Nio of Kunisaki

If you have been following my posts on the Kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu then you will probably have realized by now that stone is predominant in the sacred art. Nio, the temple guardians, are almost always wooden, but it should not be surprising that in Kunisaki they are carved in stone.

Something else unusual is that whereas in the rest of Japan the Nio were removed from shrines during Shinbutsu Bunri, the seperation of Buddhas and Kamis, and were usually replaced with zuijin, but in Kunisaki they still remain at shrines as well as temples. These first two are at Kibe Shrine on the north coast.

These next couple are at Iwato-Ji, to my mind the most atmospheric of the many mountain temples dotted over the slopes of the conical peninsular. Notice the torii. The distinction between Buddhism and "Shinto" is blurred here, as it was everywhere in the pre-modern days.

These last two Nio were at the entrance to Monjusen-Ji, a little higher up in the mountains.

Matsue City

The design on the main manhole design in Matsue City is a view of Shiomi Nawate Street which runs along the moat to the north of Matsue Castle.

This was one of the areas around the castle where samurai lived, and it is now one of the most popular tourist sites in the city.

There are some shops and a restaurant or two....

And an old samurai house, complete with mannequins, that is open to the public...

Lafcadio Hearns former residence is also here and open to the public, as well as a small museum on him.

Meteor Plaza

Meteor Plaza is a complex located in Shichirui, a small coastal village now part of Mihonoseki which is now part of Matsue.

The complex includes a ferry terminal (for the Oki Islands), an auditorium, a seawater indoor swimming pool, and a museum.

The museum house the Mihonoseki Meteor which hit a village nearby in 1992. The cone of the building represents the meteors trajectory to earth, and the weird spheroid shape is modelled on the shape of the meteor itself.

The complex was designed by Shimane architect Shin Takamatsu and was opened in 1995

Ryozenji Temple 1 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage

Located in Naruto, not far from Tokushima City, Ryozenji is now classified as temple 1 on the pilgrimage route because it is located closest to the port where pilgrims from Kyoto/Osaka would arrive on Shikoku.

The name translates as Vulture Peak Temple, and according to the legend it was founded by the famous priest Gyogi in the 8th Century and visited by Kukai in the 9th Century.

Like most of the pilgrimage temples it belongs to the Shingon Sect. The main deity worshipped here is Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha.

The temple buildings date from 1964, and like many temples in eastern Shikoku is was destroyed by the warlord Chosokabe Motochika in the 16th Century and was burned down again in the late 19th Century.

I think most pilgrims start from here, and also quite a few return at the end of their pilgrimage to "close the circle". Also it is close enough to Tokushima that many people do a sample of the pilgrimage by walking the first half a dozen.

The temple has all the products and supplies you would need to do the pilgrimage.

The Niomon gate and the pagoda are particularly delightful. Like many of the temples there are dozens and dozens of statues of many Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other deities.....

Vacation 2011 Day 6 Over the Atlas

It rained most of the night in Marrakesh and when we drove south out of town we passed through some flooding. It was grey and cloudy all the way up into the Atlas Mountains and over the pass.

Coming down the other side the weather cleared up a little

But down in the lower country towards Ouarzazate there were sandstorms...

Much to my delight, some of the country was very reminiscent of northern Arizona.

It was a long day in a car and by the time we got to Nkob the light was fading and we settled in to our gite for the night.

Creatures met along the way

Here are some of the creatures I encountered on my walk last week down the SE coast of Shikoku.

There arent a lot of goats in Japan, but you do occasionally see them staked out eating the weeds. I hope to get some goats in the future.

This little bird could not have been dead long as it had not been taken by any carrion eater or invaded by ants....

This frog however must have been dead for some time as it was completely mummified...

Kites, tombi in Japanese, are common everywhere....

Tombo, dragonflies, are also quite common... this one was quite a small species...

Maybe because of the impending cooler weather, butterflies seem to be a lot more active right now...

It happens every day, but.....

...living in a narrow valley it is not often I get to see the sunrise...

But walking down the east coast of Shikoku last weekend I was able to see it. On friday morning I was a few kilometers south of the village of Sasabe in Tokushima by 6am....

The biggest of the group oif islands just offshore is called Oshima, like dozens of other small islands.....

Saturday morning at 6 I was just south of None in Kochi.

The art & offerings of Tanegaike Benzaiten

Part of my interest in visiting shrines is to see the various forms of art and offerings that are on display. At the Tanegaike Benzaiten Shrine near the Tottori sand dunes snakes/serpents are the theme due to their association with Benzaiten.

Benzaiten is sometimes found in shrines, sometimes in temples, and like much of japanese religion historically she crosses the boundaries between both, so its not unusual to see a buddhist statue within a shrine, or vice versa.

Like the nearby sand art displays, these representations of the dragon of the legend are made out of sand.

Because snakes like eggs, fresh eggs are left as offerings in front of the shrines. I have also seen this at Omiwa, where the legend is of Okuninushi appearing in the form of a snake.

While plastic flowers are not uncommon, real ones are still used.....