Uranouchi Bay in Kochi

 

After visiting Shoryuji, the 36th temple on the famous Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage, the pilgrima has several alternative routes to get to the next temple, number 37, Iwamotoji.

The most commonly taken route is to backtrack a little and go back over the bridge across the narrow  entrance to Uranouchi Bay and then head west along the north coast of the bay.

Another route is to head along the southern coast of the Yokonami Peninsula, which is said to have spectacular views but is lacking in facilities.

A third option is the one I chose, to take a little ferry that connects Umetate near the bridge with Yokonami at the far end of the inlet.

The ferry is small and only takes passengers, though I believe it may be possible to take a bicycle onboard.

The ferry only runs a few times a day, and zig-zags up the narrow inlet connecting settlements on either side.

I was the only passenger, and it didn't actually stop anywhere. It approached each little harbour, but on seeing no-one waiting just turned around and carried on.

I would imagine that on wet, cloudy, or windy days the journey is not so much fun...

But on a calm day the journey was pleasant and views quite magnificent.

The previous post in this series on the space between temples along the Shikoku Ohenro was on the walk from Kiyotakiji to Shoryuji.

Kitasando The Road to Yuga Daigongen

 

The Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage is modelled on one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in Japan, the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, however the Chugoku Pilgrimage is a fairly modern creation, dating back to the 1980's, and therefore its route is based on the modern transportation system and is basically geared towards driving.

However, a few parts of it do coincide with older pilgrimages, and some of these still have sections of footpath, a case in point being this section I am walking on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage. South of Kurashiki is Rendaiji, temple number 6 of the pilgrimage, and it has been a site of pilgrimage in its own right for centuries.

Known as Yuga Daigongen, it was a syncretic site now split into a temple and a shrine, but it was a fairly major pilgrimage destination, and connected to Konpirasan on Shikoku, with both sites often being visited on the same journey.

There were 4 routes to reach Yuga Daigongen, depending on which direction you were coming from, but the most travelled route was known as Kitasando and approached from the north.

After visiting the Kumano Shrine and its associated temples in Hayashi, a few kilometers further south a large torii across a minor road show the way to Yuga Daigongen.

Soon a path leads off the road and heads through a huge grove of bamboo. Whenever I am fortunate enough to pass through a bamboo forest I think of all those poor tourists in Arashiyama, crowded shouder to shoulder, viewing a manicured bamboo forest behind a fence while I have a huge, silent one all to myself.

Along the trail are several small wayside shrines, none visited often and with almost no upkeep.

The trail leads to a narrow mountain road and passes a village shrine, photo 11

The torii says its name is Eki Shrine, but it was renamed Susanoo Shrine in 1943.

Earlier that morning I had stopped in at another Susanoo Shrine that had also previously been called Eki Shrine.

The road then passes a series of vegetable gardens... well protected against wild boar, monkeys, and deer.

and then skirts a village...

before once again becoming a trail....

As we get closer to the shrine-temple complex, more indications of the destination appear...

It was an absolute delight to spend an hour off of asphalt and traffic....

The previous post was on the Kumano Shrine at the base of the mountain to the north.