I often take a walk around Hakusan Shrine & Hakusan Park.

I always walk a set course, so I thought I had nothing new to discover, but I found a spot that made me a bit nervous. I discovered it when I had a mysterious sneeze.

Familiar to Niigata citizens, this is the main shrine of the Hakusan Shrine.

It glows divinely, but it's probably a halo. Sorry... lol.

My usual course is to complete my visit to the shrine, pay my respects to Daikoku-sama on the side and return home without looking aside, but on this day I sneezed a lot. I have a habit of turning my head to the right when I sneeze.

I sneezed and looked to my right in the beat of my sneeze...

Mhm... what is this?

What is this secret base-like entrance?

My motto is "If I see an underpass, I'll just go in anyway", so naturally I proceed.

On closer inspection, the railing would not be equipped to enter the secret base of an underground organisation, or perhaps it leads to a more dangerous place, as you wander between calmness and passion.

Ah, light! Guys! I see a light!

This is what it looks like after the tunnel. There were several lanterns and shrines.

As you walk along, huffing and puffing at descriptions such as 'Snake Pine Shrine', you see this.

Eh! Yoshida Shoin! Yoshida Shoin is, um...?

It took some time for the excitement to realise that the poem was written in Chinese.

As a student, I had catastrophically poor grades in Chinese literature and could not decipher it very well on the spot.

I took a photo with my phone and limped home, forgetting to take a photo on the way back.

After searching through literature at home, it appears that the poem was addressed to a doctor called Nakagawa Ritsuan, who stopped by on a trip to the north-east when Shoin was 23 years old. He was so impressed by the reception that he sent him a Chinese poem. Lovely.

I was excited to find a place in the centre of Niigata City that I did not expect to find a place associated with Yoshida Shoin.

And the fact that it is in such a maniacal place... [Laughs.

Spotlight.

Hakusan Shrine, Niigata's chief Shinto shrine.

▶ Address: 1-1 Ichibanbori Dori-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture.

Hakusan Shrine Website

▶http://www.niigatahakusanjinja.or.jp