Yuga Shrine

 

Yuga Shrine is unique in having a ceramic torii entrance gate made of local Bizen-ware. It is not the only ceramic torii in Japan. Down in Arita in Saga on Kyushu is a torii made of porcelain at Tozan Shrine.

Yuga Shrine is the now Shinto part of the former shugendo complex of Yuga Daigongen, a syncretic establishment forced tp separate in early Meiji. Post 1945 the shrine and temple began operating again as one entity but in the late 90's a dispute arose between them that continues to this day.

Immediately adjacent to the shrine is the okunoin of the temple. Again, the architecture alone is no help in distinguishing between the shinto and Buddhist parts as they are the same.

The okunoin currently houses a Fudo Myo.

The original kami enshrined here was Yuga Daigongen, a buddhist name and considered a manifestation of Amida and Yakushi.

The kami listed now I suspect were added in the Meiji Period and are Hikosachi no Mikoto, Kaminaohi, and Teoshihobo. They are not well known kami at all.

As well as the torii there are a pair of fine ceramic komainu also in Bizen-ware. The komainu date to 1829 and tye torii to 1894.

There are numerous secondary shrines around the grounds, many clustered around a set of Iwakura, large sacred rocks on the hillside said to have been worshipped since ancient times.

There is a Tenmangu, and also the Seven Lucky Gods are here as well as in the parking lot of the temple.

Interestingly there is a Susanoo Shrine, and here he is considered a god of matchmaking. Males will pray to the female ceramic komainu and females pray to the male ceramic komainu, both with a dark glaze so not technically Bizen-ware.

Yuga Shrine is considered an important shrine for disaster prevention and was historically connected to Konpira on Shikoku with both being connected pilgrimage sites.

The main hall, (photo 9), was built in the early Edo Period and is a registered Cultural Property, as are the ceramic torii and the honden (final photo).

There is a largish Inari presence here, though they list the kami as Kurainakatama no mikoto, not a variation I have ever heard of before.

You might notice the "cute" octopus statue......

This is Owatatsumi, a modern creation by the local fishing culture.....

Though somewhat distant from major tourist sites, and not accessible without a car, Mount Yuga, with all the sights of the temple and the shrine, is well worth a visit.

This was my final stop on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and the previous post in the series was on the Buddhist section of Yuga Daigongen, Rendaiji Temple.

Achi Shrine Kurashiki

 

Achi Shrine is located on a hilltop overlooking the Bikan Historic District in Kurashiki, and is now the pre-eminent shrine of the area.

The chinowa, the circular "rope" of grass for purification can be found at different times of the year at diferent shrines. Here it was mid August.

It is believed that in ancient times this was the site of a garden belonging to the local ruling clan and there is supposed to be remnants of a cran and turtle island stone arrangement from that time.

Around tye time the area started to develop as a political and merchant centre, a Myoken Shrine was moved here from a nearby temple.

Until 1868 it was known as Myoken-gu and changed the name to Achi Shrine at the time of Shinbutsu bunri.

The first shrine buildings were built in 1620.

The three main kami are now said to be the Munakata Princesses, Tagirihime, Tagitsuhime, and Ichikishimahime, collectively known for marine safety.

Myoken was a very popular shrine in Japan, dedicated to the Buddhist deity of the North Star. When most Myoken shrines were changed in 1868 they switched to a pair of obscure kami from the Kojiki. Why they chose the Munakata Kami here is a mystery.

There are a wide variety of secondary shrines and kami in the grounds including a Susano shrine that also brought in several other local shrine kami in the so-called shrine mergers of 1910.

A Tenmangu shrine also enshrines Yamato Takeru, Sarutahiko, and Omononushi as well as Sugawara Michizane. Curiously there were lots of Daruma dolls at this shrine.

Another sub-shrine enshrines Okuninushi, Kotoshironushi, and Homusubi.

There is also an Inari shrine brought here from nearby in the early 20th century. The shrine grounds has quite a famous Wisteria, and a Noh stage also.

I visited at the start of day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage as I headed south out of Kurashiki towards the next temple, Rendaiji. The previous post was on Kurashiki Silhouettes the evening before.

Yamate Kannondo Temple 52 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Day 2 of our walk along the magnificent Sasaguri Pilgrimage began where it had ended the day before, at Chikuzen-Yamate Station.

Temple 52 is easily noticed by the unusual tall structure. Included at the site is the Watatake Inari Daimyojin Shrine.

Next to it is the tall structure with a tall painting.

The painting is of  a fairly young Kobo Daishi and was the result of an old monk named Mori Jundo who sat by the roadside and begged for donations from passers-by around 1949-1952. 

Like all the other little "temples" on the pilgrimage there is a large, eclectic collection of small statuettes of a range of Buddhas and Kami.

The honzon is an Eleven-faced Kannon, although I believe the one now is a newer relacement of the original stone one which is also on display.

There are also quite a few statues of Fudo Myoo, in fact, as I have mentioned before, I have never encoubtered so many Fudo statues as here in Sasaguri...

The previous post was on the last two temples of day one, both very close to ths one.

Tanga Daigongen

 

After descending from Shichiga Pass I start to head down a narrow valley towards Yuasa and cannot fail to notice Tanga Daigongen.

Built on a steep slope, the site is a collection of colourful orange metal torii with numerous shrines behind them.

According to the legend, Emperor Shirakawa fell ill at this spot while on a pilgrimage to Kumano and a white-haried old man appeared and helped him, so Shirakawa enshrined him here as Tanga Gongen.

There are several Inari shrines here, and several shrines to Fudo Myo.

The main kami though appears to be Tanga Daigongen which I believe is a manifestation of Kono Zao Gongen, the head deity of Shugendo. Photo 10 is a statue of Kono Zao Gongen.

Photo 9 is of En no Gyoja, the legendary mystic who is said to be the founder of Shugendo and who here is named Shinben Daibosatsu.

Also enshrined here are a Koyasu Daishi, a Tatee Jizo, and an Eleven-Headed Kannon as well as several more kami.

I love these kind of places as they mix so many strands and layers of religious history across all the artificial barriers of sects and schools...

Very "folk" as opposed to so many of the bigger establishments that are overtly political and somewhat sterile.

This was day 7 of my walk on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, said to be the oldest "circuit" pilgrimage in Japan, and still following the Kumano Kodo Kiiji Route at this point.

The previous post was on the route up to the pass. Once I reached Yuasa I jumped ahead by train to Kimiidera Temple.