Hill of Eternal Hope Revisited

Miraishin no Oka, the Hill of Eternal Hope is a sculptural work located on a hill above Kosanji, the somewhat bizarre temple located on Ikuchijima along the Shimanami kaido that connects Hishu with Shikoku.

I have posted about it before, the link is here Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future

All the statues and in fact the surface of the hill top, is constructed out of Carrera marble from Italy where the Japanese sculptor, Kazuo Kuetani lives and works.

I revisited it while on my second day walking along the Shimanami Kaido, a route most often cycled by visitors.

Kosanji Revisited

Kosanji

On the second day of my walk along the Shimanami Kaido I stopped in at Kosanji Temple to take some more photos. This first one is a reproduction of the Yomeimon gate at Toshugu Shrine in Nikko.

Like all the buildings at Kosanji that are based on famous historical structures, it is somewhat more colorful and embellished with more details than the original.

The remains of the temple founders mother lie beneath the five storied pagoda which is based on the pagoda at Muro-ji in Nara.

The fifteen meter tall statues of Kannon is based on a statue less than 2 meters tall in Horyu-ji, Nara.

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A Walk from Honshu to Shikoku Day 2 (morning)

I woke before the sun and headed off around the north coast of Ikuchijima and enjoyed the sunrise lighting up the surrounding islands. I got into the town of Setoda by 8 and my plan was to stop in at the Kosanji complex that opened at 9 so I sat on a bench and watched the town come to life around me. I had been to Kosanji before, but this was a different time of year, a different time of day, I had a new camera, and I was a few years older, so plenty of chances for new photos. earlier posts on Kosanji can be found here

On top of the hill at the sculpture garden known as The Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future, the brilliant white marble was dazzling in the bright sunlight.

After Setoda the coast road heads south to Sunset Beach, a really nice beach with an Onsen nearby that I had planned to stay at but as it was only lunchtime I decided to push on and try and get over to Omishima and then to Hakatajima.

 

Ikuchijima is home to the "Island Wide Art Museum" which is a series 17 sculptures placed in public places around the island. Near Sunset Beach there were three that I found, including this one, Calm Time-Red Form / Inclination, by Keiji Uematsu.

 

Ikuchijima is connected to Omishima by the Tatara Bridge,the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it was built.

Kosan-Ji: the statues...

This pair of Phoenix's stand in the grounds of the Kongo Kan (New Treasure House) across the road from Kosan-Ji Temple.

The Museum houses a large collection of Buddhist art, mostly from Japan but some from Korea.
Entrance to the museum is included in the entrance fee to Kosan-Ji. Within the temple there is also a large collection of Tea Ceremony objects, and a collection of Modern Art.

Most of the statuary within the temple displays the same flamboyance and vividness as the temple buildings.

Kosan-Ji. The architecture,,,

Kosan-Ji temple on Ikuchijima is probably the most unique and unusual temple in Japan.

The temple complex is composed of many "copies" of the most famous examples of temple architecture from throughout Japan.

They are built at a slightly reduced scale from the originals, but have been "improved" and embellished with intricate carvings and color schemes that bear no connection to the originals.

Gaudy is certainly a word that could be applied, and perhaps Kitsch, though there is no concept of kitsch in Japan.

Thye temple officially belongs to the True Pure Land sect, but actually has no congregation. It was built by Kanemoto Kozo for his dead mother, to ensure her passage to paradise.

A large chunk of his fortune has gone into the building of Kosan-Ji, but with an entrance fee of 1,500 yen times the millions of visitors the temple has received over the years, it is probably making a profit now.

Choseikaku Villa

Choseikaku Villa was built in 1927. This nearly 400 sq. m. villa displays many of the features of architecture of this period, with elements of western architecture mixed with traditional Japanese.

It was built by Kanemoto Kozo for his aging mother who lived nearby in Setoda Town on Ikuchijima near Ohnomichi in Hiroshima.

Kanemoto made his fortune from weapons. Interestingly, most Japanese websites about him will just mention that he worked in "steel tubing", but most non-Japanese websites point out that his product was guns.

After his mother died he "bought" a Buddhist priesthood and proceeded to build Kosan-Ji temple around his mother's villa.

A guided tour of the villa costs an extra 200yen on top of the regular entrance fee to Kosan-Ji.

Cave of 1000 Buddhas

The Cave of 1,000 Buddhas is another of the "attractions" at Kosan-Ji on Ikuchijima in Hiroshima Prefecture.

One descends into a labyrinth of underground caves and tunnels past a series of tableaux and depictions of buddhist hells.

Then one enters the realm of the buddhas.

The caves and tunnels are all man-made.

One emerges back into the light at the foot of a giant statue of Kannon.

The Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future

Miraishin no Oka is a 5,000 sq. m. sculpture park on the hilltop overlooking Kosan-Ji on Ikujima, a small island in the Inland Sea off Hiroshima.

The brainchild of Environmental sculptor Kazuto Kuetani, all the sculptures and the marble that coveres the hillside was shipped from the Carrera quarry in Italy, where he has worked for the past 18 years.

The only way to visit the hill is through Kosan-Ji, which charges 1,200 yen entrance, but what you get for that price is quite astounding.

On a sunny day the hilltop is blinding. There is also an Italian restaurant in the park.

The island can be reached easily from Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku or Ohnomichi Town in Hiroshima.