Minakata Kumagusu Museum

 

While doing my initial research, many years ago, on any interesting spots to visit in Tanabe to visit I came across the Minakata Kumagusu Museum and was instantly attracted to the architecture.

I have not been able to find out who designed it, but it reminded me somewhat of Ando Tadao's wooden temple in Shikoku, Komyoji.

I had never heard of Minakata Kumagusu, but since visiting I have come across him in various books and he has become more and more intriguing. He is often portrayed as a naturalist, and specifically an expert on slime mould, but he is also credited with being  Japan's first environmentalist. Certainly he was a maverick and an eccentric.

He was born in Wakayama in 1867. He studied at a school in Tokyo and passed the entrance exam to university but instead chose to travel to the U.S. and study independently in 1886. He enrolled briefly at an Agricultural College, but, as would occur repeatedly throughout his life, incidents caused by drunkenness meant he didn't stay long. He studied by himself and traveled to Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, and other countries to collect samples. After 6 years he moved to London and spent a lot of time at the British Museum. He continued to study and became well known among many scientists and other public figures and published extensively in the journal Nature. In 1900 he left London and returned to Japan.

He lived a few years in the mountains of the Kii Peninsula, continuing his research and collecting. In 1904 he moved to Tanabe and in 1906 married and started a family. He continued to publish in both English and Japanese and became a well established authority and at one point gave a lecture to Emperor Hirohito. He never did graduate from university and continued to get into trouble through his drinking. He passed away in 1941 and is buried in nearby Kozanji which is where another famous Tanabe resident, the creator of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei, is also buried. I will cover Kozanji later.

When his daughter died she left a massive collection of notes and research materials to the town and they built this place as an archive of his materials, a museum about him, and as an ongoing research facility.

Next door is the house he lived in and it is also open to the public. When I post on that I will delve into the most intriguing aspect of Kuagusu, his fight against the shrine closure movement of the early 20th century which was his legacy which is why he is considered an environmentalist.

I visited at the start of the 5th day walking the Kumano Kodo as part of the Saigoku Pilgrimage. The previous post was on Tokei Shrine, part of the Kumano Kodo World Heritage sites and linked with the family of Benkei.

Kajimura Residence Tsuyama

 

The former Kajimura Residence in the Joto Historic District along the Izumo Kaido in Tsuyama is now known as Joto Mukashi Machiya which basically means "Joto Old Townhouse".

It is open to the public for free as a kind of local history museum.

The original structure dates back to the Edo Period but some of the other buildings were built in subsequent times up to the 20th century.

The storehouses have been turned into museums with typical glass cases displaying historic artifacts.

The garden is quite large and includes two teahouses, one of which can be looked into.

The wealthy merchant family who lived here operated a kind of bank. According to the class system, samurai were at the top, and merchants were at the bottom, below farmers and artisans.

However, as the Edo Period progressed many samurai became poorer and poorer and merchants became wealthy, and in return for financially supporting the samurai were given marks of status reserved technically only for the samurai.

The garden is also recognized nationally, and combined with the teahouse makes this traditional property well worth a visit.

The previous post in this series on Tsuyama while walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was  the Joto Preservation District.

Kinoshita-an, Seikenji, Ichinotani-an, & Gokurakuji. Four Temples on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage.

 

Late afternoon on Christmas Day, 2015, day 2 of my walk around Shodoshima Island on the Shodoshima 88 temple pilgrimage, and I take the ropeway down from the top of Kankakei Gorge.

I share the ropeway down with a French family, and they offer me a ride in the taxi that is waiting for them at the bottom, ….. I'm tempted but decline gracefully. From here it should all be downhill.

Once I get back to where I started up to Sekimondo I find a footpath that goes straight down rather than having to walk along the road which winds back and forth, saving me about a kilometer. The path comes out at the big dam above Kusukabe and then I enter the outskirts of the small town.

I have a bit of trouble finding the next temple but a little old lady points me in the right direction. Number 19, Kinoshita-an, is a small hermitage but I am beginning to appreciate the unpretentiousness of these small establishments. They are very welcoming and completely lacking in ostentation. Compared to other hermitages, this one is actually quite large. It enshrines a statue of Yakushi Nyorai the "Medicine Buddha"

Another kilometer and I'm in the middle of an urban area and I find number 21, Seikenji, a somewhat larger temple with some curious sculptures in the park next door.

The honzon is a Fudo Myoo,  and the temple legend claims it to have been founded by Gyoki in the 8th century. It was burned down in 1899 and reconstruction was given support by the Crown Prince who visited Shodoshima in 1907.

The stone sculptures were by Hiroshima artist Aki Sora, but I can find no other information about them.

The afternoon becomes golden as the sun rushes towards the horizon. I cut back up a little valley and find the next temple, number 17 Ichinotani-an, snuggled against the hillside. It's another small hermitage.

The honzon is another Yakushi Nyorai that survived a landslide here in 1976. It was nice to see another Fudo statue.

According to the map the next temple is down the valley then around and up the next little valley over, about one and a half kilometers, but signs at Ichinotani-an point to a footpath that goes through the woods. Once again the route for walking pilgrims is much shorter than for those driving. I passed this line of statues, and according to the current google streetview they are no longer there. 

 

The last temple of a very long day was Gokurakuji, number 16, and was quite impressive being reached across a bridge that spanned a wide pond in front of the temple.

It is said the temple was located at the foot of  Mount Kamikake but was moved to this location, said to be a site where Kukai spent time, in the early Edo Period. The honzon is an Amida Nyorai, The current main hall dates back to early Meiji.

It had a decent garden. By now the valley was in shadow and it was cooling down quickly so I headed straight down to the main road to catch a bus back to my minshuku as the sun dipped below the horizon across the sea. A long day filled with great sights and nice weather.

The first part of this days walk is covered here, and the previous post was Kankakei Gorge Ropeway.

Joto Historical District Tsuyama

 

Dentoteki Kenzobutsu-gun is a category of historic preservation in Japan that translates as "groups of traditional buildings" and there are currently more than 120 of these groups scattered throughout Japan but for brevity's sake I refer to them as either Preservation Districts or Historic Streetscapes.

In recent years I have become more intrigued by them and have sought out some of the more remote examples on my walks around western Japan.

Tsuyama in the mountains of central Okayama Prefecture was a former castle town that is home to two of these Preservation Districts, the more well-known one called Joto.

It's about 1.2 kilometers of the old Izumo Kaido that connected Izumo with the old capital area of Kyoto and Osaka and hence on to Edo.

It was a popular road used by pilgrims visiting Izumo Taisha and had many inns for travellers as well as a wide variety of commercial properties, some of which remain today.

Mostly machiya, traditional townhouses, with many having namako-kabe, literally "sea cucumber walls". the diagonal dark tiles with raised white grouted joints that reminded people of sea cucumbers, as well as  koshiirimado and mushikomado latticed windows.

Theer are, of course, the obligatory sake breweries, as well as shops selling traditional confectionary, including the local specialty kirigasane, and local varieties of tofu, and shops selling tradional craft products using local indigo dye. There are also cafes, restaurants, and teahouses.

Several;properties  are open as museums including the Archives of Western Learning dedicated to local men who introduced various aspects of western knowledge into the area. The biggest open house I will cover in the next post.

Overall it's not a bad street to wander, with lots of traditional architecture without becoming too over touristy.

This was the end of my 4th day walking along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and Tsuyama had struck me as being well worth another visit when I have the time to explore more. The previous post was the Chiyo Inari Shrine below Tsuyama Castle.

Urauchi River & Mariudo Falls

 

The Urauchi River is the longest river in Okinawa Prefecture, and it is found on Iriomote Island, the largest of the Yaeyama Islands.

As Okinawa consists of many small islands, its perhaps not surprising that the longest river is only just over 18km in length.

the river source is in the middle of the mostly uninhabited island at 311 meters elevation and reaches the sea at the NW of the island.

Boat trips go upriver about 10 kilometers and from where they stop a trail runs another kilometer or so to Mariudo Falls.

A three stage falls of just 16 meters, Mariudo Falls is not the tallest on Iriomote, but possibly the most visited. It is possible to hike further upstream to another waterfall, and several smaller falls are passed on the way to Mariudo.

Many sources use the word "jungle" to describe Iriomote, but while it is certainly different from mainland Japan, I would use "sub-tropical" forest.

What Iriomote does have is plenty of mangroves, trees that grow in the salty water of intertidal zones in tropical and sub-tropical environments.

The guide on the boat was very excited to point out this bird which, I believe, was a Crested Sea Eagle.

Its also possible to cruise the river in guided kayak tours.

The previous post on Okinawa was on Mount Nosokodake on neighboring Ishigaki Island.