Fall Colors at Usa Hachimangu

Hachimangu shrines are the most common type of shrine found throughout Japan, and the Hachimangu in Usa, Oita Prefecture, is the original and head shrine and therefore receives many visitors.

Most visitors though seem to walk through the grounds and head straight to the main buildings on top of the hill and bypass the extensive park-like grounds....

I was starting a 5 day walk across the Kunisaki peninsular and as I had been here before I was not interested in visiting the main shrine again, in fact my purpose was to visit a couple of smaller shrines on the hill to the SE which were the original hachiman shrines.

But before I took a quick walk around the lotus pond hunting fall colors....

It was early in the morning and a little drizzly, so the light was very muted and diffuse

Sannose

Sannose is a small village and port on the east side of Shimokamagari Island. In the 15th and 16th century a castle stood on the hill behind the village and from there tolls were extracted from the traffic on the major sea "highway" through the Inland Sea.

In the Edo Period the port became a major rest stop for travelling dignitaries, daimyos and their entourages on their way to Edo, diplomatic missions from Korea, and the Dutch merchants from Nagasaki. The harbor and stone steps from that period still remain.

Some of these groups could be very large,... one Korean delegation travelled with more than 1,000 bodyguards, and they were all accommodated and feasted during their stay.

There is an art museum, the Rantokaku Art Museum, displaying artists with a connection to the Inland Sea region and works depicting the region, with artworks by Yokoyama Taikan, Heitaro Fukuda, and Manjiro Terauchi among others. There is also a bug museum and an Edo Period Tea House moved here from Takehara, but the main attraction is the Shotoen Garden and Museum which I will post about in the next post on my Aki Nada walk....

Onomichi Temple Walk Jiko-ji

The first temple on Onomichi's Temple Walk is the Jodo (Pure Land) sect temple Jiko-ji. Originally founded in the ninth century it was then of the Tendai sect. There is no missing the entrance gate hewn out of massive blocks of stone.

If you have the time you can stop and make a "Nigiri Botoke", a " squeezed Buddha". made by squeezing a small lump of clay in one hand and then adding a face. The priest will give you instruction and then mail you the finished figure after it has been fired.

When I was there in March the Plums were still in bloom.

The temple is home to a National Treasure. “Kenpon Chakushoku Fugen Enmyo Zo" is a painting on silk of the bodhisattva Fugen Enmyo and is the oldest representation of this bodhisattva in Japan. Like so many National Treasures it is not on public display

Kitahachimangu Inari Shrine

Located right next to Kitahachimangu in Oda City is a small Inari shrine.

Its a small shrine with only about a dozen vermillion torii lining the approach.

Inari are very popular shrines, with many larger shrines having Inari shrines within them. The identity of Inari is also very complex having many historical strands, though nowadays the official identity is as Ukanomitama, an offspring of Susanoo according to the Kojiki

Mamushi

The most poisonous snake in Japan is the Mamushi, also the most common. Gloydius Bomhoffii is a pit-viper and is found all over.

About ten people a year die from its bite, though several thousand get bitten. I see them around my house and in the garden all the time, and as anyone who knows me will know I quite like snakes and do not have the irrational fear of them that many seem afflicted with.

My neighbor catches them and puts them in jars of sake to make a drink called Mamushi Zake. Though many will refer to it as a "tonic", the main use of Mamushi zake is as a viagra equivalent.

Tenjin Shrine near Tatsue

After leaving temple 19, Tatsue-ji, the route heads inland and passes this small rural shrine.

Dominated by a huge tree, possibly a Camphor, the shrine also had an unusually small shimenawa.

Though it was called a Tenjin Shrine, enshrining Sugawara Michizane, there were none of the usual indications of a Tenjin Shrine,.... no statues of an Ox, no ema wishing for success in school.

In fact it reminded me of a shrine near my village that is  a Tenjin shrine with a huge, ancient, tree.

The shrine was always simply the tree itself, but faced with closure by the government about 100 years ago the villagers quickly enshrined Tenjin there, and being a "national" kami were spared their shrines destruction.

Could well be that something similar had happened here.

Sand Museum Revisited

While walking the Iwami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage I was able to revisit many places I had been before. There were of course some new things, like the new draincover at Nima.

The design shows a woman playing a Koto, a reference to the "singing" sands of nearby Kotogahama Beach.

Singing is a bit of a stretch!.... as you walk on the sand it squeaks a little. Of course, if you are familiar with Japanese pop music you may realize that there is little distinction between squeaking and singing.

Also in the manhole design are the glass pyramids of Nima Sand Museum, the local museum built to showcase the sand.

Designed by Nima-born architect Shin Takamatsu, the largest pyramid houses the biggest sand-timer in the world.

When I was there in mid December the lower part of the timer was almost full. It takes a full year for all the sand to fall through. At midnight on December 31st the timer is ceremoniously rotated 180 degrees to begin the cycle again.

Sarutahiko Mask

Winter is the time I finally get to finish some of the masks I have been working on. This one is Sarutahiko.

According to the National Myths he was an Earth kami who guided Ninigi and his party, including Uzume who Sarutahiko later married, on their descent to Japan.

Sarutahiko masks are very common at shrines as he is most commonly known as a phallic kami, related to Dosojin, the phallic stones found at village borders and crossroads. His mask is often paired with Uzume/Otafuku.

Sarutahiko masks and Tengu masks are often conflated, and in Iwami the same mask is often used to represent both. usually though a tengu mask will be wearing a "tokin", a small hat-like box worn on the head of yamabushi.

Kikugahama Beach, Hagi

Stretching from the promontory to the west at the base of which are the ruins of Hagi castle to the old port to the east, Hagi's Kikugahama is a delightful,  fine sandy beach.

It is named after the Kikuya family, wealthy merchants who were great supporters and benefactors of the ruling Mori Clan. It was the Kikuyas who were responsible for building much of the old town that lies behind the beach.

With great views of the sunset, its also very photogenic at sunrise, which is when these photos were taken.

Misumi Elementary School

Misumi, a small town on the Shimane coast between Hamada and Masuda has, like much of rural Japan, been depopulated over the last 60 years with a consequence being that many of the smaller elementary schools have been closed and merged into one central school.



For the design of their new school the town council chose to go with Shimane-born architect Shin Takamatsu, one of my favorite Japanese architects.



The school buildings have all the hallmarks of Shin Takamatsu, simple geometric solids like cyclinders, cubes, cones etc. the main building itself is circular.



Extensive use is also made of refelective pools of water. The school was closed when I visited but I hope to go back and see inide as the centre of the building is a circular pool.



The school opened in 1997 and sits on top of a hill with great views out over the Japan Sea.