Uchihara Oji to Shishigasa Pass Kumano Kodo Kiiji Route

Saturday, March 26th, 2016, and I continue north on day 7 of my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage which at this point still follows the Kumano Kodo, the World Heritage registered pilgrimage routes.

I am following the Kiiji Route of the Kumano Kodo which ran from the imperial capital in Kyoto down to the Kumano Shrines. For the previous two days since I left Tanabe where the Nakahechi Route heads into the mountains The Kiiji route has followed the coast.

Now it heads inland and over the mountains on what was historically considered a difficult part of the route.

Heading north the narrow road passes several monuments to sites of former Oji, the 99 shrines that lay upon the route.

Some are still existant as shrines, and of course there are numerous roadside statues.

The route is pretty well marked and I believe the signage has gotten even more prolific since I walked it 8 years ago.

There are numerous artworks along the way depicting pilgrims, usual high-class, on the route in historical times.

The site of Kutsukake Oji, the 50th Oji, marks a kind of halfway point on the pilgrimage route.

As the road steepens the trail heads off along a section of cobblestone road. Apparently this is the longest section of the old paved route still in existence.

Eventually the trail levels out at Shishigasstoge, the pass at about 350 meters above sea level.

During the Edo Period there was a teahouse for travellers at the pass, and also other teahouses along the way. All have disappeared, mostly the the Meiji Period when trains and modern  roads led to the old paths becoming hardly used.

The plum blossoms were particularly appealing as they were in full bloom at this altitude.

Downhill from here is quite steep but mostly on a narrow asphalt or concrete road.

While not as dramatic as the far more popular Kumano Kodo routes to the south, this section is easily accessible for a shorter walk along the Kumano Kodo without necessitating much planning and expense.

The previous post was on Uchihara Oji Shrine at the start of the climb out of Gobo.

Mudo-in Temple 68 Kyushu pilgrimage

Mudo-in, temple number 68 on the Kyushu 108 pilgrimage is a small rural temple to the southeast of Mount Kurokami near Takeo in Saga.

It claims some connection with the Shugendo center that was active on that mountain.

The temple was established in 1487.

The honzon is a standing Fudo. In the grounds are another small Fudo, and a Kurokami Eye Fudo, said to cure eye diseases.

It is also temple 26 on the Kyushu Fudo pilgrimage.

Unusually, for this pilgrimage, it was an inhabited temple with someone home.

The old priest showed me a photo of his brother, also a Buddhist priest, taken meeting the pope. According to my recent research, he is no longer the head priest at this temple but has been replaced by a much younger one. I strongly suspect he may be a son of the family.

Though it was late March, a single plum tree was sporting new blossoms. Another thing I noticed were the extremely worn small komainu.

The previous post in this series on day 71 of my Kyushu pilgrimage was the Ono Tenmangu Shrine just across the valley.

Fukura Tenmangu

Fukura is a district of Usuki, and as I walked into town I stopped in at Fukura Tenmangu. Like quite a few shrines it was actually a temple until the Meiji Period when many temples were converted to shrines by the government.

Being a Tenmangu it features a statue of an ox as well as the usual komainu etc. There are several sub shrines within the grounds.

It seems to be a very popular shrine offering a full range of ceremonies and amulets etc as well as a shrine to a red cat. Red Cat was the nickname of a successful local merchant and petitioners at the shrine pray for business success.

I was there at the end of February and the plum blossoms were in bloom. Tebmangu shrines often have plum trees because of poems Sugawara Michizane wrote about them, in the time before plum blossoms were supplanted by cherry blossoms in the Japanese imagination....

Yuzukosho (yuzu pepper) is a signature product from Usuki & Hita

Plum blossom viewing

Woke up to a few centimeters of of snow this morning so took the opportunity to go for a short one hour walk......

Tomorrow I will post more of the walk, but for today here are the plum blossoms.

I prefer the plum blossoms to the cherry blossoms..... as do the Chinese apparently.

The harbinger of spring...............

Umeboshi,... an acquired taste

Umeboshi, pickled plums, can most often be found in bentos, where a single plum is placed in the center of the rice to look like the Japanese flag.

After picking when ripe in June, the plums are mixed with salt and shiso leaves (to give the color) and packed with a weight on top.

Later the pickled plums are sun dried, like these of my neighbors in the photo above.

Actually Ume are not true plums, being closer to apricots.

Not fond of umeboshi myself, though umeboshi-flavored candy is OK.

Spring has sprung!

Though the official start of spring, Setsubun, was a few weeks ago, for me the sign that spring is here is the arrival of the plum blossoms.

Like the Chinese, I find the plum blossom more enchanting and exciting than the cherry blossom.

We have quite a few plum trees in the area...and at least they grow fruit, which is more than can be said for the cherry blossom.