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.

Kokokuji Temple Izumo

 

Kokokuji Temple is a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1322.

It is located at the foot of the mountains that run along the Shimane Peninsula from the Izumo Taisha area.

Funding and support was provided by local nobleman Misawa Yasukuni.

The monk who founded it, Sanko Kokushi, also founded Unjuji Temple further east in the Yasugi area.

The temple may have fallen into disuse, but was revived and expanded in the late 18th century by Zen Master Setsun.

He is said to have started work on the garden, but it was his successor, Zen Master Toko who brought the garden to fruition by hiring Sawa Gentan.

The garden is the only thing that te vast majority of sources talk about

However there are some nice statues, paintings, and kote-e...

The honzon is a statue of Shaka Nyorai, the Japanese name for the historical Buddha Sakyamuni.

The garden, which is highly rated among afficianados, is covered in my previous post.

Kokokuji is a little off the beaten track, though it is not far from Hirata.

If you are heading to Gakuenji Temple, a magnificent place itself, then you drive right past Kokokuji.

Of course, if you are that far off the beaten track then nearby Karakama Shrine is a must visit.

The previous post was on the Zen garden here.

The Garden at Kokokuji Temple

 

The top ranked garden in Japan, according to the Journal of Japanese Gardening, is consistently the Adachi Museum Gardens in Shimane.

Other gardens in Shimane are in the list of top Japanese gardens, including this one at Kokuji Temple near Hirata in the Izumo area.

In 2005 it was ranked 8th, and in 2006 it was ranked 12th.

And yet it is barely known and rarely visited.

Kokokuji is a Rinzai temple founded in the 14th century.

The garden, however, was created in the early 19th century.

It is a relatively small garden consisting primarily of a dry garden with Kinkyoike, a small resevoir behind it.

The borrowed scenery is completed with Mount Tabushi and the Kitayama mountains behind.

The garden was designed by Sawa Gentan, the gardener employed by the great Tea Master Fumai Matsudaira who ruled the Matsue Domain.

Many other gardens in the area are said to have been designed by Sawa Gentan, including the magnificent ones at Hirata Honjin, literally just a couple of kilometers away. Several gardens at the Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum, and the Gesshoji Temple Garden are also attributed to Fumai and Gentan

The small entrance fee to view the garden includes a green tea and sweet, photo 3 above.

This, and many other gardens in the region are known as Izumo Style, and sometimes Gentan Style.

One of the features of Izumo style is that the stepping stones are a combination of round and rectangular.

Another feature mentioned by many is that an Izumo style garden will be a combination of a traditional garden and a Teahouse garden.

Hidden away on the right hand side of the garden here is a teahouse, and the stone path leads to it.

There are a lot of other gardens in the Matsue and Izumo region, including many I have not covered yet. If yiu are interested please let me know. Yuushien, Meimei-an Teahouse, Lafcadio Hearns House, Yakumo Honjin, and the several already mentioned earlier, are just a few already covered...

Next I will cover Kokokuji Temple itself....

Shinkoin Temple 106 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

ShinkoinTemple has an elegant, wooden main hall, though being a fairly modern temple.

It is situated directly on the coast of Fukuoka in the area known as Itoshima.

The temple moved here recently in 1989, prior to that it was in Fukuoka City, and prior to that it was in Sasaguri, where it was founded in the Taisho Period (1912-1926)

The honzon of the temple is an unusual one that don't remember ever hearing about before, Daizuiku Bosatsu.

Unusual in being a female Buddhist deity, as is often, with roots in Hinduism. Known for offering protection and for granting the wishes of all. Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto and Ishiteji Temple in Osaka, both have statues of her.

There is also a Wave-Citting Fudo Myo enshrined along with the other four Myoo.

There are several small sone Fudo's in the grounds as well.

There are several shrines in the grounds including the temple guardian, Kiyotaki Daigongen, and also an Otsuna Daimyojin. The grounds have some nice landscaping and gardens.

The previous post was on Kumonohara Shrine in Karatsu.