Narufuchi Dam Sasaguri

 

The Narufuchi Dam is on the Narufuchi River that flows into the Tatara River running through Sasagura and down to Fukuoka City.

It was completed in 2001 and is 308 meters wide and 67 meters high. The reservoir behind it can hold up to 4.4 million cubic meters of water.

Like the vast majority of dams in Japan the ostensible reason for its construction was "flood control" but it also provides some drinking water.

It generates no electricity, and like 70 percent of all dams in Japan it cannot release extra water until it's full.

There is a park below the dam and hiking trails along the reservoir banks. I visited after coming down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on Saigokuji, a small, unmanned temple just upstream from the reservoir.

Kameyama Hachimangu Shrine Sasebo

 

Located on top of a small hill in what is now central Sasebo, Kameyama Hachimangu is by far the biggest and most important shrine in Sasebo.

The shrine claims to have been founded directly from Usa Hachiman Shrine in the late 7th century.

At that time it was a Kyushu cult and had not yet been adopted nationally, nor was it yet associated with the legendary emperor Ojin.

The Hachiman cult was adopted by the samurai and so assumed major importance in later Japanese history, so when Sasebo became a major naval port in the late 19th and  twentieth centuies the shrine was patronized by the local naval officers.

Like much of central Sasebo, the shrine was completely destroyed by bombing in 1945.

As a Hachman shrine the main kami are Ojin, his mother Jingu, and his father Chuai. Unusually Nintoku, his son, is also listed here. There are also numerous secondary shrines within the grounds.

In the modern, postwar ranking of shrines Kameyama Hachiman is listed as Beppyo, which means more important than a regular shrine.

I was exploring Sasebo at the end of day 71 of my Kyushu pilgrimage walk as I had been based in Sasebo for several days. The previous post was on Mimasakachinju Shrine.

Sorakuen Garden Kobe

 

As far as I can tell, Kobe only really has one Japanese garden of note, the Sorakuen.

Constructed during the end of the 19th century and the begining of the 20th, it was originally the mansion and garden of a wealthy businessman, Kodera, but was given to the city.in 1941.

The mansion and its buildings were all destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945, except the brick stable building which was built in 1907.

In 1963 the Former Hassan House was moved here from its original site in the  Kitano area.

Designed by Alexander Hansell, who also designed several other Western style residences in the Kitano district, it was built in 1902.

Unfortunately, it is rarely open to the public. The gas lamps in front are among the oldest in Japan.

Another structure moved into the garden is the Funaykata, the two-storey superstructure of a river barge built at the end of the 17th century and used for parties by the Himeji lord.

The hull has long since been lost, but it is registered as an Important Cultural Property.

The garden covers almost 20,000 sq meters and is primarily a pond-stroll type garden.

One of the best times to visit is in late April and early May when the azaleas are in bloom.

An unusual feature is the grove of cycads, not palms, but looking very similar.  There is also a huge camphor tree that has been here since long before the mansion and garden were constructed.

There is a modern reconstruction of a traditional teahouse, and looking out over the garden is a large, modern wedding and banquet facility called the Sorakuen which features a pricey  restaurant and cafe

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was on Nishinomiya Ebisu Shrine.

Mimasakachinju Shrine

 

Mimasakachinju Shrine is just across the road from Toko-ji temple and is almost certainly the guardian shrine that was relocated from the temple at the start of the Meiji period.

It is usual for separated shrines and temples to be adjacent to each other, and the temple records refers to a "guardian" shrine, which is the name of the shrine.

Also, all the structures, komainu, etc have dates from late Meiji period, and finally, the original shrine temple complex enshrined Kurokami Gongen, and the kami enshrined here are the exact same as at Kurokami Shrine.

The kami listed are Amaterasu, Izanami, Hayatama, Okuninushi, Kotosaka, Takeuchi, and Sugawara Michizane. In 1907 during the national campaign to close local shrines, 5 shrines were moved here....a Daijingu, a Gongensha, a Myojinsha, a Kotoshirasha, and a Tenjinsha.

This was my last stop of the days pilgrimage and I headed back to Sasebo for the night one last time. The previous post was Toko-ji Temple.

Kishu Railway. The Shortest Railway Line in Japan.

 

As I walked into the outskirts of Gobo City in Wakayama I came across some abandoned railway tracks. A few minutes later I arrived at Nishi Gobo Station of the Kishu Railway, the shortest railway line in Japan.

Actually, there is technically a slightly shorter line, somewhere up near Tokyo, but as it runs on tracks, trains, and drivers leased from another company, that doesn't seem to count to me.

The Kishu Railway runs 2.7 kilometers from Nishi Gobo Station to Gobo Station, with three stops in-between. The abandoned tracks I saw were from the 700 meter section from Nishi Gobo to Hidakagawa which closed in 1989.

The line opened in 1931 as the Gobo Rinko Railway and was never really successful. In 1973 it changed names after being bought by a real estate company who wanted the cachet of being able to call itself a railway company.

The railway owns three diesel carriages but only 2 are operational. There are no passing loops, so a single train shuttles back and forth about twenty times a day.

With at most about 200 passengers a day, and even with unmanned stations and "one-man cars", it cannot be making a profit, but it seems that recently a Chinese company became the majority shareholder. I visited on day 6 of my walk along the Kumano Kodo and Saigoku pilgrimage. The previous post was on Shioya Oji Shrine.

Sangenyama Toko-ji Temple 67 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Tokoji, temple 67 on the Kyushu pilgrimage is located in the basin down below Mount Kurokami in the mountains between Arita and Takeo in Saga.

According to the temples history it was founded as a branch temple of number 69, Saikomitsuji, when it was founded by Kobo Daishi in the early 9th century upon his return from China.

It flourished as a shrine-temple complex for mountain ascetics.

It enshrined Kurokami Daigongen, gongen being Buddhist avatars of kami.

It was destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 1547 with a Yakushi Nyorai as honzon.

The temple is number 37 on the Kyushu Yakushi pilgrimage.

The temple received support from the local daimyo.

In 1868 Shugendo was outlawed, the guardian shrine was moved to another site, and the temple fell into disuse and disrepair.

It was revived sometime in the twentieth century.

There are many Mizuko Jizo in the grounds, and in the main hall is a small Kannoin statue said to be worshiped by Hidden Christians during the Edo period.

The previous post was on the nearby Mudo-in temple.