Fukusaiji Temple

 

Shaped like a turtle with a great aluminum head protruding out and topped with a giant statue of Kannon, Fukusaiji Temple in Nagasaki is sure to be the strangest-looking zen temple you will ever see.

In its current form, it was built in 1979, however, it was originally founded as the second of the Chinese temples in 1628, just 5 years after Kofukuji.

The modern, Chinese-style gate is topped with a curious geometric sculpture that hints at what can be found within, a Foucault Pendulum, a scientific device used to show the rotation of the earth, the second biggest in the world when it was built.

Fukusaiji grew to become the biggest of the four Chinese temples and in 1910 the main hall was registered as a National Treasure.

Fukusaiji was completely destroyed in the atomic bombing.

The temple bell rings at 11.02am every day, the time of the bomb exploding.

As well as being a mausoleum, the basement also has displays of surviving remnants and photos from the original temple as well as uniforms and stuff from WWII Japanese soldiers.

Not too far from Nagasaki Station, Fukusaiji certainly has enough unusual sights to be worth a detour.

The circle in the ceiling and the metal fence around the circle in the floor are part of a Foucault Pendulum that starts inside the top of the 18-meter Kannon statue and ends in a metal sphere swinging over the remains of more than 16,000 Japanese war dead in the mausoleum in the temple basement.

The previous post was on the nearby  Shofukuji Temple, another of the Chinese Zen temples of Nagasaki, but which survived the war intact.

Kishu Toshogu Shrine

 

Kishu Toshogu is a very colorful shrine in Wakayama City. Kishu was the feudal domain of the Edo Period that was roughly what is now northern Wakayama Prefecture and part of Mie Prefecture.

Toshogu is the name given to shrines enshrining the deified first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The main and first Toshogu is in Nikko.

It is located in the Wakanoura area in the south of Wakayama City. Wakanoura means Bay of Poetry and is a revered location that has had many poems written about it since ancient times.

By the end of the Edo Period there were about 500 branches of Toshogu established all over Japan, but that number has been seriously reduced since then.

From the parking lot and shrine offices, a stone stairway called Samuraizaka leads up to the shrine. It is composed of 108 steps, an important number in Buddhism.

The Romon, main gate, is very colorful and ornate, like many of the other structures, and also registered as an Important Cultural Property.

The original Toshigu in Nikko is famous for being extremely colorful and ornate, and many branch Toshogu's have tried to emulate that. Here at Kishu artworks were executed by Hidari Jingoro and Kano Tan'yu, among others.

The main gate contains a pair of fine Zuijin, Shinto Shrine Guardians.

Kishu Toshogu was built in 1619 by Tokugawa Yorinobu, the tenth son of Ieyasu, who became the first daimyo of Kishu Domain. He was also enshrined here after his death.

As far as I can tell this makes Kishu Toshogu the very first branch of Nikko Toshogu.

Ieyasu was deified as Toshogu Gongen, said to be a manifestation of a Buddha, using a variation of Sanno Shinto, a sect based on the Tendai complex at Mount Hiei.

Before the official separation of the kamis and Buddhas in 1868 there was a pagoda and a Yakushi-do here.

The previous post in this series exploring Wakayama was the Museum of Modern Art.

Shofukuji Temple Nagasaki

 

Shofukuji is the 4th of the Chinese temples built in Nagasaki during the Edo Period. Like  nearby Fukusaiji Temple, it is not located in Teramachi like Sofukuji and Kofukuji, but north of the river.

The Sanmon, the main gate, was built in 1703. Along with the other main structures of Shofukuji, it is an Important Cultural Property and is currently undergoing major renovation.

Shofukuji was founded in 1677 by a disciple of Ingen, the founder of the  Obaku sect of Zen which had been founded in 1661. The other three Chinese temples became Obaku after 1661, but Shofukuji is the only one founded as Obaku.

The Tenmoden was built in 1705. The Japanese carpenters had started to slightly adapt and alter the Chinese style architecture.

When I visited in 2014 the place was deserted, somewhat run-down, and with no entry fee, so this contributed to an atmosphere. It is now undergoing major renovations so I suspect it will have an entry fee in the future.

The Tenmoden Hall contains a large statue of Hotei, one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan, and originally a Chinese monk named Budai. In the West, he is often referred to as the Laughing Buddha.

The main hall, Daiyuhoden, was built in 1697. Unlike the other Chinese temples in Nagasaki, much of the woodwork here was left unpainted.

The Bell Tower was built in 1716. Unusually the bell was not "donated" to the war effort in the 1940's like most temple bells.

Another difference between Shofukuji and the other Chinese temples in Nagasaki is that Shofukuji always had Japanese priests, whereas the other three started with Chinese priests.

The Kawarabei is an old wall constructed using old rooftiles and other decorations like Onigawara. Another thing to look out for is a monument to a young woman named Oharu who was expelled from Japan when all foreigners, excluding the Dutch, were expelled. Any Japanese families of Europeans expelled were also exiled. Also in 2020 a statue of Ryoma Sakamoto was erected to memorialize a meeting that took place here between the Tosa and Kishu clans.

The previous post in this series documenting my explorations of Nagasaki on Day 60 of my Kyushu Pilgrimage was on the statuary and architectural details of Kofukuiji Temple.

Around Kawado on the Gonokawa River

 

I begin the second leg of my walk up the Gonokawa River to its source from my home. I live on the other bank to the one I am walking up. My plan is to later walk down the river from the source to the sea on this other bank. Looking across the river you can see a section of the river that has no road on that bank, hence my reason for starting this leg here, rather than Kawahira where I finished the first leg.

Behind me is my village.

Across from my village is where te Yato River enters the Gonokawa. This is a decent-sized tributary with a dam and reservoir and it starts up in the mountains around the ski resorts of Mizuho. The bridge carries the now closed rail line, the Sanko sen that used to follow the river all the way up to Miyoshi in Hiroshima.

On the walk up to the bridge that crosses over to Kawado I pass by the big sacred tree where Tanijyugo has their giant Onusa, purification wand, that pacifies the turbulent water god of the river.

The bridge that crosses the river to Kawado is painted in a very distinctive colour scheme that , I believe, represents the river, the sjy, and cherry blossoms. Not sure when the bridge was built. There was a major flood of Kawado back in the 1960's so it certainly postdates that. I have seen an old photos of a low wooden bridge in the 1920's, but for most of history the on,y wa to cross was by ferry.

Now protected, somewhat, by a high embankment, Kawado used to be the main town of the area. The large building is a traditional soy sauce brewery.

On top of the cliff at the first bend in the river is the Kawado suijin Onusa. This is the biggest one in the area and the main focus of the local Suijin Matsuri.

Looking upstream, that house is the only habitation in the several kilometers between Kawado and Tazu.

Kawabune, a generic term for riverboats. Traditionally made of wood, aluminum, and fibreglass are now more common, as are small outboard motors. I am guessing they are primarily used for fishing for Ayu, sweetfish, similar to trout. Larger, flat-bottomed boats were used for freight.

Looking back downstream to the Kawado Bridge. This next section of the road has no buildings and very little traffic, the main road being on the opposite bank, as it is for most of the river. The rail line is overgrown.

The previous post was on Kawahira.

Kofukuji Temple Details

 

Cracked Ice is the name given to this style of wooden lattice which was very populr in China in the 17th century. Irregular, and as seen here in a window at Kofukuji Temple in Nagasaki, it was made without using nails. This one originally had glass behind it but after the atomic bomb blast was replaced with wood.

Ther is not particularly a lot of statuary on display at Kofukuji, but I was happy to find a couple of Fudo Myo statues.

Known as Budon Mingwang in Chinese, I strongly suspect these were put here after the temple became Japanese.

While there are some Japanese features of the architecture of Kofukuji, most is Chinese, Ming in style. Many of the buildings, including 19th century rebuildings, were manufactured in China and sent to Nagasaki.

As I mentioned, there is not a lot of statuary at Kofukuji, and little in the way of formal gardens, but still I found it quite photogenic,... which is why I have so many photos, hence this second post.

The Gyoban, or "Fish Drum" is a male version. The ball in its mouth symbolizes human desire that is expelled when the drum is hit. Now a second, female, gyoban hangs below this one.

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Standing in front of the statue of Mazu are a pair of beings called Senrigan and Junpuji, said to have been tamed by Mazu. Junpuji means "ears that hear through the winds".

For more details and photos on Kofukuji, please see the previous post Kofukuji Temple.