Kokubunji Byakuraku Shrine

Kokubunji Byakuraku Shrine

Coming into Niima at the end of my third day walking along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage I stopped in at the local shrine.

The name was quite intriguing, as kokubunji were the series of "national" monasteries established in the Nara period, one being established in each of the provinces, and I have visited the site of the Iwami Kokubunji in Shimoko near Hamada.

However, it turns out that the provincial capital was in fact originally here in what is now Niima, before being moved to Hamada. I had never known that before. So it turns out theshrine was built in the grounds of the earlier kokubunji.

The main kami of the shrine is Ikazuchi, a thunder god most well known as the kami of the famous  kamigamo shrine in Kyoto/

The shrine has now been combined with a Hachiman Shrine.

Within the grounds are several smaller shrines including an Imamiya and an Inari.

The shrine is listed in the tenth century Engishiki, which means it received offerings from the cetral government.

Koinobori

Shikoku 88 Temple 15 Kokubunji

In the middle of the eighth Century Emperor Shomu established Kokubunji in every province. They were "state-protecting" monasteries and nunneries with the dual function of protecting the ruling elite and extending central control over the provinces.

The Kokubunji in Awa Province was established by Gyogi, though all that remains of the original is one of the huge foundation stones that supported the pagoda.

Like so many other temples in Shikoku this one was burnt to the ground by Chosokabe in the 16th Century. It was rebuilt in the middle of the 18th Century ans established as a Soto Zen temple.

The main deity is Yakushi Nyorai, the healing buddha, and legend has it the statues was carved by Gyogi.

There is a ruined Muromachi period garden behnd the temple but I was in severe pain and in a hurry to finish for the day and get to my hotel so I did not try to see it.