Tokyo 2 / Togakushi 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 // Ninja Village

As you approach Okusha Jinja the path gets steeper and steeper. You first see a small Shinto Shrine called the Seven-Headed Dragon shrine.
The left photo shows some of my pals from the 1987 trip sitting on some other steps that lead down from near the Seven-Headed Dragon Shrine. Right near that shrine is another of the fountains where you ritually rinse out your mouth. In the right photo, Stephen disappears into the bushes just as I aim and shoot (those ninja are tricky). The others in our group join Japanese tourists at the cleansing font

At last, Okusha Jinja! You can see the jagged peaks of the Togakure Mountains above the shrine (left photo). Because it gets so cold here in deep winter, the tori gate is made of metal and the shrine itself of concrete. It's closed after the first heavy snow prevents travel along the path up.
	To the left is the calligraphy done by the Shinto priest at Okusha. Above is a view of the shrine scanned from a postcard. It must have been taken with a telephoto lens from a mountainside on the other side of the creek because short of levitation, there was no way I could get a photo from that angle.

Tokyo 2 / Togakushi 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 // Ninja Village