The house and grounds are well preserved and give a feel for these old aesthetic traditions. An autumn scene from times past occurs throughout Saga in early October. This practice endures only in the Saga area. Heading west from Saga will take you through a series of picture-perfect spa towns, religious centers of ancient ascetic practices, and a famed pottery center. Here in early spring, plum blossoms turn the rolling countryside resplendent with their soft white petals.
Devotees come here to bathe while offering special prayers.
The hope is to purify the spirit, thereby earning the good graces of the gods before setting out on pilgrimages. Twenty km west, the rail line branches south to Nagasaki, passing through Hizen Kashima, renowned for its vermilion-lacquered Yutoku Inari Jinja. As a superb specimen of shrine architecture, it shouldn't be missed.