In a mountainous area lies a village of Tenkawa in Yoshino in southern part of Nara. It features mountain ranges starting from Mt. Yoshino to Omine mountain ranges in my previous post and a gorge with beautiful views of the emerald green water and surrounding foliage.
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| Emperor Temmu |
Yoshino has also full of monuments of human history. Dating back
to 7th century, it was once a hiding place for Prince Oama, later
he became Emperor Temmu (reign 673-686), who fought for a succession dispute against his nephew Prince Otomo at Jinshin War
in 672.
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| Emperor Go-Daigo |
Long after that in 14th century, Emperor Go-Daigo fled down toYoshino and set up the Southern Court among the mountain of Yoshino in the hope for renewed lease on his reign in Kyoto. That was a beginning of Nanboku-cho (Period of North and South Dynasties, 1336-1392). Hilly mountainous area made a natural fortress but this place led to the sea or the river to go around in the south or in the east so that they could get the information with the help of Shugendo practitioners who were spreading nationwide. Here Tenkawa, there were warriors who were very supportive to the court. Though the emperor finished his life here longing for returning to Kyoto in vain.
There are many other historical events and figures involved the area in.
From the gorge, we cimbed 観音峰 (mountain of Bodhisattva, Goddess of Mercy 1347m). On the way up the top, there is a torii, where there used to be a shrine closely connected with Southern Court. You can see the fusion of Buddhism and ancient Shintoism here as well.
You can see the pointed rock mountain in the center of this picture over there? It is another peak of Mt. Inamura-ga-take called Mt.Dainichi (right picture from my previous post) and on its left is Mt. Inamuragatake, which I climbed previous week, and then Mt. Sanjogatake. 
It started raining lightly and gray vapors were hovering among mountains. It is not so clear but you can see the houses of the village below at the forehead of this picture. It is Tenkawa village. The scenery looked quite different from colorful world I saw on the way up here because of an overcast sky.
Climbing down the mountain, gray vapors rose from the bottom and veiled the colorful mountains gently.
Tenkawa or Yoshino is my favorite place. I'd like to visit it again soon.
Oh, wow! This is a beautiful place and landscape. I really like that bridge over the water. And the waterfall and the mountain. Looks so fresh and green high up there. It is special when the clouds surrending the mountain. I understand why this is your favorite place:-)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a happy Sunday. Hugs from Tania
Cosmos, this is an absolutely beautiful place.Your photos are stunning,thank you so much for taking us on your journey.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week,
Ruby
Some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen! Thank you for sharing them--I would love to visit there one day.
ReplyDeleteおはようございます!
ReplyDelete素晴らしい！！多くの写真家が天川村に行くと聞いていましたが、cosmosさんのポストを見て納得しました。色とりどりの木々の葉、紅葉の中の滝、雲のかかった山々。私もいつか行ってみたいと思います。今年は奈良南部は台風の被害を受けましたが、天川村は大丈夫だったのですね。橋渡るとき怖くなかったですか？
Have a great week!
Tomoko
Hello, thank you for this beautiful post. I visited Tenkawa village and around Yoshino before,
ReplyDeleteand your smart explanation gave me a new interest.Despite of the cloudy condition, your photo is very beautiful and tells the situation of the village well.
Hi Cosmos
ReplyDeletethese photos of the gorge with swinging bridges are spectacular.
A good idea to use one as your header so we can see it repeatedly.
What a hike today...its just beautiful. Thank you for the background history too...you can see that this area must have been secure in those days.
山ではもうそこまで紅葉が進んでいるのですね。 心も体もリフレッシュできそうな清々しい空気と水の音、そして色さまざまな紅葉 － 真の意味でのぜいたくとはこのことでしょう。 いつもcosmosさんが溌剌としておられるのは、こんな山の霊気を思い切り吸い込んできておられるからでしょうか？ どの写真も素敵! 特に、最初のと、神社の鳥居のと、霧のでてきた山が好きです。
ReplyDeleteYou've captured the contrast between peacefulness and wildness perfectly. What a delicate and beautiful balance exists there! I love the colors of autumn, but it means winter is just around the corner. Whenever it gets drab outside, I'll know just the place to visit to find relief--right here:)
ReplyDeleteThe first two pics just blew my mind away.... The riot of colors and the trickling water is just a gorgeous sight. And the rest of the pics too, the crisp mountain air, the fog, the green and colorful surroundings... Makes me feel so fresh.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for sharing this. Have a fabulous week ahead:)
Stunning series photos!
ReplyDeleteI am quite sure that if I visit a beautiful place like this, I will fall in faint!
Autumn leaves are absolutely gorgeous, but when I see the transparency of water stream.
...sigh... I completely lost my words.
Thanks for sharing your photos!
Thank you all for coming and taking the time to leave nice and lovely comments.The autumn color here mingled with ever green looks so beautiful. As redrose was concerned, the typhoon hitting sourthen part of Nara and Wakayama in September caused landslides to some part of this area too and blocked traffic for a while. Now traffic is back in alright.
ReplyDeleteThe bridges are part of the scenery. I like them to see and to cross.
Son imágenes de una gran belleza, acompañadas con los colores del otoño hacen que sean insuperables desde luego un lugar para visitar.
ReplyDeleteSaludos
Such a beautiful blog this is!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful the autumn leaves in Tenkawa are! I've never been to Tenkawa but I've wanted to visit it for a long time. And thank you so much for sharing the history about Yoshino. How interesting it is that Yoshino played a very important role at least twice in Japanese history. As I don't know well about the map about Yoshino, is Ryujin hot spring located near the village?
ReplyDelete本当に美しい紅葉です。吉野はやはり大和民族にとって特別な場所ですね。壬申の乱にしても後醍醐天皇の吉野朝廷にしても、歴史の転換点にふかく関わっていますから。cosmosさんのお写真で天ノ川の清流をみて、水の神に深いかかわりがある地だとあらためて思います。すばらしいご旅行でしたね！
Thank you,Sneyder and Interwebs, for visiting my blog and leaving comments.
ReplyDeleteHi Sapphire,
大峰山から湧き出る水は「ごろごろ水」と名づけられ、たくさんの人々が車で汲みにこられています。天川は自宅からは2時間半くらいのところなので十分日帰りができ、旅行という感じはしません。山もあり変化に富んだ自然に恵まれているので、よく行きます。といっても運転は主人なので私は疲れたら爆睡していますが。
龍神温泉はまだ行ったことがないのですが、和歌山県にあって、天川からは2時間くらいだそうです。高野龍神ラインがあるので私も是非行ってみたいと思っています。なにしろ三大美人の湯らしいですから。効果のほどは・・後日お知らせします。それにしてもやはりそのあたりは役の行者ゆかりの場所が多いですね。コメントありがとうございました。
I've never been there as I thought that it's very far from Nara city. But according to your article,it seems to be near Mt.Yoshino. You are great to climb such high mountains.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of waterfalls are wonderful but it's sorrow much water cause that flood.
Your photos are so beautiful always!! Looking at your photos of autumn leaves, I was charmed with the elegance of the mountains covered with various shades of green, yellow, orange, red and more. They are not yet gorgeous, but I really love this subtleness of quiet beauty. These seem to me as if I saw them in my dream. Neither of my husband or I drives a car. We had never felt inconvenience. But since I started to take photos, I started to realize inconvenience of the life without a car. I mean, sometimes it takes three times longer to reach a remote area for taking photos by using public transportation.
ReplyDeleteSarah
ReplyDeleteIt's about half an hour drive from Yoshino to Tenkawa. I stopped by 天河弁財天( one of three Benzaiten shrines in Japan) while we were at it. Later I knew those area had been severely damaged by the typhoon because landslides near by held back river and caused flooding around the area at night, 90% of 68 households were flooded above floor level, swept away a building affiliated to the local school, resulting in one victim who was sleeping in bed. I knew what had happened from the paper or TV but I didn't know it was there. Things looked settled so that I didn't notice it. There must have been and still now lots of struggle and efforts of the local people and aids from others to restore and rebuild everyday life.
Anyway, thank you Sarah for your comment.
Snowwhite
Yes, I agree with you. Those autumn leaves were not too showy, not too gorgeous but every scene spreading before my eyes pleased me with fresh feeling. Actually I was a bit worried that autumn color this year would not be so beautiful.
In my neighborhood or roadside, some leaves were dead without turning red or yellow. Young as they were, I was all the happier to see cheerful bright colors as always in the forests or along the gorge.
I think I understand pros and cons about the car but I don't think of life without a car now.
Have a nice weekend, snowwhite.
Dear Keiko, thank you for the comment in my blog. According to your posts Nara is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Thank you for the nice journeys.
ReplyDeletecosmosさん こんにちわ
ReplyDelete吉野の里は、一年を通じて彩色の魅力を湛えているようです。
絶好の時節に撮影なされて、実に見事な風景です。
I had to come back and see this once more.. it is very beautiful. I will love to have that cherry blossoms in my garden:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your nice comments on my blog.
Wish you a blessed and special week.
Ah, can Nature ever be not beautiful? :)
ReplyDeleteSuch amazing scenery! The mist makes the mountains look mysterious..
Thank you for your nice comment. Yes, winter is knocking on the door. Your new photos are beautiful natural park. A large variety of colors. Waterfalls are very like. Your country is beautiful. It has a rich history. I admire. Lovely weekend wishes to you Peter.
ReplyDeleteSuch poetry, such peace, such beauty in all your shots. Thank you for this lovely post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a splendid presentation of the Yoshino area in autumn colours! I knew of it in spring only, because of its famous cherry blossoms!
ReplyDeleteLucky you that you can go climbing where the Gods gather to talk!
º°❤
ReplyDeleteOlá!
Passei para uma visitinha.
Paisagens lindas, fotografias lindas.
Boa semana!
Beijinhos. º° ✿
♫° Brasil
·.♪
❤♥