Machu Picchu of the East/東洋のマチュピチュ/東方的馬丘比丘

After leaving the Cosmos behind, we headed to the nearby Besshi Copper Mine.  For some reason, they insist on referring to the place as the "Machu Picchu of the East" in all of their tourist literature.  I'll let you be the judge of whether or not that's overdoing it a bit.

Regardless of whether or not it lives up to its impressive nickname, it is a neat place.  From the 17th century until the 20th century, this mine was a major source of copper for Japan.  Because the mine was up in a mountain, a  village also developed up there.  The mine and village have been abandoned, but you can go up and see the buildings that have been left behind.  The surrounding scenery is quite beautiful too.

コスモスを離れて、別子銅山に行って見た。１７世紀から２０世紀にかけて銅をたくさん出産した。今は綺麗な観光地になっている。「東洋のマチュピチュ」は別子銅山の観光資料が主張している呼び方だけど、私はちょっと大げさだと思う。でも間違いない綺麗な場所で、訪れる価値はある。

我們下次去「別子銅山」。在山上的一個很大的銅礦。從17世紀到20世紀出產了銅。因為員工很多所以市集也發展了。現在變成了一個觀光地，在資料我看到「東方的馬丘比丘」的說法。是嗎？你自己來看看判斷。

 We can see the sea and the built up area near sea level in the photo below.
山の上から町と海も見える。
下面的照片看得到在平地的城市和海。

 It was too early to see the autumn colors, but there were a few trees that had jumped the gun a bit.
ちょっとだけ紅葉が始まっていた。
有一點點紅葉。當時還算是太早，所以不多。

 An old building related to electric generation.

 It was refreshing being up in a mountain in Japan because the vegetation is very different from that which I normally see in my life at sea-level southern Taiwan, which is obviously a much hotter climate.

当たり前だけど、四国の１０００メートルの山は私が今住んでいる台南よりだいぶ涼しいので、ここに来て 植物を見るのはちょっと斬新を感じた。やっぱり全然違うのだ。

台南的氣候啊，植物啊，都跟四國山上不太一樣。看風景看得很新鮮。

 To the left of this mine entrance is a hiking trail that looks like it would be really fun to hike some day.

 Here's the beginning of the trail.

ハイキングトレールもあった。登ってみたいなぁ。

也有爬山路。

 Another entrance to the mine

鉱山への入り口

 Here's the electric generation building I mentioned above.

発電所みたいな施設だったそうだ。

發電所。

 There were old cans and stuff left behind.

昭和くさいアルミ缶とかたくさん残っていた。

以前的鐵罐還在剩下。

 It looks like maybe the people who worked in this building also lived here.  There was a kitchen and everything.

台所もあるので、もしかして従業員はここで住みながら働いたのだろう。

因為建築裏面也有廚房所以看起來員工在這裡不但工作，也住。

 A snake's molted skin

蛇の脱皮

蛇的脫皮

 Some more fall colors

紅葉は二年ぶりに見えた。台南はない。

 This seems like it must have been the main area of the mine.  There are a lot of really big buildings here.

Watch out for Mamushi!

「ㄇㄚㄇㄨㄒㄧ」是一種毒蛇生息在日本，東亞。也可以寫「蝮」的漢子，可是平常不會用。

 This sign tells us how there used to be an incline train here.  Now there are just 220 steps.  Too bad for us!

以前這裡有列車，但是現在只是樓梯而已。很累！

 These were every bit as much work to walk up as you might expect.

ここ登るのは本当にキツかった。

太跨張啦！

And that's it for this day!  We still have two more of the Iyo Shichifukujin shrines to visit, so let's do it tomorrow.

この後は帰ったなので、次のポストは再び松山に戻って伊予七福神の巡拝を続こう。

隔天我們去剩下的兩座伊予七福神廟。下次的po再說。