Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 29 Asahidera

The familiar figure of a Fudo Myo statue marks my way up  Mount Asahi towards the 29th temple located near the summit at 324 meters, and named after the mountain itself.

Yet another temple reputed to be founded by the prolific Gyoki, it is now a Shingon temple with the honzon being an 11 faced Kannon. Mount Asahi is a kannabiji, a mountain considered to be sacred and one of many mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki.

Unusual nowadays because the road does not reach all the way to the temple itself, so a trail through the dark forest leads to the final flight of stone steps.

For the elderly priest who still lives there and for some of his guests there is a small railway of the kind favored by construction workers or others who must work on steep slopes like the orange growers on some of the islands in the Inland Sea. This is the first time I have seen one used for passengers.

Great views can be had down onto Lake Shinji.