Ikeda Saijiki

 

Coming into the outskirts of Ikeda on day three of my walk around Shodoshima I saw a curious stone structure up ahead.

At first I thought it might be some kind of fortification, and then as I got closer maybe some terracing for rice paddies

Turns out it is a kind of terrace of seating to view the local festival parade and is called a saijiki.

80 meters long, and 18 meters high with 5 or 6 levels. A painting dated 1812 shows it so it was built at some point earlier than that. It is still used every year for the townsfolk to watch the mikoshi parade and collection of floats and drum floats at the annual Kameyama Hachiman Shrine Festival.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was Aizenji Temple.