Tsuwano Castle

 

Tsuwano Castle, celebrating the 700th anniversary of its founding this year, 2024, is now mostly ruins.

It is situated on a mountaintop, 200 meters above the town of Tsuwano which was built as a castle town in the early Edo Period.

There are no roads up to the ruins, but three walking trails or a chairlift.

Even after taking the chairlift there is still some walking to the first part of the ruins.

The original castle was started in 1282 shortly after the first Mongol Invasion and was meant to protect against further possible invasions. The Yoshimi Clan controlled the area for more than 300 years.

In essence it was a large fortified mountain ridge with fortifications spread over two kilometers along the ridge.

In the mid 16th century the region was invaded by Sue Harukata and he unsuccessfully besieged the castle for more than 100 days.

In the meantime, the Mori Clan took advantage and attacked the Sue and defeated them at the Battle of Itsukushima

Following the Battle of Sekigahara the Yoshimi were removed from the area and Sakazaki Naomori took over the domain.

It was he were remade the castle into the form it is today and started the construction of the castle town.

He reduced the size of the castle to its central section and modernized it by building most of the stonework that you see today.

In 1619 sakazaki was replaced by the kamei Clan and they held the castle and domain until 1868.

In 1686 the tenshu, keep, was destroyed by a fire caused by lightning and it was never replaced. The Daimyo lived and administered the domain from buildings at the base of the mountain, two of which are still standing.

During the Boshin War the Imperialist forces led by Choshu marched through the valley and the Kamei samurai stayed within the castle and allowed them to pass.

The castle was dismantled in 1874, shortly before the government ordered castles to be dismantled.

Even if you have not much interest in castle ruins, Tsuwano Castle is well worth a visit for the amazing views.

During the late autumn when the weather phenomenon known in Japanese as unkai occurs the castle ruins are above the surrounding valleys filled with clouds much like the much more famous Takeda Castle in Hyogo.

Down below the castle to the south is the Washibara Hachimangu Shrine which has the only purpose-built yabusame, horseback archery, grounds in Japan.

The previous castle I posted on was Hiroshima Castle. The previous post on Tsuwano I posted was on the garden at Yomeiji temple.

Kashii Jingu

 

Kashii Shrine is a large shrine complex a little north of Hakata in Fukuoka. Sometimes called Kashiigu, it used to be called Kashii Jingu and that is the name of the nearest station.

In front of the shrine is a delightful pond garden with a Benzaiten Shrine.

According to the records the shrine was founded in 723, although it seems that it was not technically a shrine at that time but a mausoleum, which many historians believe was the first example in Japan of this mainland Asian concept.

According to the myths, this was the site of a temporary palace for Emperor Chuai and his consort Jingu on their military campaign to subdue the local Kumaso people.

Chuai died here and Jingu built a mausoleum for him before going on to invade and conquer Korea, something for which there is zero evidence of.

It is said that later she was also enshrined here and the two mausoleums together became what is now Kashii Shrine.

According to the records the site changed into being a shrine from being a mausoleum in the 10th century.

The shrine grew in status and is now one of the 16 shrines nationwide that still receive offerings from Imperial envoys.

The shrine was burned down numerous times during its history.

The current main hall dates back to 1801. Other structures date back to the end of the 19th century.

One notable feature is the Ayasugi, photo 9, an ancient tree encircled with a vermillion fence. According to the legend Jingu buried objects here on her return from Korea including twings of sugi, Japanese Cedar, that had been carried inside her armour. According to this myth the tree is supposedly 1,800 years old.

The main kami of the shrine are Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingu along with their son, Ojin / Hachiman, and the Sumiyoshi Kami.

There are lots of other shrines within the grounds, including an Inari and a Keihi shrine, photo 11.

There is a Takeuchi Shrine enshrining the famous minister serving Chuai and Jingu and several other emperors as he is said to have died at  280 years of age. He is enshrined at many shrines in Japan but his main shrine is Ube Shrine in Tottori. Makio Shrine, last photo, enshrines another minister, Nakatomi Ikatsu Omuraji.

Other shrines are a Hamao Shrine, a Kutose Shrine, a Hirano Shrine, an Inkeya Shrine, A Takaba Shrine, and a Hayatsuju Shrine.

There are many, many shrines and sites around this part of northern Kyushu with connection to the myth of Jingu, many of which I visited, so it seems fairly certain that there was a powerful female leader in the area. The dates of 3rd century are patently absurd, though that doesn't stop many from claiming them as historical fact. Some historians in the Edo Period suggest the Jingu myths refer to Himiko. The invasion of Korea has absolutely zero evidence, though there is lots of evidence suggesting an importation of people, ideas, and technology from the Korean Peninsula in the 5th century, the more likely time of any historical "Jingu".

The previous post in this series on Day 76 of my Kyushu Pilgrimage was on Hakozaki Shrine.

Akiya Coast Ama Island

The Akiya Coast is a section of scenic coastline in the northwest of Ama Island.

Some of the inlets on the island are home to what I believe are oyster farms, though they could be another form of shellfish farming.

There are also numerous fishing harbours.

Like the rest of the Oki Islands, the sea is incredibly clean and clear, ideal for swimming, snorkelling, and diving.

Ama is the third-largest of the islands that make up the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan off the coast of mainland Shimane, four of which are inhabited.

Collectively the Oki Islands are a UNESCO Global Geopark and so there is lots of explanatory signboards, in English, of the volcanic geology you can see.

 The Akiya coastline is not quite as dramatic as some of the other sites like theKuniga Coast or Candle Rock, but is nonetheless picturesque, with views across to Dogo, the largest of the islands.

Apparently the site is being marketed as a "powaa supoto" for lovers as the offshore rock formation has an opening that is shaped like a heart when viewed from one end of the beach, and also because a nearby shrine has a myth of a goddess giving birth here.

The previous post in this series was on Tengawa no Mizu Spring.

Hakozakigu Shrine

 

Hakozaki Shrine was founded in 923 when the wakemitama, divided spirit, was enshrined here in Hakata after being brought from the Daibu Hachiman Shrine in what is now Iizuka.

By the 12th century it had become the Ichinomiys, the highest ranked shrine in the province.

During the first Mongol Invasion in 1274 the shrine was burned down.

When the shrine was rebuilt the Emperor Kemeyama sent a scroll with the message "May the enemy nations prostrate themselves (in defeat)" The carved sign above the main gate has this inscription in a copy of the emperors own hand. There are however various theories about exactly which emperors sent the inscription first, and when. 

The shrine burned down several more times during wars, and when Hideyoshi had his campaign to subdue Kyushu he made Hakozaki Shrine his headquarters.

The main gate, photo 1 above, and several buildings are all Important Cultural Properties and date to the mid 16th century when the shrine was rebuilt by Ouchi Yoshitaka.

The current carving of the inscription above the gate dates from 1573 when the gate was rebuilt.

The shrine covers a very large area and is quite spacious, though paintings show that prior to 1868 there were many pagodas and other Buddhist structures within the ground.

Originally just a short distance from the sea, as the land has encroached on the sea the road leading to the shrine from the water has gotten longer.

Being a Hachiman shrine, the primary kami are Ojin, Jingu, and Tamayorihime.

In the penultimate photo below, a red fence encircles a pine tree known as the Box Pine. It is said that when Ojin was born, not far away in the hills overlooking what is now Fukuoka, his umbilical cord was placed in a box and buried on this spot.

Hakozaki means "Cape of the box".

I visited early in the morning of  76th day of my walk along the Kyushu 108 temple Pilgrimage. The previous post was on a small. local Kumano Shrine south of Fukuoka City