserved? They have those sacred ropes around there, so these were sacred trees. I love that they actually kept all these and put there here for you to admire and pay your respect too. I love that trees has such a special place in the shinto religion. It's just so magical
Some explanation of the trees here. Nature is just so elegant and beautiful.
There were also some sakura trees at the small garden. And when the wind blows, the petal of the flowers looked so beautiful flowing in the wind. Definitely my favourite place in our Yufuin stopped over!
Me in front of the torii gate.
Wefie of us under the sakura trees.
Selfie of me with Sakura. This was actually the first time I saw real natural sakura on a tree this close, and this personal! That's why the whole place felt so special to me. (note: those in Garden by the Bay don't count, neither do those sad looking sakura trees I see at Hakata or Hokkaido count).
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