Yomeiji Temple Garden

 

Yomeiji is a Soto Zen temple in the former castle town of Tsuwano in the mountains of western Shimane.

It was founded in 1420 and has been the family temple for successive lords of the domain since then.

It has a thatched roof and many "treasures" to be seen, but for now I will concentrate on the garden.

Actually there are two gardens, with the last two photos of this post showing the older garden in front of the main hall.

It, however, can only be seen from a distance, though it is said that in earlier times a corridor surrounded it.

The main garden is to the rear of the priests residence.

It is not known when the garden was created nor who designed it.

The temple was rebuilt in the mid 18th century following a major fire, so it is believed the garden dates from that time.

The main focus is a Turtle Island connected by a bridge in a Koi pond.

A small waterfall runs in the hillside behind.

While the garden can be enjoyed from within the main viewing room, it is actually a stroll garden so can be explored a little.

The temple is located a short walk up a small valley off of the main area of town and is well worth a visit, especially with the Fall foliage.

Entry is only 300 yen and includes access to the temples Treasure House.

The garden is suitable for viewing all year round. These photos were taken over several visits at different times of the year.

In the next post in this series I will show the architecture and art of Yomeiji.

The previous post in this series exploring Tsuwano was on the Sagimai Heron Dance held every year.

Ohori Park

 

Ohori Park is a huge park in central Fukuoka with a large pond at its centre.

Hori literally means moat, and the pond was originally the outlet of the Kusakae River which had been engineered to become the outer moat of Fukuoka Castle, the ruins of which are still next door in Maizuru Park.

With a circumference of 2 kilometers, the path encircling the pond is very popular with walkers, strollers, and joggers.

The pond is bisected by long bridges that connect to the three small islands in the pond.

When a Chinese-style gazebo was moved here from the zoo in 1949 the notion that the park was modelled on West lake in China began to take hold, though the designers of the park and all early literature never mentioned it.

There children's play areas, a waterside cafe, a Noh Theatre, rental boats, and a traditional Japanese garden. Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio visited on their honeymoon.

When I visited it was an overcast day in April. For photo in full sunshine see this earlier post.

The previous post on day 74 of my Kyushu Pilgrimage was on the delightful Japanese Garden in the park.

Tengawa no Mizu Spring

 

Tengawa no Mizu spring is one of the Top 100 Spring Waters of Japan and is located on Ama, one of the inhabited Oki Islands off the north coast of mainland Shimane.

A more poetic translation would be Top 100 Exquisite and Well Conserved Water of Japan.

The name, said to have been given by the famed monk Gyoki who is said to have visited the spot in the early 8th century, means River of Heaven's Blessing.

He is said to have carved a Kannon statue. A Kannoin statue resides in a small "temple" building above the spring, but around the spring are plenty of other statues. You don't see many temples or Buddhist statues on the Okis as every single temple was destroyed in the anti-Buddhist movement of early Meiji.

It is said that the spring produces the same amount of water, 400 tons a day, as it has always done, even when other nearby islands suffered droughts.

The previous post in this series exploring the Oki Islands was on the undersea world.

Ohori Park Garden in Spring

 

Day 74 I stayed in Fukuoka and rested up to try and kicj a cold or flu bug that was ailing me..... but going stir crazy i my room I tooke a gentle exploration around the Ohri Park area...

The Japanese garden in the park was built in 1984 to celebrate the opening of the park.

It was designed by Nakane Kinsaku who is probably most famous for designing the gardens at the Adachi Museum in Shimane.

The largest section is a pond garden that with three islands  is possibly modelled on the large pond of Ohori Park itself.

Ohori Park was modelled on the West Lake in China, at least according to most postwar sources. Earlier sources make no mention of it.

The garden has a teahouse designed by Masao Nakamura.

The teahouse is rarely open so I have yet to see the assocaited roji, teahouse garden.

There is also a smaller karesansui garden with stoms from Miyazaki.

As is often the case, while I was visiting a young couple were having their wedding photos taken.

It was a spring day and overcast. Photos from the garden on a sunny day in Autumn can be found in this earlier post.

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Pigrimage was on Chinkaiseki Hachimangu Shrine.

Kannon Falls

 

While on my walk up the right bank of the Gonokawa River to its source I took a side-trip when I reached Shikaga to once again visit Kannon Falls, the tallest waterfall in Sakurae Town.

Its about 2k from the river up a small, narrow road that passes by a small quarry producing crushed rock for road construction. The only habitation is a homestead right next to the car park. With an older, thatched minka, I always thought it would be an ideal location for a tea room or cafe. there arent  enough visitors to make it a big business, ut I thought it would attract more visitors to the falls.

From the parking lot it is an easy walk a few hundred metres along the bubbling stream to reach the falls.

The lowest fall is about 30 meters, and above it are two smaller drops that bring the total to about 50 meters. However, after a good rainfall it flows much heavier and becomes a single fall.

The pool at the base is shallow and many families come here in the summer to cool off ....

There is  small altar to Kannon at the base. When we first moved here we were told that in earlier times a young woman committed suicide by jumping from the top of the falls and the Kannon was to pray for her spirit.

However another story tells of a local farmer who encountered a dragon that lives in a pool upstream of the falls and that the Kannon was to pacify it.

The previous post was on the walk from Watari to Shikaga.

Chinkaiseki Hachimangu Shrine Itoshima

 

Situated on a hilltop overlooking the sea and noted for its sunset views, Chinkaiseki Hachimangu traces its roots back to the mythical Empress Jingu, just like the last shrine I visited in Karatsu, Kumonohara Shrine.

The chinkaiseki of the name refer to a pair of smooth stones Jingu picked up and carried in her sleeves while she "subdued" the Korean Peninsula. Later she returned the stones here, though they cannot be seen.

The story is recorded in the Kojiki as well as in a poem in the Manyoshu.

Stones of various kinds can be found at the shrine.... halfway up the slope, at the site of what was earlier the main hall, is a small structure containing three stones. The Yin Yang stones resemble the genitals of male and female, and the stone on the right is said to be a sainokami, the guardian of village borders, often represented as a phallic stone and later by a "cute" male-female pair.

There is a Konpira Shrine, and a Sarutahiko shrine, and several sacred stones of different kinds.

This was the last stop on day 73 of my walk. I was coming down with some kind of cold so I took the train into Fukuoka and planned a rest day the next day. The previous post in this series was on the neighbouring Shinkoin Temple.