"Sekizo Yugama (Stone Hot Spring Water Receptacle)Ehime Prefecture Designated Tangible Cultural Property (Building)
A 'yugama' is a stone receptacle set up at the outlet of a hot spring. This yugama was used until 1894, when the present Dogo Spa main building was completed.
It is 166.7cm in diameter, 157.6cm in height, and is made of granite.
It is said to have been made around the middle of the Nara Period (8th century). The six Chinese characters 'na-mu-a-mi-da-butsu' ('Hail Amida Buddha') were carved in the upper part of the stone.
It is said that the high priest Ippen engraved this upon the request of Kono Michiari.
The main body of the receptacle bears an inscription about the effects of the hot spring. It was composed by the Zen priest Tokuno of Tentoku-ji Temple, and carved by a carpenter Kono Michinau, of the powerful Kono clan, invited from Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Matsuyama Municipal Government - Matsuyama Board of Education.'
(NB This is a sign rather than a wonder.)
This monk, for a small fee, did some great calligraphy in my notebook.
In Takayama, we whiled away some pleasant moments wandering the near-empty street and wondering where everyone could be. They were all in the Pachinko.
We were very pleased to discover that the Japanese equivalent of Spar is called Lawson. This was the first one we spotted - the picture taken from a tram in Matsuyama. They're all over the place.
How to make your own 'nightingale floors' (they'll protect you, in the words of Paul Muldoon, from wide-boys and would-be assassins).
I learnt these kanji: 'iri' and 'guchi'. (Confusingly, they are mirror-written here.) Put them together, and what have you got? That's right: 'iriguchi'. It means 'entrance'.
Do you know what I heard? I heard that the elephant fancies the cat.
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