Kokura Illuminations

At the end of my sixth day walking the Kyushu Pilgrimage I reached Kanda and took a train back to Kokura where I had a good deal on a hotel room.

It was still early in the new year so the illuminations were still up along the river near the Riverwalk Complex.

And there's not much else left to be said.......

Fudo Myoo of Shikoku part 11

Continuing with more photos of Fudo Myo statues found along the Shikoku Pilgrimage. This first one is at Jofukuji, bangai temple 14, commonly known as Tsubaki-do, in Ehime near the border with Kagawa on the way to Unpenji.

This smaller one is also at Tsubaki-do

When I reached Unpenji there had been snow overnight.....

Set among a group of other statues, Zentsuji, temple 75, is a massive complex due to it being the birthplace of Kobo Daishi.

This final one is at temple 76, Konzoji, not far from Zentsuji.

Matsuo Shrine, Minamikokura

Just around the corner from the Sohachiman Shrine was the back entrance to a smaller shrine named Matsuo Shrine, a branch of the famous Matsuo (or Matsunoo) Taisha near Kyoto.

The two main kami are Oyamagui and his wife Nakatsushimahime,  believed to be the ancestral kami of the Hata clan who founded Matsuo Shrine as well as Fushimi Inari. The signboard here also lists Onamuchi, one of the names of Okuninushi.

It also lists a Taga Shrine as a Massha. Massha and Sessha are secondary shrines usually within a shrine grounds. Historically the two were a little different but the distinction is no longer valid, basically it means that the kami of the secondary shrine has some sort of relationship, often familial, with the main shrine kami.

The kami of the Taga Shrine is unclear.

Kikuya Residence

The Kikuyas were a rich merchant family who helped build and run the old castle town of Hagi. Their residence was built in 1602 and is one of the oldest and best preserved example of Edo Period merchant architecture in Japan.

The interiors of the buildings are filled with displays, including an office area. In many ways the Kikuya residence was built way above their station as merchants were the lowest of the 4 classes with only various "non-persons" below them, but as the Edo period went on they became richer and richer and the highest class, the samurai, became poorer and poorer.

The kitchens and domestic areas are also open and filled with artifacts.

Previously I posted on the gardens surrounding the residence, but next up is the neighboring park-like garden that contains a more modern mansion residence

Sohachiman Shrine

Located in Nakanuki, near Sone in Minamikokura, Sohachiman shrine is quite a popular shrine in the area and is known particularly for prayers for a long life and also for enmusubi, finding a partner.

As a Hachiman shrine the main kami enshrined here is listed as Homuda Wake, the name of Emperor Ojin, but unlike most other hachiman shrines it does not list his mother, or father, or wife. It does however enshrine the three Munakata goddesses, Takirihime (Tagorihime), Ichikishimahime, and Takitsuhime.

However the main focus for visitors to the shrine is a massive boulder, split in two, called Suzuiwa, which enshrines the goddess Iwanagahime, one of two daughters of Oyamatsumi offered to Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu and mythical ancestor of the imperial line.

Ninigi rejected here because she was not as pretty as her sister, and in response she vowed that from now on the lives of the emperors as well as all other humans would be as brief as the blossoming of the cherry blossoms. This is why she is prayed to for longevity. The fact that the rock is split into two parts, one male the other female, is the reason people come here to pray for enmusubi.

A Walk Around Dogo Day 1

By the end of the first day of my walk I had reached a small campsite in a beautiful little cove. I had been wanting to walk around Dogo, the largest of the Oki Islands, for a long time and last May I finally made it. Not a long walk, only 75 kilometers, and it took just three days.

The day started with some bullfighting, or rather bull sumo, a tradition of the Oki islands and still very popular on Dogo.

Then I headed east until I hit the coast, stopping in at shrines along the way looking for Kojin, the serpents made of straw....

On the way up the east coast I stopped in at Sasaki-ke, a traditional residence of a well to do family,

Then up the coast as far as the Jodogaura coast, one of the many areas of special geologic interest around the coastline. I had the campsite to myself.

Shodoshima.... more words, more photos

Last Christmas and new Year I spent 10 days on Shodoshima, primarily walking the 88 temple pilgrimage route. I really enjpyed the island and pilgrimage, and I have started to post about it here on this blog, but I have already posted lots of articles and photos over at Japanvisitor.com, so here are the links.
First a general article about the pilgrimage

http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/shodoshima-pilgrimage

then 4 articles on the amazing cave temples found there

http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-temples-shrines/shodoshima-temples
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-temples-shrines/shodoshima-temples-2
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-temples-shrines/shodoshima-temples-3
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-temples-shrines/shodoshima-temples-4


finally a series of diary blogs from the pilgrimage

http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/02/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-1.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/02/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-1-afternoon.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/03/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-2-morning.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/03/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-2-afternoon.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/04/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-3-mito.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/04/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-3-mito_6.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/04/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-4.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/04/walk-around-shodoshima-day-4-part-ii.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/04/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-5-tonosho.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/05/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-5-around.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/05/a-walk-around-shodoshima-to-great-kannon.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/06/a-walk-around-shodoshima-to-great.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/06/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-7-north.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/08/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-7-part-ii.html
http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2016/08/a-walk-around-shodoshima-day-8-final.html

Kyushu Pilgrimage Temple 91 Shinko-ji

Located almost right under an expressway that runs from Moji towards Kanda, there is not much to Shinkoji, temple 91 of the 108 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage, just a couple of nondescript almost ramshackle buildings.

In the 13th Century a wandering monk saw a purple cloud over the mountain and decided to build something here. Later the Ochi Clan made headquarters here during a military campaign and then later built the temple and used it as a family temple.

In 1862 it was burned down during some sort of military action by samurai from Choshu, but I have been unable to ascertain under exactly what circumstances.

Not a grand temple, but there was some nice eclectic statuary.....

Fudarakusan-ji Temple,,, dying to get to heaven

Fudarakusan is a Tendai temple located on the coast in Nachi at the southern end of Wakayama. According to legend is was founded by an Indian monk in the 4th century, hundreds of years before the official introduction of Buddhism into Japan.

It is one of two temples that are part of the Kumano Kodo World heritage Sites and is most famous for Fudaraku Tokai..... journeying to Paradise. Fudaraku is the Japanese version of Mount Potalaka, the Pure land of Kannon that lay off the southern tip of India.

Monks would be sealed within rudderless and oarless boats and set adrift with food and water for 30 days on their journey to reach paradise. They were not always sealed in as there are reports of monks jumping overboard and drowning after being towed out to sea and released. Another favorite tactic seems to have been pulling a plug in the hull so the boats quickly sank.

It seems obvious that the vast majority would have died, though there is a case of one monk who managed to drift and come ashore in what is now Okinawa to continue with his life. The tourist literature states that in later times the monks would be set adrift once they had passed away naturally.

Kyushu Pilgrimage Temple 92 Fudo-in

I can find very little information about Fudo-inm temple 92 of the 108 temples on the Kyushu pilgrimage, other than the honzon is Fudo Myo-O and the temple was founded in the 13th Century.

There were several stone Fudos in the grounds, and all the structures were concrete and fairly modern.

What was most obvious were the hundreds and hundreds of large pet bottles each containing a candle. Obviously part of some new year ceremony or celebration.