Kumano Taisha

Kumano Taisha

Kumano Taisha was the most important shrine in Izumo for centuries before Izumo Taisha supplanted it in the late Heian Period. Empress Saimei ordered the shrine built in the mid 7th Century. Before that the shrine was the mountain behind it.

The kami is Susano, which is not surprising since it is located in the heart of Susano country. There are numerous other shrines within the compund, the two major ones being to Izanami, Susano's "mother", and Kushinada, his "wife".

No one can know for sure why Saimei ordered its construction, but it seems likely to me that she was engaged in attempt to unify the provinces under Yamato control to fight against the threat of Sila. She died leading an army in Kyushu on the way to the Korean Peninsula to help their ally (relatives?) in Paekche who was threatened by Sila. After her death the Yamato forces suffered a humiliating defeat by Sila so it is not often mentioned in histories.

An unusual building with a thatched rood and walls covered in cedar bark houses sacred fire-making tools used in rituals at Izumo Taisha, the fire made from the tools is used to cook rice to be offered to the gods. Before Meiji the fire would also have been used to cook the food for the new head priest rituals.

The annual Sankasai ritual is when the priests come from Izumo Taisha to borrow the fire-making tools. They bring with them a long rice cake as an offering. The Kumano priests complain about the rice cake and insist it should be made according to their specifications, but eventually relent and make it themselves as it is too far for the Izumo taisha priests to go back to make a better cake, but the Kumano priests insist that next year the Izumo priests must make a better cake.

Mount Senkoji Ropeway

Mt. Senkoji is only 140 meters high, but it does go right down to the sea and is fairly steep, so the ropeway is a good way to get up.

I havent been on to many ropeways that are so urban. On the way up it passes directly over a lot of houses and of course offers nice views.

Its not often you get to look down on a cemetery.

Closer to the top it passes near Senko-ji, the temple the mountain is named after.

From the top there are great views over Onomichi and across the channel to the islands...

New Akaoni Mask

After a very long time of being too busy with regular and unexpected chores, I finally was prompted by an order to get around to finishing a new mask.

It's actually the third Red Demon I've sold outside of Japan. Its probably popular because it is so similar to the western/christian conception of a devil.

I have about 20 more masks getting closer to completion, including my first kitsune. Hopefully when the rain y season arrives to curtail garden work I will have the time to finish..........

Ushio Shrine

Ushio Shrine was the last shrine I visited before heading over the pass out of the Hi watershed. It is named after the Ushio clan who had a small "castle" on top of the mountain behind the shrine. They were vassals of the Amago.

It is yet another shrine in the area that is listed in both the Izumo Fudoki, and the Engi Shiki. The main kami enshrined here is Unojihiko, the same kami enshrined at Unochi Shrine that I visited earlier in the pilgrimage.
For details I refer you to that post. It is worth mentioning that according to the myth he caused Lake Shinji to rise in an attempt to drown his father, and supposedly the water level reached this point, which is quite remarkable considering how much higher this place is than Unochi Shrine.

Within the grounds are smaller shrines to Hachiman, Inari, Ebisu, and Aragami.

From here the road forks, the road heading north goes to Suga Shrine, a major shrine connected to Susano. The road I take heads west to Kumano Taisha, once the most important shrine in Izumo, also connected to Susano.

Japanese paper Lanterns

Chochin, Japanese paper lanterns are particularly associated with matsuri, like this first photo at a summer matsuri in Shima, Mie.

These were on the beach at one of my favorite local matsuri, at Kuromatsu near Gotsu.

They are also found in shrines, like these at the shrine across the river in Kawado.

On the street for the Gonokawa matsuri in Gotsu.

Some of the big and famous shrines have impressive lantern displays like here at Yasaka Shrine in Gion, Kyoto.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 15 Koanji

Koan-ji was founded in the early 8th Century, Tempyo 11. Now it is a Soto sect zen temple.

Originally it belonged to the Hosso sect, one of the 6 original sects based in Nara.

It was the family temple for one of the retainers of the Amago clan who ruled the area before being ousted by the Mori.

It is not known how old the wonderful ceiling painting of a dragon is, b ut it is obviously old.

It is the last temple of the pilgrimage in the Hi River watershed.

Golden Week Walk, 2014

It's become a tradition of mine to go for a nice long walk in the countryside during Golden Week, and this year was no exception. I walked a 4 day leg of the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage. I have been calling it the Iwami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, but apparently they added another ten temples and changed its name.

The first day was the section from Kawamoto to my own villlage, and for logistical reasons 1 walked it in reverse. A good section was following the Gonokawa, a quite beautiful river, the longest in West Japan, but mostly unknown to anyone other than locals. The rest of the day was in and out of the mountains to visit a temple. In the mountains I found this wild boar skeleton. I had driven down this road less than 2 weeks ago and it wasnt there then, so it has been picked clean in a very quick time. It was quite a long day, clocking in at 35k of walking.

Day 2 was from my village to Arifuku, an onsen resort in the mountains halfway between Gotsu and Hamada. For the first couple of hours I followed the Yato River and then went up Nagatani (Long Valley) before going over the pass and then following a tributary of the Uya River down to Arifuku. What was most noticeable was the damage from last summers storms. There were many landslides, embankments of the river washed away, even a bridge totally destroyed. A very pleasant 25k jaunt.

Day 3 was Arifuku to Yasaka, much higher and further inland. Just outside Arifuku I discovered a couple of old style potteries that I hadnt known about before dropping into the main valley of the Uya River. Heading upstream I passed several tunnels and half-built bridges that were going to be for a rail line running from Hamada to Hiroshima. It never got built. At Kanagi I stocked up with food and drinks as for the rest of the day there would not even be a vending machine. For a few k I Had to follow the main Hamada to Hiroshima road, but soon cut off and headed across the mountains. I topped out at 450 meters before dropping down into Yasaka. I spent the night at a friends guest house. He is a hunter, so wild boar was on the menu for the evening meal, washed down with home made doburoku, the tastiest sake I have ever drunk. an exhilarating 35k walk.

On day 4 I headed from Yasaka to Mito through sonme nice, remote country without a single vending machine for 25k. There were some serious ups followed by downs, but for some reason the older I get the less difficult I find it. At the top of one remote valley I found a wonderful mountain shrine. The tengai was old, suggesting they no longer do kagura there, but the shrine was still looked after. What I noticed most on this day was that Golden Week is pretty much a city thing. In the mountains people are far too busy to go off on mini vacations. There were many people working in the paddies. I mnet one old guy with a great collection of bamboo shoots he had dug out of the forest. I saw another couple picking wild food from the roadside, one man tending his bees, and another old gentleman pushing a wheelbarrow filled with firewood for heating his bath. I aarived in Mito Onsen as a festival was under way and enjoyed the reassuring beat of the kagura drums. Another excellent 27k walk.

Shrine Chickens

It is not uncommon to see chickens running free in the grounds of shrines, like these first two photos in Aoiaso Shrine, Hitoyoshi.

Some say it is because the rooster heralds the arrival of the sun, the sun goddess Amaterasu.

Some say it is because in the Iwato myth the assembled kami brought in roosters to try and trick Amaterasu out of the cave.

This third photo is from a small shrine next to Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki.

These last two photos  are from Iminomiya Shrine in Chofu, Yamaguchi.

Personally, I think the reason you find chickens at shrines is because the priest and family like free eggs.

Hihara Shrine

This is another ancient shrine listed in the Izumo Fudoki. The main kami enshrined here is Ohirumemuchi, which is either an old name for Amaterasu, or, as some sources suggest, a kami-shamaness who became Amaterasu after death.

Ohirumemuchi was the primary kami of Suika Shinto, an Edo period ant-buddhist school of "shinto" that was heavily confucianist and was predicated on the Tokugawas right to rule.

The other two kami enshrined here are Amenohibaraoshinadomi and Wakatsukushimenokami, and all that is known of them is that they were among the many, many descendants of Okuninushi.

There is a very large quartz rock known as Hall of Mirrors, that is supposedly very sparky and reflective when wet.

There is also a huge, ancient Katsura tree that is registered as a National Monument. It is 40 meters tall and the trunk has a girth of 14 meters.

An unexpected Matsuri

On the afternoon of September 4th, 2011, I was approaching Byodo-ji, Temple 22 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, when I spied a torii with banners flying, a sign that a matsuri is underway.

As I got closer I could hear the shouts of children which suggested that the matsuri was underway at the moment. For me, there is no greater pleasure than coming upon a matsuri, especially one in a rural village shrine.

It was a Yasaka Shrine, a branch of the famous shrine in Kyoto formerly lnown as Gionsha. The main kami is Susano, and also many of his "family", which is kind of apt as he is known as the kami of storms and the last 2 days this area has been hit with a massive typhoon.

There wasn't anything going on right now. Kids were running around and playing, and a small group of the village elders were inside eating and drinking. They invited me in for food and beer, and though daytime drinking in the heat of the day is not a usual habit of mine, as I was a pilgrim I could not refuse their offer.
After a second beer I insisted I had to leave and they showed me a path leading out of the shrine which was a shortcut over the hill to Byodo-ji