Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Irohazaka Winding Road, Japan

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Irohazaka are a pair of winding roads connecting the lower elevation around central Nikko, in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, to the higher elevations of Oku-Nikko located in the northwestern part of Nikko. "i-ro-ha" are the first three characters of the 48 syllables of the formerly used Japanese alphabet (which is now known as "aiueo"), and "zaka" means "slope". The Irohazaka Winding Roads were so named because together they consist of 48 hairpin turns. Each turn is labeled with one of the 48 characters in the Japanese alphabet. Although the narrow road has been modernized over the years, care has been taken to keep the number of curves constant. 

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The road was traditionally used by Buddhist pilgrims on their way to Lake Chuzenji. It is absolutely beautiful from above but I have developed a fear of driving on winding mountain roads so I won't add the Irohazaka Winding Road to my list of places to visit.

Via Amusing Planet

Thanks Bruce!

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