On the afternoon of the second day of my walk around the island of Dogo I headed west from the museum and fairly quickly reached my hotel on the coast.
I checked in early and had an early dinner as I was booked on the evening cruise from the nearby fishing village of Fukuura.
A couple of hours before sunset the boats head out of the bay and up the coast.
There are plenty of dramatic cliffs, sea caves, and rock formations, but the highlight was to come as sunset approached......
From the narrow road along the riverside a sign pointed up a steep road to a cliff carved statue. It was only 400 meters so I took the detour and was glad I did as the carving was of Fudo Myo.
The carving, which probablty dates from the late Heian Period, is almost 4 meters high, and shows Fudo sitting in the full lotus position. Apparently it is unuaual because both soles of his feet are shown. There are still traces of vermillion pigment on his face.
He is flanked by two attendants, on the left Kongara Doji, and on the right Seitaka Doji.
The vast majority of cliff carvings in Japan can be found in Oita. Many are on the Kunisaki Peninsula, but the southern part of the prefecture, around Oita City and Usuki also has many.
I was about halfway on walk along the river towards Bungo Ono on day 12 of my walk around Kyushu.
Last night we went to Hamada to see the annual Orochi Spectacle. They close off the center crossroads in town and put on regular kagura and end with a unique version of Orochi.
Most versions of Orochi don't show the start of the dance which depicts the second to last daughter being sacrificed to Orochi, the 8-headed serpent.
Then the hero Susano arrives. Usually he is alone but a second hero accompanied him in this version. My guess would be his son Isotakeru who according to one of the versions of the myth came with him from the Korean peninsula.
The parents of Kushinada, the last daughter, are instructed by Susano to prepare vats of sake which are then drugged so as to disable the serpents. In return for saving Kushinada from her fate she is given to Susano as a bride.
Then the Orochi arrives. Originally the dance only had a single dancer dressed as the serpent. Here in Iwami it was developed to include 8 serpents in the dance, though many shrine performances will only have four due to space and kagura group size limitations. What is unique about this performance is fully sixteen serpents take part.
Ranking up there with a bullet train in front of Mount Fuji, a geisha in Gion, a tunnel of torii at Fushimi Inari, and sunset at the floating torii of Miyajima, the pagoda with Nachi Falls behind it is a full fledged Japan photo cliche.....
So here are a few of mine.....
Taken on the first day of my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, the first few days of which follow the Kumano Kodo....
Earlier that morning I had visited Fudarakusan Temple where monks would set of on suicide boat journeys,..... earlier today I was reading that monks used to jump off from the top of the falls as another way to quickly reach Kannons paradise...
On my way out of town to walk upriver to Bungo Ono I passed through one of Oita's covered arcades.
This one had a huge model of what I believe is a Portuguese sailing ship. commemorating the city's historical connection with Portuguese trade as well as Christianity.
Arcades are a pleasant way to walk across a city without having to deal with traffic too much
Though during the daytime they can be crowded with pedestrians and bicycles
Early morning on my first day walking the Shodoshima Pilgrimage and I came down out of the bamboo forest into the upper part of the little, but famous, fishing village of Tanoura.
Tanoura-an is the small buddhist temple for the village, but it is also the shrine. They are quite clear that they didn't separate the two when ordred to by the government in the late 19th Century.
Obviously there was once a huge tree here :). The main deity of the temple is Amida.
In its own little case was a Jizo statue that attracts people from further away than the village as it has a reputation for removing warts.
Day 12 was going to be a long day, but I kept my room in Oita and would come back by train so I could walk the day without a heavy pack.
My route was inland following the Ono River as far as Bungo Ono. Along the way there would be numerous shrines, some cliff carvings, 2 pilgrimage temples, and some great views.
The second of the pilgrimage temples has a claim to be the oldest temple in all of Japan......
The weather was great in late February, though a little chilly in the shadows....
Coming to the end of my first day walking along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and after spending a few hours walking down the banks of the Yoshii River in Okayama, I arrived at the village of Osafune.
Yukie Shrine is at the north end of what was a swordmakers village. The kami enshrined is known as the patron of swordsmiths, though I could not find a name. Sometimes Inari has that role.
It is known as a shrine to pray for relief from eyes diseases as the legend says that Takauji Ashikaga prayed here and his eye disease was healed.
Just south of the shrine are workshops where swords are still made and a sword museum, and that is where I headed to end the day.
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