Eifukuji Temple 57 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Temple 56 is quite a small temple with Amida as its honzon. As well as the Daishi-do there is also a Konpira-do and a Yakushi-do.

Eifukuji is the 4th of a cluster of 6 pilgrimage temples in the area of Imabari, Ehime.

It is located at the base of a small mountain to the south of the city, though it used to be located on top of the mountain with views over the city.

The most noticeable thing for me when I visited at the start of my 35th day walking the pilgrimage was the Enbutsu-do, a strikingly modern building that towers over the temple compound.

Designed by architect Zai Shirakawa, it features very thick walls with angled window openings that allow for some privacy but also allow plenty of light to enter.

It is said that Kobo Daishi performed a ritual on the mountaintop in the early 9th century for peace at sea and afterwards Amida appeared and so he built a temple.

In 859 another monk was travelling from Kyushu to Kyoto with the divided spirit of Hachiman to found Iwashimizu Hachimangu. He thought the mountain here looked like the one where Iwashimizu was to be built and so founded a Hachiman Shrine alongside the temple. Both functioned as the same site.

Until 1868, that is,  when the government separated Buddhas and Kami and the temple was relocated to its current location at the foot of the hill. The shrine still stands on top.

There are some fine carvings, and I was surprised to see a Ta no Kami statue (below). The cart in the first photo was left by a 15 year-old crippled pilgrim whose leg was healed at the temple.

The previous temple was temple 56 Taisanji.

Enmeiji Temple 54 Shikoku Ohenro

 

The Mountain Gate into Enmeiji Temple near Imabari in Ehime was relocated here from Imabari Castle when it was dismantled in early Meiji.

The Nio Gate before the mountain gate contains a fine pair of Nio.

The temple used to be located higher up on Mount Chikamiyama and was relocated to its current location in 1727 following the last of many fires that had repeatedly burned down the temple

The honzon of the temple is a Fudo Myo, and it is known as a Fire Fighting Fudo because it survived the many fires unscathed.

The temple was founded by Gyoki in 720 and he carved the Fudo statue.

As was often the case, Kobo Daishi visited a century later and rebuilt and expanded the temple.

In its heyday, it had many buildings and 100 monks.

It was named Fudoin Enmyoji, and this caused many problems because the previous temple, number 53, was also called Enmyoji, so in Meiji it was renamed Enmeiji.

A Mizuko Jizo statue in the grounds is very popular. The temple has no lodgings, but does have a large shop selling pilgrim supplies.

The previous temple is Enmyoji, number 53, 37 kilometers away in Matsuyama.

Takano Shrine Ninomiya of Mimasaka

 

Takano Shrine is located on the Izumo Kaido to the west of Tsuyama City on the banks of the Yoshii River.

It is the Ninomiya, the second-highest ranked shrine, of the former province of Mimasaka which is now northern Okayama prefecture.

Said to have been founded in the mid 6th century, the shrine was supported by the Mori Clan when they ruled the area. The current main building was built in 1663 by the 2nd Lord of the Tsuyama Domain. It is built in the local Nakayama-zukuri style.

The shrine is the source of several nationally recognized Important Cultural properties, including a pair of small, wooden komainu dating to the early 9th century, and a pair of wooden Zuijin statues dated to 1125. These are all now in a museum and can't be seen here.

The main kami enshrined here is Ugayafukiaezu from the Hyuga Myth Cycle, father of the mythical first emperor Jimmu.

Also enshrined is Kagamitsukuri no kami, the main kami from the Ichinomiya not too far away, and Onamuchi, one of the names of Okuninushi.

Being such an ancient and major shrine, there are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds including a Kojin shrine, an Awashima Shrine, and a Hachiman shrine. A lower shrine hall enshrines a Hirose shrine, Tokuo shrine, Fukai shrine, Urushiwaka shrine, and a Kunishi shrine.

The previous post in this series on my fifth day walking the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage was on Soja Shrine.

Inori no Sato Religious Roadside Attraction

 

Coming down from Unzen Hot Springs towards Obama on the coast of Tachibana Bay, the road is steep and without any settlements until just above the town.

Inori no Sato is sometimes described as a park, sometimes as a roadside rest area, but it looks like some kind of religious roadside attraction with a wide range of statues and altars, and yet is not a temple or shrine.

It is sometimes referred to as Unzen Daibutsu Inori no Sato because of the Buddha statue seen in photo 2, which was made by the same sculptor who created the Ushiku Great Buddha in Ibaraki.

That was a standing figure 120 meters tall, whereas the statue here is a seated figure only 3 meters high including the base.

There are several statues of Kannon, photos 3 & 7, and several Fudo Myo statues, photos 6 & 14.

Under a gazebo in the middle of the park is an impressive statue of a Dragon grasping a golden sphere, photo 5, with a smaller version, photo 8. This is a common symbol across East Asia. The Secven Lucky Gods, shichifukujin, also make an appearance, photo 4.

Various figures from the world of Yokai make an appearance, including a Kappa Pond, photo 9, and a giant red Tengu mask, photo 10.

No overview of Japanese popular religion would be complete without an Inari Shrine, photo 11, a small collection of monkey statues probably related to the Koshin cult, photo 13, and a statue of Shotoku Taishi, photo 12.

There seems to be an emphasis on praying for good luck, success, and other "this worldly benefits", known as genze riyaku in Japanese.

Not shown in these photos is a miniature Shikoku Pilgrimage with 88 small statues, and a pair of "sexual" statues based on Dosojin.

There is no entry fee, though offertory boxes stand in front of all of the statues, and no sect or religion is being pushed. The whole thing was funded by a local businessman, Mr Takujima.

It seems he is the chairman of a successful construction company and Inori no Sato is his attempt to contribute to the well-being and perhaps revitalization of the local area.

The previous post was on the Unzen Hells.

Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 

The Sasaguri Pilgrimage is a miniature version of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage known as Ohenro. All the temples on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage are within the limits of Sasaguri, a town in the mountains east of Hakata, Fukuoka, and the whole route covers about 50 kilometers, yet the walking pilgrim passes by numerous other temples that are not part of the pilgrimage.

Jimyoin Betsuin Temple is one such temple, located along a mountain road to the north of Narufuchi Dam. We visited on our way down the mountain late in the afternoon of the 1st day walking the pilgrimage after having already visited more than twenty temples.

A Betsuin is a direct branch temple, and this one seems to be a branch of a Jimyoin Temple near Nanzoin further east. It is unstaffed and there was little information though it does appear to be relatively new.

What is known is that the temple belongs to the Shingon sect and has a Daishi-do, Yakushi-do, and across the road a Kannon-do.

The main hall enshrines the honzon, a Fudo Myo, and I will cover it and the many other Fudo statues in the grounds in the next post.

Photo 3 shows, I believe, an Aizen Myo, and the statues in photo 4 very much look in what seems to be Korean-style.

Photo 5 is probably Bishamonten, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the one most likely found alone without the other three. I'm not sure of the dragon in photo 6, but it looks a lot like Kurikara, the dragon representing the sword of Fudo Myo, except it is usually shown wrapped around a sword.

Photo 7 is the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods. Have no idea what photo 8 is although its meaning seems somewhat obvious. Photo 9 is the Nio guardians from the rear looking across the road to the Yakushi-do.

The previous post in this series on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the small  Hagio Amida-do we visited a little higher up the mountain road.