The Grand Tour Colchester

I had never been to Colchester before, so was quite looking forward to visiting. It is often classified as the oldest town in England, known as Camulodunon before the Roman invasion.

Its most famous site is the Norman Keep, built on the ruins of a Roman temple. Boudica sacked the town, but it was rebuilt later though the Roman Capital was moved to London.

I was most impressed by the floral displays everywhere, especially the hanging baskets.

Lots and lots of half-timbered houses, one in particular still riddled with bullet holes from the Civil war.

The Okunoin on Mount Wakasugi

The Okunoin on Mount Wakasugi is in a cave just below the summit. It is here that Kukai, later known as Kobo daishi, practised austerities on his return from China.

Considering its remote location, a surprising number of people make the climb, though I suspect most have parked their cars at the Kannon-do just below.

there were many statues around the area including a Fudo Myo (it was Kukai who introduced this deity into Japan) and a Kurikara, the dragon sword of Fudo.

The Okunoin is on the south side of the peak and so all the snow had melted, but just above there was still snow...

Kubo Hachimangu

Kubo Hachimangu is a fairly major shrine in Onomichi.

Founded in the mid 9th Century, The enshrined kami, Hachiman, is composed of three different kami, the emperor Ojin, his mother Jingu, and then either his father, Chuai, or his wife.

According to local legend, Ojin visited the area during the twentieth year of his reign, which would have been in the 5th Century, though the mytho-histories of Japan claim it to be the 3rd Century.

There are several secondary shrines within the grounds, one of which is certainly and Inari shrine, though there was no information board at the shrine so I could not find out about the others.

Kitayama Shrine, Mount Wakasugi

Located right on top of Mount Wakasugi at about 660 meters above sea level, the maps and many people call it Kitayama Shrine, but it is really the Upper Taiso-gu shrine. The lower Taiso-gu I stopped in at on my way up the mountain.

Not surprisingly it seems to have the same set of kami enshrined as at the lower shrine, the main one being Izanagi, along with Amaterasu, and Hachiman.

All around the shrine are Buddhist statues and shrines as the Okunoin where Kukai supposedly practised austerities is in a cave just below the shrine. It was usually Buddhists or Yamabushi who established shrines on mountaintops like this.

There is a large, white statue of the mythical Jingu, mother of Ojin, and a curious statue of Daikoku with an extreme smile....

Mononobe Shrine part 2

Mononobe Shrine, the Ichinomiya of Iwami, enshrines Umashimade no mikoto, the ancestor of the Mononobe. His grave lies on the hillside behind the shrine. The Mononobe are often portrayed as Shintoists who resisted the importation of the foreign "kami" of Buddhism, though how much of that was religious and how much was power politics is hard to discern, as the two are intimately linked.

The father of Umashimade was Nigihayahi who descended from heaven in a stone boat to what is now the Osaka area. In the ancient myths the distinction between heavenly kami and earthly kami is an important one. The heavenly kami represent the Yamato and their associated clans who invaded and took over Japan. The earthly kami are the ancestors of the rulers of the tribes of Japan that the Yamato supplanted. What is interesting about Nigihayahi is that he was not part of the group that descended with Ninigi to Kyushu.

So when Jimmu invaded Japan in what is known as his "Eastern Campaign", when he reached the area that is now Osaka he was defeated by a tribe led by Nagasune. Nagasune claimed that he followed Nigihayahi. Jimmu and Nigihayahi had a "you show me yours and I'll show you mine" session with symbolic weapons whereupon Nigihayahi realized that Jimmu was of the same lineage as he, that is to say, they both had the same origins, so he submitted to Jimmu and had Nagasune killed. Jimmu made Nigihayahi's son Umashimade the head of his guard.

So, if the Mononobe have their origins in "the high plain of heaven", the Korean Peninsula, and ruled over the area around present day Osaka, why is Umashimade buried in Iwami? According to the shrines founding legend, Umashimade was flying on a crane and landed here thinking it looked like a mountain in Yamato. The shrines crest if of a crane and crane statues are in the grounds. If we consider that the Mononobe were at the peak of their power in the 6th Century, the time Buddhism wa sintoduced to the Yamato court, and we consider that Izumo lost its independence and was incorprated into the confederacy led by Yamato around the 5th Century, then it would suggest that the Mononobe were placed here as a projection of military power to warn the Izumo to behave.

Mononobe Shrine

By mid afternoon on the second day of my walk along the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage, I came to Mononobe Shrine, the Ichinomiya (highest-ranked shrine) of old Iwami province.

The first time I came here I was struck by the huge Chigi on top of the roof. Originally used to help stabilize thatched roofs, on shrines they are now only decorative, but fulfill a symbolic function. If the ends of the cross pieces are cut vertically, like here, then the kami enshrined is male. Conversely, a horizontal cut means a female kami.

The ema. votive plaques, are not the usual 5-sided shape, but in the shape of a rice scoop. Called sukuu in Japanese, sukuu also means "save" as in salvation. The temizuya is also distinctive, carved out of a massive rock and adorned with carvings.

The main kami enshrined here is Umashimade no mikoto, the ancestor of the Mononobe clan, considered by some to be the precursor to the samurai. Umashimade was made head of the Imperial Guard by the mythical first emperor Jimmu. Umashimade's tomb is on the hillside above the shrine.

For more about why he was here and the fascinating history of the Mononobe, I will save until the next post

Wakasugi Kannon-do

Climbing higher on Mount Wakasugi after Kongochoin, I was surprised to find a newish temple though there was none marked on the map.

It is no longer a temple, being the site of the former Wakasugi Kannon-do. Now it is just an ossuary, a repository for bones.

The Kannon-do must have been quite old as it housed a 12th Century statues that is now in the Kyushu History Museum.

There was a small Fudo-do and lots of statues including yet more Fudo Myo's.

From here the trail heads up to the top of the mountain to the Okunoin where Kukai practised austerities.

There be Dragons!

Dragons are ubiquitous in Japan, often found at both Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples. Carvings of dragons above the main door can be found at both. This one, with a rather nice eye, is at Saido-ji Temple in Esaki, Shimane.

This one, sculpted in plaster, is an example of kote-e, plaster relief art, and is on the treasure house at Anyo-ji in Omori, part of Iwami Ginzan.

Often associated with water, this fairly modern stone carving is a spigot outside one of the public onsen baths in Yunotsu, Shimane.

This carving is above the entrance to the main hall of Ichibata Yakushi temple in the mountains above Lake Shinji in Shimane.

Bronze dragons as spigots for temizuya, water basins for purification, are also very common. This one is at an Ebisu Shrine on a small island connected to the beach at low tide at Todakohama near Masuda.

Shikoku Pilgrimage Day 10

On the morning of my tenth day walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage I awoke in Kiki to the promise of a fine day as I headed to Hiwasa and the next pilgrimage temple Yakuoji. The main road headed through a long tunnel so I decided to take the longer, but more scenic route on the small,  windy road that headed over the hills.

From the top I could see the distinctive tower of Yakuoji and also the reconstructed castle in the small town.

Before the construction of the new tunnel this would have been the main road down the coast, and there were several small Shinto shrines along the way.

Dropping down into a small bay there were nice views down the rocky coast.

I am guessing this would have been the original pilgrimage route as there were also numerous wayside Buddhist statues, most with fresh offerings placed in front of them.

Hagi Teramachi

Teramachi, literally "temple town", in Hagi is , not surprisingly, home to many Buddhist temples. I will post on some of these later.

It is also home to the old port, a few shrines, and several old buildings protected by Historic Preservation orders.

Few tourists visit the area, but their are sections that have an ambience of an earlier era.

Well worth a few hours stroll if you have the time when visiting Hagi