Onomichi Townscape

Bye Onomichi for a while. Bye bye to the kitschy mock samurai castle. See you next time.

Abandoned in Onomichi

Seika Ryo (Holy Flower Dormitory): an abandoned dormitory for nurses

Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of Tokyo Story in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you. I've been this town countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from the previous visit.

This is the 4th of Onomichi series.* I've been explaining how charming Onomichi is, but today I'll tackle some of the challenges modern Onomichi is facing.      

Onomichi does have lots of abandoned houses. Like any other mid to small sized towns in Japan, the increasing senior population is a big challenge of the town.The hilly residential landscape is very charming for visitors but for the aging population, the terrain could be a huge barrier to conduct their everyday life.

*For the past series, see: The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu, Onomichi Landscape: Local Belifes, and Onomichi Landscape: Commercial Space

Vending machine, Mukaishima Island

Onomichi Landscape: Commercial Space

Plumber shop

Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of Tokyo Story in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you. I've been this town countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from the previous visit.

Interested? Please take a look at my post: The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu.

Today, I'll show you some commercial spaces in Onomichi. All those photos evokes nostalgic sense to Japanese folks even he/ she didn't grow up in the mid 20th century. While the space represents our shared sense of the past, this is not a Potemkin facade like some amusement parks!

 Toy store display window

Onomichi Landscape: Local Beliefs

Do you recognize the archaic smile this Ksitigarbha fellow has?

Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of Tokyo Story in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you.  I've been this town countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from the previous visit.

Interested? Please take a look at my post: The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu.

Today, I'll show you some of the local beliefs welded into the everyday community landscape. I'm no expert in cultural anthropology, so I'm just gonna introduce them from an aspect of an ordinary Japanese person.

 A cat deity in a community Shinto alter