But is was not until 1777 that the stone was utilized in producing what is now known as Tobe-yaki Pottery. Two years earlier the 9th Lord of Ozu Province, anxious to have some local industry to improve the financial condition of his province, had ordered Sugino Josuke, one of the local potters, to make porcelain out of the whetstone chips so abundant in the village of Tobe. Josuke tried hard but in vain until at last he took the advice of a potter from northern Kyushu and succeeded in making the first Tobe-yaki. 23 years later it was finally designated a National Folk Art by the government. Tobe Zoo is the best in Shikoku.
Animals are loose in the garden.
To reach the narrow summit, one must properly outfit for a 2 or 3 hour climb, including 3 chains up sheer cliffs near the top. Ancient Japanese drew no hard line between such gods and their own ancestors who they thought became protective spirits watching over them from on high in the mountains. When Esoteric Buddhism arrived in the 9th century, it reinforced the older beliefs with more complex lore. Thus high mountains attracted even more worshippers, providing both Shintoists and Esoteric Buddhists with sacred places for their mountaineering asceticism. This mountain was formerly closed to women.