Yodohime Shrine Shimenawa & Yamodo Festival

 

When I saw the shimenawa on the torii to Yodohime Shrine I knew it was unusual, but only when I did the research for this post did I realize its significance. The very small, local shrine lies at the border of Matsubara and Yamine, in the mountains north of Sasebo, Nagasaki. The shrine was established in the first years of the 11th century and enshrines Toyotamahime, the grandmother of the mythical first emperor Jimmu who features in the Hyuga Myth Cycle.

The Yamodo Matsuri takes place every new year, now set as the end of January, and culminates in the shimenawa being replaced with a new one, made by the parishioners out of rice straw from the previous harvest. Yamodo is derived from yama udo which means mountain man and refers to a kind of marebito, an idea of an outsider as a god from another world. In this case it refers to the Yamanokami that descends from the mountains in the Spring to become the Tanokami, god of the rice paddies, during the summer and then returns to the mountains after the harvest.

In the Yamodo festival 2 young men, one from each village, whose parents are still living and healthy, undergo various purifications and then act as the yama udo in various ways during the festival. The festival is now registered as an Intangible Cultural property of the prefecture.

There is a 23-minute video on the matsuri, in Japanese, on YouTube, if you are interested. The previous post was on Saifukuji Temple and its cave.

Goto Falls Bato Kannon Temple 70 Sasaguri pilgrimage

 

Temple 70 on the Sasaguri pilgrimage is located in the valley above Narafuchi Dam.

Just above the temple is Goto Falls which was not particularly impressive, at least when I visited.

However, being a waterfall there was an abundance of Fudo Myo statues.

The honzon is a Bato Kannon, a "Horse-head Kannon" and there were also multip Bato Kannon statues.

As with its equivalent temple on Shikoku, this is the only temple on the pilgrimage with a Bato Kannon as a honzon.

According to the legend, a long time ago (probably the Edo era) horses and cattle in the area fell ill and it was discovered that pollution from the Kuroda Clan gunpowder factory had poisoned the river, so  a Bato Kannon statue was erected.

My reason for suggesting Edo period is that the Kuroda were the clan controlling Fukuoka at that time.

Along the path to the waterfall are lots of other statues, not just Bato Kannon and Fudo Myo.

The previous post in this series on day 1 of my walk along the delightful Sasaguri pilgrimage was on the Fudo Myo statues at the previous temple, Jimyoin.

Tsurugake Kannon Saifukuji Temple 76 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Saifukuji Temple, number 76 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage, is located on a mountainside overlooking the Sasa River north of Sasebo, Nagasaki.

The road up to the temple was a long gentle slope, for which I was grateful. The biggest building was a very large, modern house, I'm guessing the priest's residence.

A small main hall had a statue of Kobo Daishi standing outside it.

There were rows of Mizuko Jizo lining the approach.

The most interesting thing was the okunoin of the temple, a cave in the cliff behind the main hall.

It is said that the cave had been used by yamabushi, mountain ascetics, since the Heian Period.

It is actually not really a cave anymore as the ceiling has collapsed, leaving a stone bridge, or arch.

There were many small altars within the okunoin, and, not surprisingly,  a predominance of Fudo statues.

The temple itself is actually not so old, being founded in the late Meiji Period, but its origins go back a bit further.

At the end of the 16th century was the Warring States Period was coming to a close, a battle took place here between two rival clans.

In the late 18th century the Hirado Lord laced 5 statues on the mountain, including a Kannon, as a prayer memorial to the samurai who had died. Over time the statues were forgotten and buried by landslides.

In 1894, a local man, a devout worshipper of Kannon, became mortally ill and had a vision showing where the statues were buried. His family dug in the spot and found the statues, including the Eleven-Faced Kannon which is the honzon of Saifukuji. The man was miraculously healed and the Kannon has become famous ever since.

The previous post was on the Sechibaru Coal Mine Museum at the foot of the mountain.

Kifune Shrine Amagasaki

 

The Kifune Shrine in Amagasaki is sandwiched between the Hanshin Railway Line and the Hanshin Expressway in the Nishihinmachi district. A branch of the famous Kibune Shrine north of Kyoto, it was originally located within Amagasaki Castle but was relocated here when the castle was renovated during the Edo period.

As a branch of Kibune, the main deity enshrined here is Takaokami, however, 2 other Kyoto kami, from the 2 Kamo shrines are also enshrined.

There are half a dozen subsidiary shrines in the grounds, the largest of which is Shimanami Inari. It was also originally within Amagasaki Castle but was not moved here until 1869 when the castle was decommissioned and soon dismantled. 

Symbols of an American Football can be seen at the shrine because of the link to Kwansei Gakuin Fighters, a local university american football team. Since their founding in 1941 the team has been very successful except for one year when they ranked sixth, their worst ever ranking. That year no-one prayed for success at the shrine, so ever since they have not missed a year.

I was visiting at the end of my second day walking the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage. The previous post was on crossing the Yodo River.

Sechibaru Coal Mine Museum

 

In the high country north of Sasebo, near the border with the  Arita district is the small local history museum dedicated to the former coal industry in the area of Sechibaru. Built as the offices of the local coal mine, the building is registered as an important cultural property as it is the only example of a Western-style building of stone in the northern part of Nagasaki prefecture. In Nagasaki City itself, there are numerous examples.

I am intrigued by the history of coal mining in Japan for two main reasons. One is that my grandfather and my father were coalminers and I grew up in the shadow of a coalmine. The second is that it is a little known part of modern Japanese history that kind of contradicts some of its cherished "myths".

I didn't know there were mines in this part of Nagasaki. I knew most Japanese coal was mined in northern Kyushu, with Battleship Island off the coast of Nagasaki being one of the famous sites, but northern Fukuoka and the Kumamoto-Fukuoka border area being some of the major coalfields. Early in this pilgrimage, I visited a coal mine museum in Nogata. A much longer article I wrote delving into the subject is here

There was not actually much on display, though the old photos were cool. I did learn that Kansai Coal Company, the owner of the mines, built a railway line in 1896 from Sechibaru down the valley to take the coal out. The previous post in this series on day 67 of my pilgrimage was on the nearby Oyamazumi Shrine and its ancient forest.

From Kirime Oji to Tsui Oji along the Kumano Kodo Kiiji

 

On day 6 of my walk along the Saigoku pilgrimage, I started at Kirime Station in Ninami Town, and headed north. For the first week or so of the walk, I was following the Kumano Kodo, in reverse. This section from Tanabe up to Osaka, is known as the Kiiji.

I crossed the Kirime River and soon came to the first stop of the day, Kirime Shrine, or Kirime Oji.

Oji were the 99 shrines along the Kumano Kodo that pilgrims would visit. Many have long since disappeared, some have monuments where they once stood, and a few still have structures.

Kirime is one of the 5 most important oji. Hosshinmon Oji, which I visited on day 3, and Takijiri Oji, which I visited on day 4, are another 2 of the 5.

Believed to have been established long before the Kumano Kodo became an imperial pilgrimage route, enshrined here include Sarutahiko, Kanayamahiko, Susano, Kotoshironushi, Ebisu, etc with the main deity being Emperor Ojin, therefore Hachiman.

 

Retired Emperor Gotoba composed poetry while here, and Prince Moriyoshi, son of Emperor Godaigo had a vision while staying here.

Not far further along, I passed by the site of Tomi Oji, also known as Ikuraga Oji, and said to be one of the oldest Oji.

I carried on along the coastal Route 42 and crossed the Inami River and by Inami fishing port.

Behind the port I passed through a torii and up a small path to the site of the former Tsui Oji.

According to some sources Tsui Oji was originally at a different place, but was moved here during the Edo eriod and became known as Kannon Oji.

Without any buildings, but with a small Buddhist statue and a rack of ema votive plaques, the site was well maintained by local people.

The previous post was on Kashima Shrine in Minabe