Oxeye daisies were in full bloom at the foot of the torii gate at the Yamanoue Daijingu Shrine

Oxeye daisies at Yamanoue Daijingu Shrine

Like Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine and Hakodate Gokoku Jinja Shrine, Yamanoue Daijingu Shrine was also built halfway up Mount Hakodate. Since each shrine was built in the middle of the mountain, if only there were a path extending horizontally at the same height, one could visit all three shrines without having to climb up and down the slopes, but the world is not that easy. After climbing up the slope to visit any of the shrines, one has to go back down to the foot of the hill and then climb up another slope again with a fresh start. I don't know if they are aware that they are different shrines or not, but each shrine requires visitors to take its own path up the hill, and they don't allow visitors to just walk around on the side.

Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine, Hakodate Gokoku Jinja Shrine, and Yamamoue Daijingu Shrine all have sloping approaches, but the approach to Yamanoue Daijingu Shrine is the longest. Although a torii gate could be seen at the top of the slope, it was difficult to reach the grounds of the shrine. I climbed up the hill, looking at the abandoned former consulate of Russia on the side, but still could not reach the temple grounds. It was not until I reached the end of the slope in the residential area and almost at the start of the mountain road.

Out of breath, I looked at the foot of the torii gate and saw many white flowers blooming. Surrounded by marguerites, I thought it was a gorgeous torii, but it turned out to be not a marguerite at all, but an exotic plant called oxeye daisy.This is a plant listed on the "Invasive Alien Species List that may cause damage to our ecosystem, etc." It blooms and blooms with a lovely, harmless-looking face, but in fact it is a bad guy. I thought it was nice for a moment, but then I felt as if I had been easily tricked by a pretty girl.

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