Mountain Shrines Autumn Foliage

 

Route 34 runs roughly East-West along the lower slopes of the southern side of the conically-shaped Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita, Kyushu.

At the end of November, 2012, I was walking along on the 5th, and final, day of my walk exploring the peninsula and was on my way towards the road that heads directly north to the central high point of the area.

Along the way I stopped in at any shrines, temples, or roadside  altars, and as this is an area with a particularly rich religious landscape, there were many of them.

Curiously the first group were all called Yama Shrine, which simply means Mountain Shrine.

A lot of the shrines in the Kunisaki Peninsula are connected to a religious system called Rokugo Manzan which is very much a Buddhist-Shinto hybrid, and so many of the shrines here have Buddhist Nio guardian statues, but this group of shrines did not.

I was also unable to find out anything about any of the shrines.

However it was a glorious morning and once the early morning sun penetrated the narrow valley there was a lot of autumn colour, esecially the golden ginko....

The previous post was of the frosty flora I encountered in the shadows....

Isonomiya Hachiman Shrine Takehara

 

Founded originally at the end of the 12th Century as a branch of Usa Hachimangu to be a tutelary shrine for the Goto family, powerful retainers of the Kamakura Shigunate, it was moved to its current location in the mid 17th Century.

It appears to be the most popular shrine in the town. It has the remains of a nice pond and garden, and a memorial to Karasaki Hitachinosuke, a local man who suggested reverence towards imperial ruke in the mid Edo period.

In the Meiji period the government trawled through historical records to find any instances that could be interpreted as historical support for imperial rule, and memorials and shrines to such figures, including of course emperors were constructed. History was very much rewritten after 1868.

As a Hachiman Shrine the main deity is Ojin along with, usually, his mother Jingu, and then either his wife or his father.

There are numerous other kami enshrined here including a large collection housed in a "terrace" of small shrines. The main hall is made of concrete.

The previous post on this series was the Fujii Shuzo Sake Brewery.

Iwami Mandala Kannon Kanzeonji Temple

 

Kanzeonji Temple is located on top of a rocky outcropping right in the middle of the historic town of Omori and offers great rooftop views over the World Heritage site.

The miners have carved niches into the rock face for several altars holding statues. The hinzon of the temple is a Kannon

It is one of the "extra" temples on the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage and I visited on this occasion on day four of my walk along that pilgrimage route. Kannon pilgrimages usually consist of 33 main temples and maybe three "extra" temples, but this pilgrimage has at least a dozen "extra" temples over and above the main 33, which is probably why it is called Mandala.

It is worth the short climb up, not only for the views of the town, but for the rather fine pair of Nio guardians.

The previous post in this series was Iwami Hachimangu.

Makino Botanical Garden Kochi

 

Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden is located on top of a mountain, Godaisan, to the south of central Kochi City on Shikoku.

It is named after Tomitaro Makino ( 1862-1957 ), a local man who went on to become kniwn as the "Father of Japanese Botany".

It is not the easiest of places to visit, but for pilgrims who are walking the Shikoku pilgrimage, Ohenro, the route passes through part of the gardens on the way to Chikurinji Temple, the 31st pilgrimage temple which is adjacent. In fact, part of the garden used to be temple property.

The garden covers 6 hectares and contains more than 3,000 species of plants from local to exotic.

As well as a large conservatory there is a Makino Memorial Hall with exhibits on Makino and his work and also a restaurant and cafe. Ther are great views over the surrounding coutryside also.

The previous post in this series on walking the Ohenro was the Museum of Art Kochi.

Many Fudo Myoo at Tsubakido Henjoin

 

Tsubakido Henjoin is the collective name for a couple of adjacent temples, Tsubaki Kannon, and Tsubaki Daishi located in the mountains of the remote Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita, Kyushu.

Also nearby is Shunkoji Temple which historically seems to have been connected to Henjoin but seems to be experiencing some kind of "falling out".

Henjoin is on several pilgrimages including the Kyushu 33 Kannon, and the Bungo 88 Henro. I visited when I passed by while walking the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, though it is not actually a member of that pilgrimage it is home to numerous Fudo Myoo statues.

The origin of the temples is said to be when Kobo Daishi visited here after returning from Chima. He is said to have made a journey to Usa Hachimangu and then come u onto the Kunisaki Peninsula to get a view of his "home" country of Shikoku.

A cave at the site is said to be where he practiced austerities, and it is home to several Fudo Statues.

There is also a sacred spring said to have started when the ground was struck by Kobo Daishi's staff.

The main hall of Tsubaki Daishi also has a Fudo enshrined alongside Kobo Daishi, and a Yakushi.

The temples are very popular and are known for a wide variety of "this worldly benefits", known as genze ryaku in Japanese, and like most such temples there is a profusion of different statues.

The Okunoin has a large number of shamoji, flat rice spoons, with prayers written upon them.

In the next post I will show some of the many other deity and Buddha statues here.

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was Shunkoji Temple.

Inada Shrine & Princess Kushinada

 

Inada Shrine in what is now Yokota, Okuizumo, enshrines Kushinadahime, in English referred to as Princess Kushinada, or simply Kushinada. Also enshrined here is Susano, who became her husband.

According to the story, the shrine is built upon the spot where Kushinada was born. Nearby is a small pond said to be where she was washed as a new-born, and a grove of bamboo said to have grown from the discarded bamboo blade that cut her umbilical cord.

According to the stories, of which there are multiple variations, she was the 8th daughter of an old couple, Asinazuchi, and Tenazuchi. Her seven sisters had all been sacrificed to a Yamata no Orochi, the 8-forked, 8-headed serpent, in all probability sacrificed to the 8 violent tributaries of the Hi River.

Susano turns up and offers to defeat the Orochi in return for Kushinada as his wife. The story is one of the best known of the Izumo cycle of myths from the classics, and the sword that became one of the three imperial regalia was found in the slain serpents tail. The story is also the best known of the Iwami kagura performances.  A series of videos of the Orochi kagura, and more detail of the story,  can be seen in my earlier posts, Orochi Spectacular, and Synchronized Serpents.

After marrying Kushinada, Susano settled first with her at what is now Suga Shrine and there composed what is considered to be the first Waka poem. Suga shrines are the main shrines for Susano and there are thousands of them around the country. Another shrine connected with Kushinada is Yaegaki Shrine near Matsue. In one version of the story this is where Susano hid her during his battle with Orochi.

In one version of the myth, Okuninushi is the son of Susano and Kushinada. In other versions, he is a later descendant. The most famous shrine in Izumo. Izumo Taisha, is now dedicated to Okuninushi, but for at least its first thousand years it enshrined Susano.

The previous post in this series on Okuizumo was Shinsoji Temple.

Monjuin Temple & Emon Saburo

 

Monjuin is a small temple to the south of Matsuyama City that is the 9th bangai, or bekkaku, temple on the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage known as Ohenro. bangai are the 20 "extra" temples on top of the 88 regular temples of the pilgrimage.

Monjuin is located between temples 47, Yasakiji, and 48, Saitinji, and was built on the site of the former home of a man called Emon Saburo, whose legend is connected with the foundation of the pilgrimage itself and also the practice of osettai, the giving of alms to pilgrims.

According to the story, Emon Saburo was a very wealthy merchant and one day a mendicant monk asked him for alms. He refused and also broke the begging bowl of the monk who was actually Kobo Daishi himself.

After each of his 8 sons fell ill and died, Emon realized it was caused by his actions against Kobo Daishi and so set off around Shikoku to try and catch up with him to ask for forgiveness. A burial mound near temple 46, Joruji, is said to be the grave of his 8 sons.

After completely traveling around Shikoku twenty times and failing to meet up with Kobo Daishi he decided to reverse his direction of travel and go in an anti-clockwise direction.

 

On the mountainside between temples 11 and 12 in Tokushima, Emon, exhausted and close to death, collapsed. Kobo Daishi appeared and granted him absolution. He asked to be reborn into a wealthy family so that he could restore a neglected temple.

Later a child was born clutching a stone inscribed with the words "Emon Saburo is reborn". Such a stone is on display at temple 51 Ishiteji, in Matsuyama.

The honzon at Monju-in is a "secret" Monju Bosatsu. I was quite impressed with the number of statues and reliefs on display in the grounds of such a small temple.

The previous post in the series was Yasakaji Temple