Akashiji Temple 43 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

An almost ten metre tall Fudo Myoo statue towers over Akashiji Temple and is clearly visible from a distance as you approach the temple.

It is called a Yakuyoke Namiikiri Fudo, a wawe-cutting Fudo against misfortune.

Yakuyoke is the Chinese system of "bad luck years", for men when they are 25, 42, and 61, and for women, 19, 33, 37, and also 61.

Afet entering through the main gate there are a further two gates to reach the main hall, one for women and one for men, with each having a corresponding number of steps to yakuyoke years.

The honzon is a seated Senju Kannon, only open to the public twice a year during festivals.

There is also a Bokefuji Kannon for protection against senility.

There are numerous other statues throughout the grounds including more Fudo's, the Seven Lucky Gods, and Kobo Daishi.

The temple previously had a shukubo, temple lodgings, though now it has been turned into a public ryokan, though offers many of the facilities of a shukubo for those who wish.

Behind the Main hall a path leading up to the Okunoin is lined with the 33 Kannon statues from the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Akashiji is also on the Kyushu Kannon Pilgrimage as well as the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

I visited coming to the end of my first day walking along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. The previous post was on Daihoji temple 44 nearby.

Daihoji Temple 44 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Daihoji, the 44th temple on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage is a Koyasan Shingon sect temple located just below Narufuchi Dam.

It was previously known as Narufuchi Kannon-do, and was relocated to its current location in 1993 because of the construction of the dam.

The honzon of the temple is an 11-faced Kannon, seen in photo 5.

As with all the temples on this short pilgrimage, the smallish temples still have a lot of statuary on display. Above is a statue of En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo.

There were several Fudo Myo's, including this one that looks quite youthful.

The last two photos are of a Bato Kannon, I think, on horseback, and an unusual Bishamonten looking like Santa...

The previous post was on Narufuchi Dam.

Narufuchi Dam Sasaguri

 

The Narufuchi Dam is on the Narufuchi River that flows into the Tatara River running through Sasagura and down to Fukuoka City.

It was completed in 2001 and is 308 meters wide and 67 meters high. The reservoir behind it can hold up to 4.4 million cubic meters of water.

Like the vast majority of dams in Japan the ostensible reason for its construction was "flood control" but it also provides some drinking water.

It generates no electricity, and like 70 percent of all dams in Japan it cannot release extra water until it's full.

There is a park below the dam and hiking trails along the reservoir banks. I visited after coming down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on Saigokuji, a small, unmanned temple just upstream from the reservoir.

Saigokuji Temple Sasaguri

 

Sasaguri is a small town in a narrow valley in the mountains NE of the major urban area of Hakata/Fukuoka City in northern Kyushu.

It is home to a delightful miniature version of the Shikoku Ohenro pilgrimage that while only 50 kilometers in length, takes a good 4 or sometimes 5 days to walk as there is so much up and downing in the mountains.

With 88 temples crammed together in such a small area, it is perhaps surprising that you pass by numerous other temples that are not part of the pilgrimage.

Saigokuji is one such temple, and like many on the pilgrimage, is small and uninhabited, but also with quite a few small structures containing many statues.

I can find no information about it except that it is a Tendai temple. There were a couple of Fudo statues, but Kannon seems to be the primary focus.

It is located just upstream of the reservoir behind Narufuchi Dam and just a few minutes walk from the Goto Falls Bato Kannon Temple. We visited at the end of a long first day walking the pilgrimage that had included seeing  literally thousands of statues.....

Goto Falls Bato Kannon Temple 70 Sasaguri pilgrimage

 

Temple 70 on the Sasaguri pilgrimage is located in the valley above Narafuchi Dam.

Just above the temple is Goto Falls which was not particularly impressive, at least when I visited.

However, being a waterfall there was an abundance of Fudo Myo statues.

The honzon is a Bato Kannon, a "Horse-head Kannon" and there were also multip Bato Kannon statues.

As with its equivalent temple on Shikoku, this is the only temple on the pilgrimage with a Bato Kannon as a honzon.

According to the legend, a long time ago (probably the Edo era) horses and cattle in the area fell ill and it was discovered that pollution from the Kuroda Clan gunpowder factory had poisoned the river, so  a Bato Kannon statue was erected.

My reason for suggesting Edo period is that the Kuroda were the clan controlling Fukuoka at that time.

Along the path to the waterfall are lots of other statues, not just Bato Kannon and Fudo Myo.

The previous post in this series on day 1 of my walk along the delightful Sasaguri pilgrimage was on the Fudo Myo statues at the previous temple, Jimyoin.

Fudo Myo at Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 

Regular readers will easily recognize this as a statue of Fudo Myo, far and away the most numerous deity statue featured in my blog.

All these shots come from the Jimyoin Betsuin Temple in the mountains near Sasaguri, Fukuoka.

Along the 88 temple miniature Henro pilgrimage in the area, but not one of the temples of the pilgrimage.

Fudo is the honzon, or main deity of this temple.

I have never come across so many Fudo statues in such a concentrated area anywhere else in Japan as along this pilgrimage.

We visited on our way down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the pilgrimage

The previous post was on the Jimyoin Temple itself and some of its many other statues.