"Momiji" means Maple Leaves and the viewing of Momiji is the annual Fall event in which thousands of people all over Japan to go various locations to look at the pretty colors of Fall. There are a dozen or so of really famous places throughout Japan. One of the biggest ones is Kyoto a famous city for retaining the traditional look of Japan. It's also only about 2 1/2 hours away from me by bus so I wanted to go but I didn't want to go alone and couldn't find anyone to join so I gave up on it. While doing some Momiji research on the Internet I found a little location an hour away located in the same prefecture I live in now (Gifu) but in a different city called Mino. The location was at
Oyada Shrine in Mino which is known as
Maple Valley due to all the Maple trees that have been planted there. There is also a puppet show held on November 23rd (Labor Day) which is a holiday in Japan. There are two showings of the puppet show which last for 30 minutes each and tell the story of a group of villagers who are terrorized by a demon snake and then rescued by a God who saves their harvest thus creating a reason for thanks.
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| The puppet show viewed from the bottom of a hill. Here the demon snake is attacking the villagers. |
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| The puppet with the blue had is one of the God's the villagers worship. |
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| After the show the puppets can be viewed up close. |
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| The villagers and their God along with the puppeteers. |
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| Maple Valley |
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| A small shrine. |
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| The viewing of Momiji is also accompanied by a festival and all festivals in Japan have these various stands selling food. |
By the way if you are looking to go there from Gifu city you can head to bus stop #4 near Meitetsu Gifu station and get on the N71 bus to Odaya Jinja. From Odaya Jinja you'll walk for about 20-25 minutes to the puppet show location and then a little further to Maple Valley. The trip will cost you 950yen 1-way. While the Maple Leaves can be viewed from mid November to the 1st of December the puppet show as far as I know is only held on November 23rd.
Puppet show times as of Nov 23rd 2011
1st show: 11:30am-12:00
2nd show: 2:00pm-2:30
