Matsue Castle

 

Matsue Castle is considered to be one of the 12 original castles remaining in Japan.

There are many more castles throughout Japan, but what distinguishes the 12 is that their central tower, tenshu in Japanese, commonly called keep in English, is not a modern reconstruction. The keep at Matsue was registered as a National Treasure in 2015.

Matsue castle was built in just 5 years by Horio Yoshiharu and completed in 1611.

He was given control of the domain following the Battle of Sekigahara and at that time the domain castle was Gassan Toda, located south of what is now Yasugi.

Though Gassan Toda was a great castle, he decided that the area around it was not suitable for the building of a castle town and so selected the area that became Matsue.

The castle and domain passed to the Matsudaira clan, and Matsudaira Fumio (1751-1818) a renowned tea master was responsible for making Matsue a centre of the Tea Ceremony.

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The castle has a large and extensive moat system that connects to several waterways and boat trips around the castle are a popular activity.

The inside of the keep is explored using steep stairways and there are many exhibits of samurai armor and castle-related displays. From the top, there are great views over Matsue and Lake Shinji.

In 1873 the Japanese government began dismantling the vast majority of the castles in the country, and in Matsue all the former buildings were removed but the keep was spared due to local pressure. The keep has six floors, though appears from the outside to have five. Its black walls led to it being given the nickname Chidori, "plover" Castle.

The extensive castle grounds are now a park known for cherry blossom viewing. There are also several shrines and other buildings within the grounds that I will cover in later posts.

The samurai district on the north side of the moat has some of Matsue's top attractions, including Lafcadio Hearns former home, a restored samurai residence, and the Meimei-an Teahouse and garden.

The previous post in this series on Matsue was on the weeping cherry tree of nearby Senjuin Temple.

Turtle Rock at Tozenji Temple

 

 

I suspect that we all have specific images or scenes that encapsulate our experience of Japan. While an icon is usually a visual image  that has a very broad or near-universal meaning, Mount Fuji as icon of Japan for instance, for many of us something more personal and related to our own environment and experience is more iconic.

For me, one of the defining images of Japan is of red-bibbed statues set in a green, mossy background, as I encountered behind Tozenji Temple. The first two photos were taken from Hasami Shrine next door, suggesting that the sacred spring behind the temple was also shared by the shrine.

A path running behind the temple that follows a small stream leads up to the source of the water, with statues set along the rocks.

The water is coming out of some rounded boulders that had been given the name Kameishi, or Turtle Rock.

A signboard at the temple now proclaims this to be a "power spot", a term that seems recently to be applied to just about anywhere. When I first came to Japan I noticed that the moniker "powaa supoto" was applied to mostly sites connected to imperial myth, but now is very widespread and applied to many sacred springs and sacred trees etc

The previous post was on Tozenji Temle itself.

Ganshoji Temple Mima

 

Ganshoji is one of seven large Buddhist temples located in a teramachi in rural Tokushima. Most teramachi, literally "temple town" were created in the Edo period as part of the castle towns that sprang up across the country, but this teramachi is located in a rural area that has been a centre for Buddhism since ancient times with the ruins of the very first temple in the region nearby.

Ganshoji also has a long history, said to have been founded in the Nara period. It is a Shingon temple with Amida Nyorai as the honzon.

The Niomon was built in the Meiji era but because of its unique design is registered as an Important Cultural Property

Behind the main hall is a small garden that was "discovered" by the famous 20th-century Japanese garden designer Mirei Shigemori who noted its similarity to the garden at Tenryuji. It is possibly the oldest garden in Shikoku.

Unfortunately, when I visited there was no one around and I couldn't see the garden.

The previous post in this series on day 3 of my walk around Shikoku on the Shikoku Fudo Myo pilgrimage was the neighboring Anrakuji Temple and its magnificent vermillion gate.

Tozenji Temple Number 66 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

When I visited Tozenji, back in 2014, it had no main hall, it having been demolished to make way for a new one.

"Business" was being conducted out of what I believe was the reception area of the priest's residence

The temple is said to have been founded in 711 by none other than Gyoki. I was surprised to learn that Gyoki had been to Kyushu, because even though there is very little actually known about him, what is known is that he was primarily based in the Kinki area, though many temples on Shikoku claim him as their founder.

There were several shrines altars and statues scattered around, and several other buildings but they seemed to be off-limits.

A small bridge stands suspended, connected  to the space where the main hall used to be. There is now a brand new building there.

The honzon of the temple is a Yakushi Nyorai. Tozenji is, like all the 108 temples on this pilgrimage, a Shingon temple.

A small stream runs behind where the main building stood and it leads u a narrow, mossy gully filled with red-bibbed statues. The priest gives me permission to explore and that is what is the subject of the next post.

The previous post was on Hasami Shrine next door.

Niomon & Yakushido at Onsenji Temple

 

Onsenji Temple in Kinosaki Onsen, Hyogo, is the guardian temple of the town and was founded in the eighth century by the priest said to have discovered the hot spring.

The main buildings of the temple are located halfway up the mountainside and are reachable by steps from the base of the mountain, or, more commonly nowadays, by the ropeway.

At the bottom of the steps there are several; structures of the temple including an impressive Niomon, and a Yakushi-do.

Constructed in the late 18th Century, the Niomon contains a fine pair of Nio guardians.

The Yakushi-do was constructed a little later in the early 19th Century.

There is another small "hall" with what appears to be statues of Enma and other "Judges of Hell"

In the "foyer" of the Yakushi-do are many ema paintings and a delightful painted ceiling

The Motoyu, or origin of the hot spring is located just outside the temple grounds.

Onsenji is a Shingon temple.

The previous post in this series on Toyooka was on the main buildings of Onsenji.

Hasami Shrine

 

Hasami Shrine is located in its namesake, Hasami, so is probably considered the ujigami of the area.

It is located adjacent to Tozenji Temple where I was heading to, which suggests that in the past the shrine and temple were the same institution.

The shrine records say that it was established about 650 years ago, but the temple claims a much older history.

The kami enshrined here are listed as Amaterasu and Susano. A little unusual as they would often be found as a triad with Tsukiyomi, but not here.

The previous post was on Sumiyoshi Shrine in Haiki.