Kotogahama Beach

 

After leaving the confines of Tomogaura there is a long stretch of nice beach that stretches about one and a half kilometrers.

Kotogahama Beach is actually one of the nicest beaches in Shimane, but because it is fairly remote with little in the way of parking spaces and the town of Maji has few accommodation options, it is not crowded even in the short summer season of Japanese beaches.

This was the third leg of my deep exploration walk along the coast in mid-October. Actually, there are much nicer photographs in a post I did on sunset at Kotogahama Beach.

Kotogahama Beach is famous for its "singing sand", that squeaks when you walk on it. Not far away is the Nima Sand Museum which was built to celebrate this sand.

From here I hopped on a train and headed home. The last two photos are from when I started the next leg of my walk a couple of weeks later.

The previous post was the Tomogaura Tomokan, a historical building.

Inori no Sato Religious Roadside Attraction

 

Coming down from Unzen Hot Springs towards Obama on the coast of Tachibana Bay, the road is steep and without any settlements until just above the town.

Inori no Sato is sometimes described as a park, sometimes as a roadside rest area, but it looks like some kind of religious roadside attraction with a wide range of statues and altars, and yet is not a temple or shrine.

It is sometimes referred to as Unzen Daibutsu Inori no Sato because of the Buddha statue seen in photo 2, which was made by the same sculptor who created the Ushiku Great Buddha in Ibaraki.

That was a standing figure 120 meters tall, whereas the statue here is a seated figure only 3 meters high including the base.

There are several statues of Kannon, photos 3 & 7, and several Fudo Myo statues, photos 6 & 14.

Under a gazebo in the middle of the park is an impressive statue of a Dragon grasping a golden sphere, photo 5, with a smaller version, photo 8. This is a common symbol across East Asia. The Secven Lucky Gods, shichifukujin, also make an appearance, photo 4.

Various figures from the world of Yokai make an appearance, including a Kappa Pond, photo 9, and a giant red Tengu mask, photo 10.

No overview of Japanese popular religion would be complete without an Inari Shrine, photo 11, a small collection of monkey statues probably related to the Koshin cult, photo 13, and a statue of Shotoku Taishi, photo 12.

There seems to be an emphasis on praying for good luck, success, and other "this worldly benefits", known as genze riyaku in Japanese.

Not shown in these photos is a miniature Shikoku Pilgrimage with 88 small statues, and a pair of "sexual" statues based on Dosojin.

There is no entry fee, though offertory boxes stand in front of all of the statues, and no sect or religion is being pushed. The whole thing was funded by a local businessman, Mr Takujima.

It seems he is the chairman of a successful construction company and Inori no Sato is his attempt to contribute to the well-being and perhaps revitalization of the local area.

The previous post was on the Unzen Hells.

Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 

The Sasaguri Pilgrimage is a miniature version of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage known as Ohenro. All the temples on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage are within the limits of Sasaguri, a town in the mountains east of Hakata, Fukuoka, and the whole route covers about 50 kilometers, yet the walking pilgrim passes by numerous other temples that are not part of the pilgrimage.

Jimyoin Betsuin Temple is one such temple, located along a mountain road to the north of Narufuchi Dam. We visited on our way down the mountain late in the afternoon of the 1st day walking the pilgrimage after having already visited more than twenty temples.

A Betsuin is a direct branch temple, and this one seems to be a branch of a Jimyoin Temple near Nanzoin further east. It is unstaffed and there was little information though it does appear to be relatively new.

What is known is that the temple belongs to the Shingon sect and has a Daishi-do, Yakushi-do, and across the road a Kannon-do.

The main hall enshrines the honzon, a Fudo Myo, and I will cover it and the many other Fudo statues in the grounds in the next post.

Photo 3 shows, I believe, an Aizen Myo, and the statues in photo 4 very much look in what seems to be Korean-style.

Photo 5 is probably Bishamonten, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the one most likely found alone without the other three. I'm not sure of the dragon in photo 6, but it looks a lot like Kurikara, the dragon representing the sword of Fudo Myo, except it is usually shown wrapped around a sword.

Photo 7 is the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods. Have no idea what photo 8 is although its meaning seems somewhat obvious. Photo 9 is the Nio guardians from the rear looking across the road to the Yakushi-do.

The previous post in this series on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the small  Hagio Amida-do we visited a little higher up the mountain road.

Unzen Hells

 

Unzen is a hot spring resort high in the mountains of central Shimabara peninsula on the slopes of Mount Unzen. The area was made the first national park in Japan in 1934.

During the influx of foreigners in the mid 19th century, many based in nearby Nagasaki, Unzen became a popular summer retreat during the hot, humid, Japanese summers.

Within the town are numerous areas or barren, rocky areas with steam rising from vents and bubbling springs. The unmistakable smell of sulfur permeates the air.

A network of pipes transports the water to the various hotels that make up the town, and paths and bridges wander around the areas giving visitors a chance to experience them at close quarters.

These areas are often referred to as "jigoku" in Japan, a Buddhist term that is similar to the Christian hell, though there are numerous jigoku, not all of them are hot, and the time spent in them is not eternal.

During the violent suppression of Christianity in the area between 1627 and 1631, 35 Christians died while being tortured in the "hells".

One of the larger "hells" is adjacent to the main shrine of the town which was the subject of the previous post in this series.

Yasaka Shrine Ebie

 

Ebie is a neighborhood on the bank of the Yodo River in Osaka, west of Umeda. Route 2 crosses the river here and this was the route I was walking west.

The local shrine is a branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine. I visited in 2017 and so a large ema of a Rooster was on display.

There seem to be quite a few Yasaka shrines in this part of Osaka, though I have no idea why. There is no info on the shrine's history, though it is believed to be quite old.

There are several sub-shrines in the grounds including the Ebisu Shrine pictured above, and an Inari Shrine.

The previous post was on some of the interesting architecture I passed by walking through Umeda.

Onsen Shrine Unzen

 

The main shrine in the hot spring resort of Unzen high up in the mountains of the Shimabara Peninsula is now known simply as Onsen Shrine.

However, it was earlier known as Shinmengu Shrine, a reference to the four kami enshrined here known as Oshinmen, the "four faces".

The four kami enshrined here are Shirahiwake, Takehiwake, Toyohiwake, and Toyokujihine.

Thes are what the Kojiki refers to as the four faces of Tsukushi, the ancient name for Kyushu, and are said to be four brothers who rules over the island. Quite probably they were four distinct tribes as Takehiwake ruled over the Kumaso who fought against the Yamato and probably became the Hayato.

There are 17 branch Onsen/Shinme shrines scattered across the Shimabara Peninsula.

The shrine has recently become known as a "powaa spot" because of a pair of persimmon trees growing together that are said to symbolise romantic pairing.

The previous post was on Ryushoji Temple, the primary reason I was in the area.