Manhole Bridges

Misasa in Tottori is a famous hot spring resort in the middle of the prefecture not too far from Kurayoshi. Several bridges over the river are symbols of the area, and opoen air pools under the bridges contain the highest level of radon for any hot springs in the world.

Mount Kasayama is a small, 100 meter high volcano just along the coast from Hagi in Yamaguchi. It is known for its "forest" of camelias. At the base is a small pond with a bridge leading over to an Itsukushima Shrine.

The Ichinosaka River runs through the middle of Yamaguchi City, but I have no idea which particular bridge this is or its significance.

Tabuse on the south coast of Yamaguchi has this bridge named Sakura Bashi, cherry bridge, for its famous promenade lined with cherry trees. In the middle of this modern bridge are a pair of tall steel sculptures, symbols of the sakura festival.

A little further down the coast is the town of Obatake where the Oshima Bridge connects to Suo Oshima, the third largest island in the Inland Sea.

Kyushu Pilgrimage Temple 16 Zenkakuji

A very small temple in an urban neighborhood just north of Nogata, temple 16 of the Kyushu pilgrimage seems to have only been founded less than 100 years ago.

The temple was founded by a nun who had a dream of the Ishizuchi Zao Gongen, the patron deity of shugendo and specifically the famous shugendo mountain on Shikoku, Mount Ishizuchi. It is the principal statue at the temple although there is no official link between the temple and Mt. Ishizuchi.

In front of the small main hall was a set of Rokujizo, the six forms of Jizo Bosatsu. There were also numerous Mizuko Jizo, statues memorializing dead babies.

It was drizzling with rain and I had a long way to go to my bed for the night so I headed off quickly without properly exploring, which is a shame as looking back up the hill I saw a large statue of Fudo Myo, unusually dressed in yellow robes.

Like all the temples on this pilgrimage, Zenkakuji belongs to the Shingon sect.

Sogo Building Hiroshima

Sogo is a department store in downtown Hiroshima. The building also houses the Hiroshima　Bus Centre.

The exterior of the building is clad in a lattice facade that is somewhat reminiscent of Islamic decoration.

The kind of thing I like to photograph :)

Hiyoshi Shrine, Nogata

In the north of Nogata in the village called Ueki, I came across this small Hiyoshi Shrine, one of about 4,000 branch shrines of Hiyoshi Taisha, the shrine complex associated with Enryakuji on Mount Hiei, and the origin of the Sanno Shinto sect.

The two kami enshrined in Hiyoshi shrines are Oyamakui and Okuninushi, corresponding to the east and west shrines at Hiyoshi Tasiaha.  Both are from in the Susano lineage, and Oyamakui being associated with the Korean immigrants who founded the first shrine at Hiyoshi.



One of the pairs of komainu were unusual, one standing upright, and the other, pictured here, doing a "handstand". These types can often be seen in a small ceramic form on shrine or temple roofs.



There was no signboard at the shrine so I have no idea about its history or secondary shrines in the grounds, but in one small shrine I did find a worn, wooden figure, though I dont know who it represents.

Inside another of the open shrines was a multicolored stripey rock and in front of it an inari, an Ebisu, and a Daruma... 

I visited on December 28th, and so the banners were probably in preparation for the New Year shrine visits

Chikurinji Temple 31 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage

Located next to the Makino Botanical Gardens in the south of Kochi City, the 5 storey pagoda of Chikurinji was built in 1980 to replace a smaller three storey pagoda that was destroyed in a typhoon in 1899.

Its the onlly temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage that is dedicated to Monju Bosatsu, and legend has it that Gyogi carved the statue.

According to the legend Emperor Shomu instructed Gyoki to find a mountain that resembled a sacred mountain in China named Godaisan in Japanese which is why the hill where Chikurinji is located is called Godaisan.

Reputedly Kukai spent some time here. It is now a Shingon temple. The Temples museum contains many National Treasures.

I found the Nio statues quite atmospheric. The top photo is of miniature wooden Jizo, and the 4th photo is at the Inari Shrine in the grounds.

Nogata Memorial Hall of Coal

On the other side of the railway tracks to Taga Shrine in Nogata, Fukuoka,  is a small museum on the local coal industry called the Nogata Memorial Hall of Coal.

My father was a coalminer, as was his father, and I grew up near a big coal mine, so I have a particular interest. As a young lad I was a trainspotter so also have a soft spot for old steam engines of which there were a couple on display complete with puffing and whistling soundtrack

Most of the interesting stuff is lying around outside, but there are some displays inside.

I wrote a lengthy article on the place and the history of coal in Japan which you can read here.

The coal industry was closed down by the government with great hardship to many communities in Kyushu. Not because the coal ran out..... it is still there,.... but because middle eastern oil and nuclear were much cheaper.....

Flowers of Shikoku part 3

Seeing lots of flowers in recent weeks prompts me to post these pics of flowers encountered along my walk on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

I didn't walk it in the spring, but the other 3 seasons, so these photos are from late autumn and winter.

Of course not everything encountered in Japan is real..... fake flowers being particularly popular at temples......

Though lots of flowers are grown under glass year round to supply the need....

In late winter when I finished the pilgrimage the camelias were out. The two previous posts of Shikoku flowers are here and here

Taga Shrine Nogata

Taga Shrine in Nogata is the main shrine of the area and when I visited just before the new year they were getting ready for the influx of visitors in the new year.

It is located on a small hill next to the railway tracks and near the local Coal Museum.

Two large, relatively modern, rather chunky, komainu guard the main path.

Housed inside the main gate are a fine pair of older, wooden komainu, the earlier form that komainu took before the exterior, stone ones that are  now most common.

It is not known for sure when the shrine was founded although it claims to go back to the "Age of the Gods". Certainly, in 717 it existed and was known as Hikaru Daimyojin after the mountain called Hikaruyama.

A couple of decades later it was referred to as Myoken Daimyojin. The more I learn, the greater it seems the Myoken cult was in ancient Japan.

The shrine was destroyed by war several times  and rebuilt and sometimes renamed. In the mid 17th century it was majorly rebuilt and called Myoken Shrine. In the late 17th century it was renamed Taga Shrine.

The main kami of the shrine are Izanagi and Izanami, and the crest is a pair of wagtails as it was by watching a pair of wagtails mating that brother and sister Izanagi and Izanami learnt how to procreate.

I visited on December 28th, day 4 of my first walk around Kyushu, and preparations were underway for the busiest time of the shrine year, New Year.

In one of the rooms in the shrine office many young girls, probably high school or university students, were taking a class for their part time job as shrine maidens for the new year period.

There were many sub shrines within the grounds.

Next stop was the nearby Coal Museum as this was a major coal-producing region of Japan until the mid 20th century