Wakanoura Bay of Poetry

 

Wakanoura, which roughly could be translated as  Poetry Bay, is in the southern part of what is now Wakayama City.

Where the Wada River and Waka River enter the sea a long sandbar has created a wide area of tidal mud flats that have been the inspiration for millennia of poets.

Poems set in the area were included in the ancient Manyoshu and subsequent major collections of verse, and Emperor Shomu ( 701-756 ) issued an imperial edict to protect the area in perpetuity.

Modern development has encroached significantly on the views now available, but there are enough sites of interest to make it an area worth a half-day visit.

The closest train station is Kiimidera (photo 3 above), in front of a major temple with a giant Kannon statues. It is a major tourist site and the second temple of the Saigoku pilgrimage, and if you are visiting it, it is not too far to walk to the Wakanoura area.

The place to head to is Imoseyama, a small island connected by a bridge. (photo 1 above)

On the island is the Kankai Kaku Pavillion (photo 4 above), originally built in the Edo period, it  was destroyed by a typhoon and replaced by a concrete replica. This has now been demolished and is being replaced with a wooden replica.

Also nearby is a small two-storey agoda, the remains of Kaizen-in Temple. It was renovated in 1653 by Tokugawa Yorinobu as a memorial to his deceased mother. To reach Imoseyama you cross the Sandankyo bridge, said to be the oldest stone bridge in Wakayama,  built by Yorinobu.

There are several shrines in the area. Shiogama Shrine ( photos 8 and 9 above) is located in a small cave and is very popular for visitors seeking safe childbirth and fertility although originally the kami here were connected to the sea and especially salt production which was important in this area. In front of the shrine is the Furobashi Bridge, built in the Edo period. )photo 12 below)

Nearby is Tamatsushima Shrine, (photo above)which as the name suggests stands on what was an island in former times. Numerous kami are enshrined here but the most notable is Princess Sotoori. Sources differ on her chronology but she seems to have been a particularly beautiful imperial princess of the 5th century.

Deified as one of the Three Gods of Waka Poetry, after appearing in a dream to Emperor Koko in the 9th century reciting a poem about Wakanoura. The shrine has an important collection of ancient manuscripts and is visited by those seeking literary and academic success.

The sandbar in the bay is a popular summer beach spot, and the area around Wakanoura has several small fishing harbors still operating.

Not far away are two major shrines on the mountainside with great views over the Wakanoura area.

Wakaoura Tenmangu Shrine ( photo above), and Kishu Toshogu Shrine are both well worth a visit and feature colorful and detailed architecture.

Also nearby is the Yosuien garden, (photo below) and Minato Goten Palace.

Yodohime Shrine & Yabusa Shrine: Statues as Shintai

 

In the immediate vicinity of Hoko-in Temple near Arita I visited two small, local shrines that were interesting because they both had statues as shintai.

Shintai are the objects, usually hidden inside the honden of a shrine,  into which the kami "descend". In some cases, possibly the original form shintai took before the introduction of Buddhism brought the notion of sacred architecture, shintai are trees, large rocks, and even mountains.

I have often read that shintai must be mirrors, but that is a State Shinto rule meant to elevate Amaterasu. In roadside hokora most of the shintai I have seen have been largish stones. Until the separation of Buddhas and kami in early Meiji, many shintai were in fact Buddhist statues.

These first four photos are of a Yodohime Shrine. There are quite a few in this part of Kyushu, and as you can see the honden is actually just a hokora with its doors open showing the statue. Yodohime was the grandmother of Jimmu, the mythical first emperor, but around here she is considered a water deity. The statue looks very Buddhist to me but because of the bib some details can't be seen.

The second shrine is called Yabusa Shrine and I can find no information about iit or who is enshrined here.

Like the Yodohime Shrine it is really just a stone hokora with a small worship hall in front.

As you can see, the statue of the "kami" looks very Buddhist, and the hands are even doing mudras.

The previous post in this series was on the .Yasaka Shrine in Arita.

Hachiman Shrine Kawagoe

 

A little over a kilometer further upstream from the main part of Kawagoe village and bridge is another sizable settlement.

Called Watari on old maps it is now just part of Kawagoe but had a quite large Hachiman Shrine.

One source says it was founded in the early 11th century, which seems feasible as on the opposite bank of the river is a large temple founded even earlier.

I have been to all-night matsuris in almost all the shrines in this area, but not this one. I suspect the main shrine for Kawagoe is the new Suwa Shrine back in the main part of the village. The interior of this one did not have a tengai, the overhead canopy under which kagura is performed.

Being a Hachiman shrine, the three main enshrined kami are Emperor Ojin, his mother, Jingu, and his wife. Also enshrined here are Amenokoyane, Futsunushi, Takemikazuchi, and Ebisu.

The previous post in this series on my walk up the Gonokawa River to its source was Along the Gonokawa to Kawagoe.

Yasaka Shrine Arita

 

Yasaka Shrine in Arita is almost certainly much older than the most popular shrine in the town, Tozan Shrine.

According to the shrine's information board, appropriately written upon porcelain tiles, it says that originally the shrine was for the local kami.

However, it changed with the importation of the Gion ritual, here said to be of Indian origin.

Mention is made of Gozu Tenno and then Susano, to whom is attributed the creation  of the chinowa.

It changed names to Yasaka after Meiji when all the semi-Buddhist Gion shrines firmly became Shinto.

There is a small Tenjin shrine in the grounds, another of the kami associated with protection from pestilence and disease.

There were multiple pairs of komainu, with the oldest pair made of sandstone severely weathered..

The previous post in this series exploring Arita on day 70 of my Kyushu pilgrimage was on the nearby Kyushu Ceramics Museum.

Jozan Inari Shrine

 

Jozan Inari Shrine is tucked away at the northern end of the grounds of Matsue Castle and consequently is missed by most visitors.

It was a favorite spot of Lafcadio Hearn who lived literally a stone's throw away across the moat and visited here often.

Jozan Inari Shrine is the origin of the  Shikinen Shinkosai Festival, one of the top three boat festivals in Japan wherein a procession of brightly decorated boats transport the kami of the shrine 10 kilometers downriver to Adakaya Shrine. The festival only takes place every ten years and the next will be in 2029. Some of the boats are stored at Adakaya Shrine which is worth visiting for the unusual straw "serpents"

The shrine was established in 1638,  a couple of decades after the castle was built when the grandson of Ieyasu, Matsudaira Naomasa, took over the domain.

He had a vision that said Inari would protect not only the castle but also his Edo estate.

Though there are many different Inari's, its primary feature was as a kami of rice, although later it became very much associated with business success. In this case Inari was very much seen in Matsue as a kami to protect the home from fire.

The aroach to the shrine is like many others, and lacks the "tunnel" of red torii seen at many Inari shrines.

However, if you venture behind the main buildings you will find thousands of fox statues....

The previous post was on the Western-style Meiji-era guesthouse in the castle grounds.