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Tasting in the country of Kitera

It is about ten minutes from Kitera by car. There is the farmer's restaurant, 'Mikan Batake' in Akizuno Garten. Local mothers make slow food lunch buffet with local fresh vegetables, and it is very popular.
It is also a reasonable price: An adult for 950 yen.
Open 11:30 to 14:00 on weekdays
11:00 to 14:00 on weekends and holidays
No reservation needed
TEL 0739-35-1199


Let's stay at the country of Kitera

Akizuno Garten is completely equipped with facilities for staying.
You can use it as accommodation for green tourism, the entrance to Kumano Kodo, or for Nanaki Shirahama Onsen.
Booking at Akizuno Garten
TEL 0739-35-1199





 『If you come to Kitera, why don’t you take a turn in the country of Akizuno?

 Please visit the country of Kitera in Akizuno with rich in nature and history.


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 The country of Akizuno is blessed with nature, beauty spots, and historic sites.

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Kizekkyo
There are about 500 cherry trees in the ravine and people enjoy cherry blossoms in spring. Also in early summer, dark green of trees sets your mind at ease. Families visit there in summer to enjoy the cool breeze and we can hear excited voices beside the river. It is also a base for hiking to Mt. Takao-san, Mt. Mitsuboshi-yama, and Mt. ryujin-yama in fall, and leave starts to turn red in late autumn and those leaves decollate vividly the rock surface.

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Magan Sanzon Daisekibutsu
Over the Fodo-no-taki Waterfall of Kizekkyo, there is one huge rock (height 16m, width 22m) with heavy-walled carving copying the original drawing of Domoto Insyo master painter. Amitabha Buddha in the center is height of 7.3 meters (half of Big Buddha in Nara,) and two bodhisattvas beside it (Mahasthamaprapta and Avalokitesvara) are height of 4.9 meters.

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Mt. Ryuden-san 〜 Ryujin-gu Shrine
It is said that Kobo Daishi was in Ryujin-gu Shrine, the sacred place, which stood on 500 meter above on top of the mountain. Ubame oak is sacred tree and it lives about 400 years. It is very valuable as a living ubame oak individually and is designated as a national treasure in Tanabe city and Wakayama prefecture.

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Mt. Takao
Mt. Takao is 606 meters above and can be seen from the whole Tanabe city, and it is popular among the citizen. Its view is majestic, and people climb up the mountain in the beginning of the year to see the sun rise. For the people visiting through the seasons, a toilet, lawn open space, and a log house are prepared near the top of the mountain.

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Mt. Takao Sutra Mound Monumental Tower
It was built for a monument of excavation of sutra mound at Mt. Takao on April 11, 1936. The present tower was rebuilt with the aid of residents in fall, 1988 after the old one naturally collapsed.

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Terayashiki Ruin of Senko-ji temple and Sutra Mound
Ruined Senko-ji temple in Mt. Takao (Terayashiki ruin) was built by Waki Kiyomaro 1200 years ago to mourn for his precious hawk. It had complete seven-structured temple compound, and it was told that the principal image, Senju-kannon (Thousand Armed Avalokiteshwara,) was made by Gyoki Bodhisattva, and Atago Gongen was enshrined as the guardian god of a village.
Three sutra mound was excavated at Terayashiki Ruin by Nakayama Unhyo in 1931. Excavated ones such as mirror surface and ornament are preserved and exhibited in Tokyo National Museum.

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Kawakami-jinja Shrine
Nomura who lived in Nomura-go in Kawauchi-no-kuni, moved the sacred spirits of a god from Kwakami-jinja Shrine in Kawakami vllage in Saga to the present place and worship to those spirits. Enshrined deities are Seoritsu-hime, Hayaakitsu-hiko and Hayaakitsu-hime. Hayaakitsu-hiko and Hayaakitsu-hime are ancestors who found Akizuno.
There is a festival on November 23 every year.

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Ichikisima-jinja Shrine
Ichikishima-hime is deified in the shrine. It is also called Benten-san.
The shrine is in Shimohata area from old days, and when Aisu Suketoshi built Takanosu-jo castle, he worshiped the shrine for a tutelary deity. In 1585, the shrine prospered the most while the sovereign changed from Aisu to Sugiwaka by Hideyoshi’s attack of Kisyu.

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Nakamiya-jinja Shrine
It was built by the lord of Kinugasa Castle, and it used to stand on Nokubo area which was between Mt. Takao and Senko-ji temple, so it was called ‘Naka no Miya’ (Naka means between in Japanese.) Later, it was crashed because of the landslide and it lost a large land. The temporary shrine was built on the small land which was left from the landslide, but it was renewed in 1888, and a torii (gateway to a Shinto shrine) was added in 1928. It is told that the deity of the shrine is Izanami-no-Mikoto, and from ancient times, it was called Atago Gongen. Originally, Waki Kiyomaro transferred the divided deity from Kyoto. In Kyoto, Goo-jinja Shrine enshrined Kiyomaro and there was a tradition that Ujiko worshiped Goo-jinja Shrine, received the charm, and brought it back to Nakamiya-jinja Shrine.

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Iwagami-jinja Shrine
Going up about 300m along Sakodani (a small ravin,) there is Iwagami-jinja Shrine on left of the foot of the mountain. In Meiji era, it merged Tateiwa-myojin Shrine stood on the east. Moreover, it merged the small shrine in Okubohira. It was wrote down ‘the festival of deifying a huge rock as a god on November 5th’ in Kiizoku Fudoki. It was merged to Kawakami-jinja Shrine in Meiji era, but returned back to the present place. It enshrined Sukunahikona as a god of agriculture and medicine.

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Homan-ji Temple
Shioya Yukihisa (a younger brother of Fujiwara Hidehira in Osyu) built the temple, and it was founded by Zessyo Osyo (a Buddhist priest). In 1585, it was burnt down by Hideyoshi’s attack of Kisyu. After that, it was rebuilt in 1590’s. It belongs to Rinzai sect of Myoshin-ji Temple. During the late Edo era, it was opened Shikoku 88 temples sacred places. It was rare to have Shikoku sacred places in the temple at that time.

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Senko-ji Temple
1200 years ago, Waki Kiyomaro’s (733-799) precious hawk died. He divided its bones into three and buried each in Mt. Takao-san in Kisyu, Mt. Takao-san in Kyoto, and Mt. Takao in Bizen, his home town. At that time, he built Senko-ji Temple on Mt. Takao in Kisyu and Jingo-ji Temple on Mt. Takao-san in Kyoto, and he mourn for the hawk’s death. Later, it was burned down by Hideyoshi’s attacks of Kisyu. A small temple was built on the foot of the mountain, but again it was burned down. Moving to Hiraoka, and it merged Senko-ji Temple on that land and present Senko-ji Temple was built. After that, the temple registered as twenty fifth of Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

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Jyuo-do
Three Jizo, Enma-daio, Kusyo-jin, and Doso-shin are deified in Jyuo-do. It is carved ‘made in 1702’ on Kusyo-jin. It is told that Enma Jizo was brought from Kyoto. That Jizo was taken when Shrine Merger Oder was advocated in Meiji era, but it was returned by pretext to pray for rain at the drought in the summer of 16th year of Meiji Era. It is told that people received rain by dedicating it in the yard and washing it.

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Takanosu-jo Castle Ruins
On the west of Mt. Takao, over the precipitous cliff facing on Kizekkyo valley, there was Takanosu-jo castle. Saemon Suketoshi, a grandchild of Aisu Hachiro Genkeisin the Seventh, the lord of Kinugasa-jo castle, supported the Southern Dynasty and built the castle, and became the lord of the manor of Shimo and Kami Akizu. In 1585, he was subjugated by Sugiwaka Echigomori at Hedeyoshi’s attack of Kisyu. The castle was burned down and he disappeared.

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Okahata-jo Castle RuinsIn 1190, Shioya Saburo, the vassal of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, built a castle on the top of Nagase-kyo. Yukihisa, the lord of castle, was the founder of Homan-ji Temple on Mt. Iwakura-yama.

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Kochi-jo Caste Ruins
From the gate of Sakodani, Mt. Kochi-yama is on the left side of Mt. Ryuzen-san as you face it, and it was mentioned that “there is Kochi-jo castle ruins on the mountain of tiger direction from the village, east and west twenty Ken, south and north fifty three Ken” on Kii Fudoki (description of regional climate, culture, etc.). The castle podiums are remained, but the lord of the castle is unknown. In addition, a lot of unglazed earthenware and some stone axes were excavated from the castle ruins during cultivating the land, therefore it could be a site of ancient people’s residences, and it is still a mystery mountain.