Sakurae Koinobori

 

Early May, 2013, and I start day 6 of my walk along the Kannon pilgrimage in the former province of Iwami, the Iwami Mandala Kannon. The last temple I visited was Senganji upriver in Kawamoto and the next two temples lie between it and my home so I decided to start out from my house and walk this section in reverse as it were.

The azaleas were starting to bloom and a few houses had koinobori carp streamers flying.

The colourful bridge that crosses the river between Tanijyugo, my village, and Kawado on the opposite bank, had recently had a new coat of paint.

Just upstream from the Kawado Bridge, two lines of koinobori are stretched across the river.

On the far bank is where the local suijin festival will take place on May 5th. A large Onusa, a purification wand, hangs over the river at this point to pacify the turbulent water deity.

The previous post in this series was Senganji Temple. Also please check out this post about the water deity Suijin.

Around Kawado on the Gonokawa River

 

I begin the second leg of my walk up the Gonokawa River to its source from my home. I live on the other bank to the one I am walking up. My plan is to later walk down the river from the source to the sea on this other bank. Looking across the river you can see a section of the river that has no road on that bank, hence my reason for starting this leg here, rather than Kawahira where I finished the first leg.

Behind me is my village.

Across from my village is where te Yato River enters the Gonokawa. This is a decent-sized tributary with a dam and reservoir and it starts up in the mountains around the ski resorts of Mizuho. The bridge carries the now closed rail line, the Sanko sen that used to follow the river all the way up to Miyoshi in Hiroshima.

On the walk up to the bridge that crosses over to Kawado I pass by the big sacred tree where Tanijyugo has their giant Onusa, purification wand, that pacifies the turbulent water god of the river.

The bridge that crosses the river to Kawado is painted in a very distinctive colour scheme that , I believe, represents the river, the sjy, and cherry blossoms. Not sure when the bridge was built. There was a major flood of Kawado back in the 1960's so it certainly postdates that. I have seen an old photos of a low wooden bridge in the 1920's, but for most of history the on,y wa to cross was by ferry.

Now protected, somewhat, by a high embankment, Kawado used to be the main town of the area. The large building is a traditional soy sauce brewery.

On top of the cliff at the first bend in the river is the Kawado suijin Onusa. This is the biggest one in the area and the main focus of the local Suijin Matsuri.

Looking upstream, that house is the only habitation in the several kilometers between Kawado and Tazu.

Kawabune, a generic term for riverboats. Traditionally made of wood, aluminum, and fibreglass are now more common, as are small outboard motors. I am guessing they are primarily used for fishing for Ayu, sweetfish, similar to trout. Larger, flat-bottomed boats were used for freight.

Looking back downstream to the Kawado Bridge. This next section of the road has no buildings and very little traffic, the main road being on the opposite bank, as it is for most of the river. The rail line is overgrown.

The previous post was on Kawahira.

Pacifying the River Gods

Last week while across the river heading to pick up some firewood I was surprised to see some villagers from the little hamlet in a procession with a large Onusa heading to the riverbank. The next day, the 5th of May, both my village and the small town on the other bank would be having the Suijin Matsuri and would be doing the same thing, but this was the first time I had seen Ushiroyama doing it.

We all live on the banks of the Gonokawa River, the longest river in West Japan,  and like all river here it is prone to flooding and causing damage as well as drowning people. Its for this reason that the priest over in Kawado told me that the Suijin matsuri is the most important ceremony of the year. The end of the ceremony involves placing a large Onusa, most commonly referred to in English as a purification wand, attached to a long length of bamboo and hung over the river at several points to pacify Suijin, the river god.

This is a photo of the largest Onusa, from the biggest of the Suijin festivals held in Kawado. I did not attend this year as I was away but I have posted on it before, here, here, and here.

The biggest Onusa on our side of the river is this one, on a large sacred tree at the point on the river that used to be the main, and dangerous, crossing before the bridge was built. I have posted on the Tanijyugo Suijin Matsuri here and here. The small red arrow in the photo points to where the next photo was taken

As part of the Tanijyugo Suijin Matsuri a second Onusa is placed on the riverbank further downstream where my hamlet reached the river above the spot where legend has it a Kappa lives

Kawado Suijin Matsuri

Not only was Thursday Childrens Day and the Kawado Childrens Matsuri, but also the annual Kawado Suijin Matsuri. Following the ceremony in the shrine the mikoshi procession heads down to the river. The men on the right are carrying a huge length of giant bamboo which has an Onusa (purification wand) attached to it. It will replace the previous years one and will project out over the river to purify the area Suijin is believed to like to spend time.

To the accompaniment of drum and flute the procession heads along the riverbank to the two traditional wooden river boats waiting to take them upstream.

The smaller boat will carry the young men and a bunch of bamboos with banners attached. Each banner has been offered by a household that has a new child or grandchild born since last years matsuri.

The main boat carries the heavy mikoshi, 2 musicians, 3 priests, a village representative, a local TV cameraman, and 2 boatmen.

Both boats head upstream a few hundred meters to where further ceremonies will be held.

More details and photos can be had in earlier posts by clicking on the suijin tag below.

Tanzan Shrine

Probably the first thing you notice at Tanzan Shrine is the rather unusual 13-story pagoda. Pagodas are of course Buddhist, and this was a temple and monastery complex until the government made it a "shinto" shrine in early Meiji.

The pagoda was built on top of the bones of Kamatari Nakatomi by his son Joe Fujiwara and the temple was primarily a private family mausoleum until later when it came under the wing of the Tendai sect and expanded.

Nearby is where Kamatari met with Prince Nakano Oe (later Emperor Tenji) and plotted the assasination of Soga no Iruka.

The Soga were the most powerful clan and most probably ruled Japan at that time, the Imperial family being mere figureheads (like they were for most of history). After their fall the Fujiwara ( the new family name of the Nakatomi) in essence ruled Japan for the next 1,000 years or more.

The history of the ruling elites of Japan, like many other places, reads like a gangster novel, assasinations, plots, revenge, inter-gang warfare, etc. and in truth the distinction between gangster and ruler is a very fine one indeed.

Leading away from the main building a line of torii lead to 3 shrines to Inari. There are in fact and incredibly large number of Inaris, though there are collectively lumped together as one.

There are numerous other sub-shrines within the grounds, a Shinmei Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu, a Sugiyama Shrine dedicated to Isotakeru, the son of Susano that came with him from Korea, the local Mountain God, an Okami Shrine to Suijin the water god, and a branch of Hie Shrine enshrining Oyamazumi, probably dating from the time the Tendai sect took over the temple.

When I went to Tanzan many years ago it was hard to reach, even though it is close to Asuka, though now they have built a new road directly from Asuka that I believe is open.

Tanzan is very popular during the Fall when the leaves are changing.

Mine-Ji

Mine-Ji is an ancient mountain temple looking down on Unnan Town in the Okuizumo district south of Lake Shinji.

I previously posted on the Nio and Fudo Myojin statues here.

Reputedly founded in 658 by the legendary En no Gyoja, considered to be the founder of Shugendo, the temple was reputedly visited by Kobo Daishi and has been a Shingon Temple since then.

There are a lot of nice statuary in the extensive grounds, and several shrines, one to Inari, and one to Suijin. The shugendo tradition continues here and in April a Himatsuri (fire festival) is held.

With advance reservations the temple is one of the few in the region that offers shukubo (temple lodgings) and shojin ryori (vegetarian buddhist meals) There is a nice garden that can be enjoyed while drinking tea, and an interesting library and an altar for Tibetan Buddhism.

 

This felt very much like a "working" temple, active in many areas, whereas so many temples are simply funerary sites. There is no public transport to the temple but Kisuki Station is about 2k away, and the temple is only at about 180 meters elevation, so not so hard to walk to.

 

I dont usually find painted screens all that appealing, but this one in the temple really struck me.

Kawado Suijin Matsuri. part 2

The procession reaches the riverbank where two boats are waiting to ferry the mikoshi upstream.

One boat carries the young men with the bamboo and banners to replace last years. The giant Onusa is taken by road. By now the young men are inebriated. Drunkeness and matsuri go together and always have. The earliest records of japan from China in the 3rd century make mention of the Japanese love of alcohol.

The second boat carries the mikoshi, priests, musicians, kasaboko, and a couple of other village representatives.

Both boats head upstream a few hundred meters to the spot where suijin is venerated

A rocky outcropping at the base of a cliff. On the cliff above the Onusa is replaced. This one extends horizontally out from the cliff top so the Onusa is above the water below. You can just make it out in the top right of the photo. Here is also where the string of koinoburi are strung across the river in honor of Boys Day.

The young men pass up the bamboo and banners to the group above. Last years bamboo and banners are lowered down and disposed of in the river.

The priests read norito and make further offerings to Suijin.

The boats then return to the riverbank and the procession proceeds to a second spot on the Yato River. It used to go by boat,, but since the damming of the river it is too shallow and no longer navigable, so it goes by truck.

It seems to be a tradition that some of the young men end up in the river.

Kawado Suijin Matsuri. part 1

Most years on May 5th we cross over the river to the Suijin Matsuri in Kawado. This year we went instead to our local Suijin Matsuri in Tanijyugo.

Like all matsuri, the kawado Suijin Matsuri begins with ceremonies in the local shrine.

Earlier in the morning the kids had their own Enko Matsuri.

The priest told me that this is the most important ceremony of the year. Kawado is built in the fork of 2 rivers, the Yato and the Go, and has suffered from devastating floods, most recently 50 years ago, so pacifying the god of the river is important. 2 other priests from villages upriver also take part.

The procession with the mikoshi descends the steps from the shrine on its short journey to the riverbank.

Kawado is not much bigger than Tanijyugo, yet the matsuri here is still well supported by the people of the village, though I hear complaints that every year there are fewer and fewer people.

To the accompaniment of flute and drum the parade heads for the riverbank where the boats wait for the next stage.

In the procession there are a couple of Hanakasboko, a parasol-like object with colorful attachments. I have been unable to find out anything about them, though later this week I'm going to a matsuri that has especially large ones, so maybe I can discover their origin and purpose.

The last 100 meters along the rocky riverbank the mikoshi is put on a trailer and pulled.