A mecca for monster freaks! Sakaiminato's Monster Road!

It's finally here!!
A holy place that will make any yokai fanatic drool!!!
Yes, that is...
 
This is Sakaiminato Yokai Road!!
 
On this day, we rented a car and headed out from Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, where we were staying.
My heart continued to pound throughout the car ride.
No, the monster antenna in my heart remained erect.
Just how high is the concentration of yokai on Yokai Road?
When I arrived at Sakaiminato and parked my car in the parking lot...
 
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Photo! Photo! Photo!
 
And with that I ran off like a child, feeling embarrassed.
I don't usually take many photos when I travel, but this time I just couldn't help but take some!
 
By the way, do you know about Sakaiminato?
This is the town where Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of the famous Gegege no Kitaro, was born and raised.
As a result, it has become known as a tourist destination filled with monsters.
And the highlight of Sakaiminato is"Yokai Road"is.
The total length of Yokai Road is about 800 meters, and various bronze statues of yokai are displayed along the road.
There are a total of 153 varieties!
There are national idols like Kitaro and Nekomusume, but there are also some more obscure characters like Hyoutoku and Nami Kozo.
Eh? You don't know what a "Hyoutoku" is?
The bronze statue looked like this:

As you can imagine from the name and appearance, it is a "Hyotoko"
He is also known as Ryugu-douji and is said to be related to Urashima Taro.
Other
But I could go on and on, so I'll stop here and move on...
Anyway, I wanted to see this bronze statue!!!
Also, along Yokai Road, there are many shops selling "Yokai goods."
It is a holy place for monster lovers.
By the way, in Japan,Three monster prefecturesThere is one called "Japan's Three Most Viewed Places" (similar to "Japan's Three Most Viewed Places").
In addition to Tottori (Sakaiminato), Tokushima (Miyoshi) and Iwate (Tono) are also known as places with ties to yokai.
Sakaiminato, which we visited this time, is a pioneer of "Yokai Town Revitalization."
As it is the birthplace of Shigeru Mizuki, many monsters from the "Mizuki World" appear here, including Kitaro.
With the support of this "national monster," I think it's a highly entertaining tourist destination.
This time, to fully enjoy Sakaiminato...
No! To cover the story...
First, go to the tourist information center,"Yokai Guidebook"I purchased.
This book contains information about yokai from a tourist guide,
This is an essential item for sightseeing in Sakaiminato. However, my main motivation for buying this book was something else.
When you buy this book,"Yokai Stamp Rally"You can participate in this!!!
It may be difficult to imagine, so here is a picture.

The stamp rally takes about two hours.
Although I thought it was a bit long,
If you're asked to do a "Yokai Stamp Rally," there's no way you can't do it!
 
"It's kind of troublesome, so I don't care..."
While glaring at my accompaniment, Professor Nakamura, who was not very enthusiastic,
I participated in the Yokai Stamp Rally.
 
In conclusion, the stamp rally was a great idea!!
This is getting a bit long, so I'll write more details in the next post.