Inside Tadaji Temple

 

The honzon of Tada-ji temple in Hamada is an Eleven-faced Kannon, but it is a secret Buddha only visible once a year.

However, there is a Thousand-armed Kannon to be seen...

And to my great delight, several Fudo statues......

However, perhaps the most interesting thing to see are the 59 wooden statues which I have earlier referred to as "drowned Buddhas".

They were discovered floating in the sea below Tada-ji in 1870.

They have been dated to the Kamakura Period, and are about 1,000 years old.

In 1868 the new government unofficially encouraged anti-Buddhist sentiment, and in some areas this led to the destruction of many temples and their treasures.

On the Oki islands for instance, every single temple was destroyed. In other areas nothing was touched.

It seems to have been very much based on situations where local priests were particularly oppressive to the people, rather than any ideological or religious reasons.

The currents along the coast here are from the west, so its seems that the statues drifted from the west over a two year period.

One would think that with such a major collection of statues, and the known currents and time frames it would be possible to figure out where they came from.

Apparently not. The whole anti-Buddhist movement is avoided as a topic, which may explain the reluctance to find out....

After already being very old and probably somewhat deteriorated due to age, plus two years knocked around in water, has led to some eerie expressions on some of the statues.....

If you are visiting Tadaji, it is well worth ringing the bell at the priests house and office and having them open the main hall for you.

This link will take you to a short, earlier post on the drowned Buddhas.

The previous post in this series was on the exterior and grounds of the temple.

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Leading the Blind..Tactile Paving...Tenji Block...

 

Street Photography where the subject is actually the street, and not the people.....

Tactile paving is the most common of many names given to the raised bumps and lines on  floors that guide visually-impaired people.

In Japan, they are known as Tenji Blocks, with tenji being the Japanese word for braille.

Every announcement warning of imminent train arrivals at Japanese stations insists you must stand behind the "tenji buroku."

In fact, the system of tactile paving was invented in Japan and first used in Okayama in 1967. In time the system spread to many other countries.

While there is some diversity, basically the system uses a grid of raised bumps to indicate hazard, and raised lines to indicate direction.

Yellow is by far the most common colour, and the UK in particular insists on strong colour contrast, but as can be seen from some of these photos from Japan, it is not always the case.

Plastic seems to be the most common material, but metal is sometimes used and even wood. The 3rd photo below shows some formed by pressing a mold into a kind of molten plastic asphalt.

In combination with different coloured paving and tiling, plus drainage systems, and shadows, it leads to some striking visual designs, though unfortunately invisible to completely blind individuals.

For fans of geometric abstractions like myself, they make a great subject for photos....

Komo Shrine Revisited

 

Komo Shrine is quite a large, impressive shrine in the countryside near Nakatsu.

This was my third time visiting, and a previous visit was documented in this post.

I was here this time on day 6 of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

There is much to see, but perhaps the most noticeable thing is the magnificent two-storey gate.

This is a 1622 reconstruction, and is a national Important Cultural Property.

Next is the torii floating in the pond.

Originally a triangular pond, it is actually the inner shrine of Komo Shrine and is the source of shrine itself.

The chief priest of Usa Shrine visited the pond and was instructed by the kami to take some reeds from the pond and construct a sacred pillow with them.

In 720, in response to yet another "rebellion" of the Hayato people of southern Kyushu, the central government sent a punitive force.

It was joined by an army from Buzen and was led by a portable shrine made of the reeds from Sankaku Pond.

Komo Shrine itself is said to have been founded as a branch of Usa Hachiman in the early to mid 9th century.

This roofed bridge was in poor condition.... not sure if it is still standing....

There are numerous huge, ancient camphor trees within the shrine...

As well as the main Hachiman there is also a Wakamiya Shrine which also enshrines Ojin, and a Yasaka Shrine enshrining Susanoo and his "family"

The shrine crest is a single Tomoe, and some link it to the Munakata Princesses who are part of Hachiman.

Interestingly, one version of the Munakata myth in the Nihon Shoki has the princesses descending to this area before moving to their current homes on the coast and islands of Fukuoka...

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Pilgrimage was on the nearby Sanmei-in Temple.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.