Tashibu Motomiya Hachimansha

 

The Kunisaki Peninsula is one of my most favorite places, one reason being that some of the cultural revolution that took place at the end of the 19th Century was somewhat ignored here. I am referring to the artificial separation of shrines and temple.

Many of the shrines here still have Buddhist guardians, usually made of stone. Most shrines will also have a small graveyard attached to it.

I am on my first day walking along an ancient yamabushi pilgrimage route that, for me, is also the start of the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage. Much of this area was a base for a type of shugendo that mixed Tendai Buddhism with Hachiman shinto.

Another great attraction here for me is that many of the shrines still have old, wooden masks on display.

Kandai-ji Temple number 51 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage

Kandai0ji is located on the south side of the Kumagawa Valley in the mountains of Kumamoto. It is the 51st of the 108 temples on the Shingon Kyushu 108 temple pilgrimage.

It was not very grand but had really noce grounds and gardens. I could not find out much about it except its honzon is a secret Kannon.

Just as I was leaving the priest, in full robes, and his wife appeared  and invited me in for tea. I begged off claiming, truthfully, that I still had a decent walk to go before reaching my accomodations for the night.

I should have stayed and chatted, and regret it now. Thre was quite a lot of statuary in the grounds and that I will post on next.....

Kiyomizu Temple number 2 on the Kinki Fudo Myo-o Pilgrimage

Kiyomizu

Located a little to the west of Shitennoji Temple in an ancient part of Osaka with many interesting shrines and temples, it is the second of the 36 temples on the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage.

Its full name is Arisusan Seikoin Kiyomizudera and is now a Tenda sect temple. It is not known when it was founded, though I suspect it was a long time ago. Kiyomizu means "pure water" and there are a lot of temples with that name, not just the famous one in Kyoto.

Its honzon is a Kannon statue and the temple is one of the Osaka Kannon Pilgrimage temple, but I did not visit any of the buildings, instead went straight to what is called the only natural waterfall in Osaka City.

It may well have been "natural" at some point in the past, but has been much "improved" as the Japanese would say. It is made for purification by water rituals, and Fudo is almost always present at such sites.

 

Shirahige Shrine Asagiri

Shirahige Jinja

By lunchtime of the 40th day along the Kyushu Pilgrimage the mist had all disappeared and it was yet another glorious, late November day. After having stopped in at a handful of small, local shrines I reached a rather grander affair.

Shirahige Shrine was built at the base of a small mountain that once had a small castle and was the focal point for the area. It was a large shrine with multiple secondary shrines in the grounds and was obviously supported by the local lord of the castle.

There are a lot of Shirahige shrines around the country, branches of the Shirahige Shrine on lake Biwa near Kyoto. They enshrine a Korean king who settled in the Shiga area. This Shirahige shrine had no apparent connection with that one.

All the kami enshrined here relate to the founding myths of Jimmu, the mythical first emperorr. The primary kami is Ugayafukiaezu, the father of Jimmu, and also Hikohohodemi, hikoitsuse, and Inainomikpto are enshrined here.

There was also a dedicated area for archery, something only a few shrines have.

Kawai Springs Chiburijima

Chiburijima is the smallest of the four inhabited islands that make up the Oki Islands of the coast of Shimane. With only 600 residents there are not a lot of shrines or temples, and one of the most popular sacred spots is the springs just outside the village of Kawai.

Springs will often have a statue next to them, but here there are lots including a Fudo Myo I was glad to see. There were numerous other Buddhist figures, but the most were of Jizo including a large one and multiple smaller ones.

To say that Japanese culture has an obsession with ranking things would be an understatement. The spring here is classed as one of the Top !00 Exquisite and Well Conserved Waters of Shimane.

Also unusual for the Oki islands is the statue of a tanuki. They are not native to the islands and Chiburijima is the only island with some because of an accidental introduction about 60 years ago. They are said to now outnumber the humans by three to one.

Along the Kumagawa Valley

After visiting Shinguuzenji Temple I headed east up the valley towards  the next  pilgrimage temple.

The mist and fog was still thick, but as the morning progressed it began to thin.

 After the sun came up the fog retreated into the middle of the valley and just hung over the river.

I visited about half a dozen small shrines along the road that ran pretty much at the base of the mointains.

The views were what I would describe as typical Japan..... though that may be because I spend so much time walking around ther back country and tend to avoid the highly populated areas.

Kumano Hongu Heritage Center

Hongu is kind of the central site of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes and shrines. I arrived there late on the second day of my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, ostensibky the oldest pilgrimage in Japan, and which follows parts of the Kumano Kodo for the first week.

Hongu is part of the World Heritage Sites, and so a brand new center has been constructed that offers all kind of information for visitors.

It was made out of local timber and for me was actually more interesting than all the historical and visitor information.

After here I headed to Hoingu Taishi for a quick visit before finding my lodgings for the night.

Shinguuzenji the Southernmost Obaku Temple in Japan

On the fortieth day of my walk around Kyushu I woke at first light and brushed the thick coating of frost off my bag and quickly headed downhill to get my circulation going. There was a thick, freezing fog but I guessed it was still well before sunrise. I have no watch nor phone so am never sure of the clock-time.

After reaching the Kuma River Valley I turned  East and headed along the valley on the south side along the edge of the mountains where the traditional settlements were and are and usually where you find the shrines and temples. The next pilgrimage temple should be reachable before the end of the day.

I soon came to a Chinese-style gate and a large statue of Kannon so headed in to explore. There was no-one about as it was still too early.

This was Shinguuzenji Temple, founded in the early 15th century and later converted to the Obaku Zen sect. Obaku was the last of the Chinese zen sects to be imported and so still retained more Chinese style in architecture etc. Apparently, this is the southernmost Obaku Temple in Japan.

The Autumn colors muted by the mist were quite impressive.....

Okunoin Daishi-do on Shodoshima

After visiting Kannon-ji, temple 3 of the Shodoshima Pilgrimage located in Sakate Town I headed up the mountainside towards the Okunoin, inner sanctuary, passing Beat Takeshi's artwork on the way.

Getting close to the Okunoin I came to a fairly new temple structure with lines of Kannon statues. Apparently this was a Daishi-do, a hall dedicated to Kobo Daishi, the focus of this 88 temple pilgrimage.

I am guessing it must be associated with Kannonji. As well as the line of largish statues there were plenty of small ones too...

As at many sacred sites in Japan there were small collections of statues and figures of all kinds, some very "folksy".....

Hisatsu Line

After leaving Kosenji Temple I face a dilemma in choosing my route. The next temple is almost directly north of where I am, but that is across a mountain range in a completely different drainage. For three days I have been following the Sendai River, and from here the river heads north up to its source high in the same mountains. An obviously logical choice is to take that route.

It would mean a 35 kilometer hike along a moutain/forest road with no settlements or vending machines so I would need to stock up on food and liquids. It would also mean climbing to a tad less than 1,000 meters above sea level. Its the end of November and down here in the valley it froze last night so at 1,000 meters it will be very cold. Not undoable, and an attractive option. My worry is that on the steep slopes on the northern side there may well be lots of snow and ice. The dirt road closes in Winter and may already be closed.

I cautiously decide to backtrack and go over the mountains at a lower point. There is an expressway paralleled by a main road but I really don't want to deal with so much traffic..... especially as there is a good chance that the sidewalk will be non-existent in places. I decide to take the train!!!

The Hisatsu Line is a delightful train line that runs from Yoshimatsu over the mountains to Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto with some great views of the Kirishima Mountains. Its one of the tourist trains with floor to ceiling windows and wooden interiors. On the way up the train stops several times to reverse and negotiate a set of switchbacks. Several time the train stops for passengers to enjoy the views.

On the other side of the pass the line does a 360 degree loop before negotiating another set of swirchbacks. Here I get off and look for a place to sleep out before carrying on down the mountain on foot the next morning