Murakami Pirate Castle

It was late afternoon as I crossed over the bridge onto Innoshima Island on the first day of my walk along the Shimanami Kaido. I stepped up my pace as there was somewhere I wanted to visit before it closed for the day.

The Murakami were a clan of samurai who for a long time, until Hideyoshi moved them, controlled the waters of the Inland Sea from a series of bases on the islands.

Called pirates, or a navy, depending on who wrote the history, Innoshima was one of their main bases and there were numerous fortifications on the island, though the current structures are far more grand and substantial than anything that existed back then.

There is a small museum and it is possible for visitors to put on some samurai armour for photo ops.

Yasuura Shrine

Yasuura Shrine seems like it was a fairly major shrine in the past. Founded in 938 on the waterfront, aound the end of the 12tch Century it was moved a little inland to its current location in a wide, wooded hill.

The three kami enshrined here are Ikutsuhikone no mikoto, Amatsuhikone no mikoto, & Kumanokusubi no mikoto, 3 of the 5 males born when Susano chewed up and spat out Amaterasu's jewels.

There is a line of 13 secondary shrines that were moved here in 1912 when the government closed down half the shrines in the country.

There was some evidence of recent ritual activity for the new year, but being somewhat removed from the center of Yukuhashi it lacked the lanterns and banners at other shrines I had visited that morning.

The Masks at Nobusatohachimangu Shrine

The Masks at Nobusatohachimangu Shrine

Towards the end of my second day walking the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage I was coming into the outskirts of Oda City and stopped in at the Hachimangu Shrine in Nobusato village.

One thing I am always on the lookout for at shrines are masks, and, like many village shrines in rural Japan, this one was not locked so I could go in and look around and found quite a few masks. The mask in the first photo was nice, but not unusual. The second was an unusual style that I had seen several times in the past few days and is specific to this area.

The next one was a standard Tengu mask done in Iwami kagura style, almost exactly like ones I myself have made, but the next one was back to the local style and is, I believe, a karasu tengu.

The final pair were in standar Iwami kagura style and were the old married couple, the mother and father of Kushinada Hime, the maiden rescued from the serpent Yamata Orochi by Susano.

Fudo Myo-O at Tateyama Reijo

After crossing the rivers on my way to the coast from Yukuhashi I spied this line of statues leading up the hillside.

The sign said it  was number 61 on the "new" 88 sites Kyushu Pilgrimage. The 88 temple Kyushu Pilgrimage I was walking was founded in 1985, so I guess this one must be much newer.

It is not a registered temple of any kind, rather a site used by Yamabushi for ascetic practises. There was one small building with a large altar with this Fudo enshrined.

Several other Fudo statues were around the grounds too... both this large stone Fudo and the small Jizo had fresh new year offerings.

Giant Temple Lanterns

Paper lanterns are ubiquitous in Japan with white or red being the most common colors. Small red lanterns hanging outside an establishment typically suggests that  alcohol is served inside.

Temples also feature lanterns, with very large, red ones being found at some temples. These examples were all found while I was walking the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage this year.

The first photo was taken in the main hall of Kokawadera Temple in Wakayama Prefecture. The second is at Sefukuji Temple in the mountain in the south of Osaka Prefecyure, and the third is at Ishiyamadera temple at the southern end of Lake Biwa in Shiga.

The fourth is also in Shiga, at Miidera Temple, and the final photo is at Imakumano Kannonji Temple in Kyoto.

Shikoku Pilgrimage Day 10..... a morning of shrines

Friday September 23rd, 2011, the tenth day of my walk along the Shikoku Pilgrimage and I was still in Tokushima.

By 8:30 I had finished visiting Yakuoji, temple number 23 of the pilgrimage and I spent the rest of the morning heading down route 55 towards Mugi.

Along the way I passed numerous shrines some small, some a little grander, and I stopped in to check them out.

I didn't bother taking notes so I don't know their names nor the kami enshrined therein. Almost all the pilgrims I encountered on my walk just walked past these shrines, concentrating on reaching the next pilgrimage temple, but I believe in the old days pilgrims would have done what I was doing, and stop in at every sacred site along the route.

Kasuga Shrine, Yukuhashi

On my way out of Yukuhashi, heading towards the coast, I stopped in at a small local shrine whose entrance beckoned me.

Shrines are great stopping places on walks.... a quiet space away from traffic, and often with something to see in terms of statuary, carvings etc.

This one is a Kasuga Shrine, a branch of the famous Kasuga Taisha up in Nara, and therefore enshrining the same gods.

It has obviously been rebuilt quite recently. One thing I am always on the lookout for at shrines are the komainu, as their designs are quite varied. This shrine had quite nice elephant carvings.

The Tea House at Hagi Castle

Hagi Castle

Within the grounds of the Hagi Castle ruins there are not many buildings. A small storehouse, a fairly modern shrine, but there is also a small traditional teahouse set among some gardens.

Of all the times I have been there it has only been open once, but there always seems to be someone working on the gardens.

I believe it is possible to have tea here but I can find no information as to when or how much.

It is a nice place to wander and take pics though....

Buy dokudami herbal tea from Japan

Shohachimangu Shrine

Shohachimangu is a very popular shrine located right in the middle of downtown Yukuhashi.

When I visited all the lanterns and banners were still up from the new year, the most popular time at any shrine.

Marked with 4 bamboos connected by shimenawa, this is a temporary sacred space wherein last years ofuda and other lucky charms would have been ritually burned. Mos people purchase new ofuda and amulets etc each new year.

It is not a great distance from here to the original Hachiman shrine at Usa, and before hachiman spread to central Japan it had many shrines across Kyushu. I was unable to find out which kami were enshrined in the various secondary shrines in the grounds.

Bovine Drainspotting

An unusual subject, one would think, for manhole designs in Japan is cows and bulls. This first one is from the highlands of the Chugoku Mountains in northern Okayama, Hiruzen-Kogen, which is apparently the main breeding area for Jersey cows. Who would have thought it?

Chibu, the smallest inhabted island in the Oki Islands group in the Japan Sea off the coast of Shimane, is famous for raising cattle, Unusual for Japan you can bump into them standing in the middle of the roads.

Bullfighting or rather Bull Sumo, is popular in several areas of Japan, including Uwajima on Shikoku.

Bull Sumo is also very popular on Dogo, the largest of the aforementioned Oki Islands. Two of the towns have fighting bulls on their manholes.