The Shrine That a Gorilla Forces Upon You (LOL) So, I looked into a place called Oike Shrine. However, it turns out it's not actually a particularly famous, old-fashioned tourist spot. It's a shrine built to enshrine the spirits of the creatures that used to live in the old Ogura Pond. According to the "upper echelons," it was a small roadside shrine during the Heian period. It was born from the pure and fervent prayers of local fishermen. In short, a god sent from a "hidden world" protects this land and the creatures that live there. Which god is enshrined there? A water god. 🌊 It's not a tourist spot, but it seems it once had the power to protect people from floods and disasters. In other words, this god actually possesses secretly powerful abilities. But... since the pond dried up and was filled in, people stopped praying there. The upper echelons say that if it collapses like this, it will literally become a playground for monsters and evil spirits....

A scene of freshwater fishing at the now-defunct Ogura Pond. OMG, listen up! You won’t believe the drama I just had with "The Universe." 🙄✨ So, I was doing some deep digging into this mysterious place called Ogura-ike (a legendary vanished lake in Kyoto). I was looking for the "Forbidden Pond" and asked my AI to give me some options. It gave me two spots: Imoarai (Uji River) and Akai (Katsura River). Usually, when a place gathers bad vibes or "energetic gunk," people build a shrine to keep things chill. So I checked, and yep—there’s Ooike Shrine at one spot and Yodo Shrine at the other. I was like, "Okay, which one should I visit?" Since I’m still dealing with some post-illness stuff, I asked the AI for the easiest one to get to by train. But for some reason, the AI kept pushing Ooike Shrine... even though it's WAY further from the station! 🚶‍♀️💦 I was like, "Wait a sec... this is a setup, isn't it?!" The "Higher-Ups...