Blurb: On our meandering adventure of a honeymoon in May-June 2019, we travelled by many means of convenience including a wide variety of trains, rental cars, occasional coach buses and what not. See the whole Shinkonryoko Scrapbook for a mixed-media ephemera overview and a list of places visited for the curious.

And, along the way, made a top at a remarkable “scenic waystation” in Niigate-ken which commemorated a unique piece of Japan geography which (in brief): in olden times posed an incredible challenge to pass from one region to the other because of steep mountains and minimal coastline/headlands.

Oyashirazu Cliffs (map): https://goo.gl/maps/zKVCCFTWMxSSPoRo6

As such, travellers *could* risk going right along the coast at low tide but the distance was too great to travel without getting swept out to sea,. Later, a variety of pathways were constructed along the side of the mountain, rather treacherous to say the least, especially when carrying cargo. The area, now popular for hiking and exploring also showed evidence of pedestrian tunnels and other engineering marvels.

As “modern times” came along, new roads were built including the highway now clearly visible built on pilings high above the sea and skirting the coast line. Driving along it later was quite a ride, felt like a playland attraction of sorts as we “levitated” after the crashing waves of the Sea of Japan as well as going through extensive modern tunnels.

And along with the information about the geography and geology was a tribute to a western mountain climber Rev. Weston who was a pioneer in clambering around the peaks of Japan, not unlike a precursor to Smoke Blanchard, (or even Ted Taylor or Cmdr Bob :).

There was the “usual” shabby roadside hotel / restaurant which i kinda love, looked mostly unvisited since the “bubble times” or well, I don’t really know but i bought some postcards as usual (i think).

Field Notes regarding exhibit/museum/gallery/garden dossiers:

These posts, such as they are, are for recollection, inspiration, reference and possible remixing. I say this to remind myself these round-ups are not meant to be textbooks, comprehensive guides, analysis – critical or otherwise, or a “master’s thesis”. So much goodness in these exhibits – whether grand and well-funded museums or (my favourite) grassroots operations, or even spontaneous art around the edges in unexpected circumstances – that i enjoy archiving.

Also noting often, museums have a “no photo” policy and of course, art and artifacts are best experienced in-person, or with fine reproductions at least, so consider my humble dossirs as a stand-in, in the meanwhile, with a special eye to shut-ins and other who have a hard time getting out and about.

As such, these round-ups will be lightly annotated with usually (just) the name of the museum, possible circumstance and/or approximate date of the visit, possible link to museum website and or map for your reference and then a flow of photos.

I almost always buy museum exhibit books, as well as many other items from the gift shop, so if you have any specific questions about any of the pieces displayed, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to add some additional colour commentary – no guarantees.