ayumodosi

ayumodosi, originally uploaded by vibromama.

Since it was still only early afternoon, we went for a walk up the Segawa River to a place called 'Ayumodoshi' or, 'where the Ayu fish turn around'. The Ayu is a kind of trout that inhabits the lower reaches of Japanese rivers (there is a famous Japanese-English joke that goes, 'Ayu a fish?' - go figure). Ayu generally cannot move upstream past major rapids, so many rivers in Japan have a place named something similar. This Ayumodoshi turned out to be a pleasant enough place with a small waterfall and a scenic section where the river sculpted its course into the sandstone bedrock. We walked a bit further upstream, to find a ludicrous, but to us no longer surprising sight: a would-be tourist attraction park complete with dam, suspension bridge (an absolute must at this kind of place, it seems) gazebos, walkways...it is doubtful there will ever be enough tourists here to enjoy all this (the place being deserted now, at the height of tourist season). Yes, it's just another wasteful construction project. We cut uphill through a barren mini-golf course, aiming at the trailhead for Taterayama, one of the higher mountains of Tsushima. Taterayama has a protected area of 'primeval forest'. Thankfully, big old trees resplendent in the new verdure of spring soon surrounded us. What a relief!