Showing posts with label dolls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dolls. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Washibara Hachimangu in Autumn

 

Washibara Hachimangu Shrine is located at the base of the mountain that has Tsuwano Castle on top.


It was established in the 13th Century by the warrior ancestor of the Yoshimi Clan who moved to what is now the Tsuwano area and established this branch of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine of Kamakura.


In 1387 the third head of the family moved it to its current location.


A Yabusame training ground was built at this time and it remains the only original Yabusame grounds in all of Japan. Yabusame takes place here on the first Sunday in April and can be viewed in this earlier post.


During the Yabusame festival the shrine grounds are filled with blooming cherry trees, but in the Autumn, the combination of Maple and Ginko trees make for a splendid sight.


There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds, the most interesting being a branch of Awashima Shrine.


The head Awashima Shrine in Wakayama is famous for its collection of dolls that have been left at the shrine, and many Jaoanese find it quite eery.


The Awashima Shrine here at Washibara Hachimangu also has quite a collection of traditional dolls that have been left.


The Washibara Hachimangu was established at the same time as the first castle on top of the mountain, and when the castle was attacked in 1554 the shrine and all the other temples and shrines in the immediate vicinity were burned down.


In 1568, Yoshimi Masayori rebuilt the shrine. The current thatched tower gate dates from this time.


In 1711 Kamei Tsunechika did major renovations, and the current main hall dates from this time.


The Tower Gate, Worship Hall, and Main Hall are all National Important Cultural Properties and are fine examples of late Muromachi Period shrine architecture. They are all currently undergoing refurbishment.


Between the tower gate and the worship hall is a small pond with a kiyosaibashi bridge across it.


Outside of the yabusame festival in April, the shrine gets very few visitors as it is somewhat out of town, but well worth a visit in the autumn.


These last seven photos were taken on a later visit to the shrine....


The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the Yabusame here.






Monday, February 19, 2024

From 28 Yakushi-do to 29 Kazaana-an

 


Yakushi-do, temple 28 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage is located on the east coast and about halfway down the Mito peninsula that has the southernmost point of Shodoshima at its tip.


It is a fairly small, simple, and new structure that has been moved here fairly recently from higher up the slope. It is said that Crown Prince Taisho visited on his trip to the island in the first years of the twentieth century.


The new location is in front of an older cemetery and right next to the village shrine. It is unnamed with no information but the very small shimenawa is of a kind that still has the ears of rice attached to the ends of the straw.


I sit in the little covered rest area next to the Yakushido and drink a can of coffee from the vending machine while I ponder my route. The guide book I am using is written for car pilgrims and says to keep going south down the coast road and then cross over the peninsula at its narrowest part before heading up to the next temple.


Signs from the Yakushi-do point up through the village and I decide to follow them as my experience yesterday suggests that the walking path is quicker than the car route.


I switch back up through the village and take a path leading up the hillside. Once on top the path follows the narrow ridge before starting to descend down the other side.


I pass by a small altar and believe it to be the okunoin of temple 29.


A pair of dolls seem really creepy..... many Japanese I have spoken with seem very superstitious when it comes to old dolls.....


A little further and I come to temple 29 Kazaana-an. There are great views down the coast and across to Shikoku. I believe this is the southernmost point of the pilgrimage.


It is a modern building and well looked after.


I see a couple of young women heading down the stairs. These are the first other visitors to a temple I have seen since starting three days ago.


The honzon is a Jizo, though it, and several other statues, are locked away. A reclining Buddha covered in blankets is in front of the altar.


There is a small Inari shrine. Representations of Inari are either of a young maiden or an old man. This one is the latter.


The previous post in this series on the Shodoshima pilgrimage was on my walk down the peninsula.


As I reach the road below the temple a young pilgrim is parking his bicycle. Our paths will cross several more times today

Monday, September 16, 2019

Not the Village of Dolls

Not the Village of Dolls


On my first day walking the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage I left Taizoji Temple and the Kumano Magabutsu and started north along the road. The first few days of the pilgrimage I was going to be roughly following the old shugendo pilgrimage route around the Kunisaki Peninsula. Not far along the road I came across these figures by the side of the road dressed as pilgrims.


I thought the figures were just connected to the pilgrimage, but then a bit further up the road I spied this female figure with an old couple back at the abandoned building.


The group of skiers made it clear that these were another example of the kinds of "dolls" that are appearing all around Japan in depopulated areas, the most famous of which is Nagoro in Tokushima that has received masses of international media attention.


While Nagoro is the most famous, I have seen such figures in amny places on my walks around the hinterland. They have been developed out of scarecrows. I remember about 18 years ago walking in the mountains in my home area and coming across a big group of brightly decorated figures in some small rice paddies by the side of the road. It was called a scarecrow festival.

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