Shodoshima Pilgrimage Temple 3 Kannonji

Kannonji was the first  temple I visited on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage that was big enough to have a resident priest. What appeared to be varved dragons ran along the steps leading up to it.

Legend has it that the temple was founded by Kobo Daishi himself, and the statue of 11-face Kannon is claimed to be his work. It is a "secret" Buddha and so cannot be seen by the public.

Like many of the temples on the pilgrimage there is a statue of Kobo Daishi. The Onigawara tiles were also in a style I don't remember seeing before.

The okunoin, inner sanctuary, of the temple is in the cliffs on the mountaintop behind, not far from temples 1 and 2. The old priest came out to greet me and we chatted for a while and he showed me to rout to follow. I would meet him again later up at temple 1

Cat Shrine

Cat Shrine

Nekogami Shrine is located in the grounds of Sengan-en gardens in Kagoshima and was moved to this location when the Shimazu family moved into their summer villa here after 1868.

The story is that the 17th Shimazu lord took seven cats with him when he took part in Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea in 1592. The legend says that the cats were used as timekeepers on the journey as time could be told by the dilation of their pupils in the sunlight, but I would take that story with many pinches of salt.

On his return to Japan only two cats had survived and so in 1602  he enshrined them in Nekogami Shrine. It is now a hugely popular spot for cat lovers who leave ema votive plaques to memorialize cats who have died and also to pray for the health of living cats.

Purchase a selection of ema from GoodsFromJapan

Chinowa at Okayama Shrine

A chinowa is a ring made out of a kind of reed/grass that can be found at shrines and is used as a form of purification. You pass through the hoop 3 times to cleanse yourself of sin and pollution.

Traditionally they were set up for the last days of the 6th lunar month, though nowadays they can be found at various times. Their legendary origin is attributed to Susano, the mythical founder of the Izumo culture and polity.

I encountered this one on July 25th at the entrance to Okayama Shrine in downtown Okayama City. Believed to have been founded in the 9th Century, the shrine was located across the river where Okayama Castle now stands and was moved here when the castle was constructed.

Over the years it has accumulated various kami and there are also various sub-shrines in the grounds. Like much of Okayama City it was destroyed by air raids back in the war and is now a modest concrete structure.

Sengan-en Gardens

Sengan-en was the summer estate and gardens of the Shimazu Clan who ruled over what is know called Kagoshima. It is located north of downtown Kagoshima and covers more than 12 acres.

It was built in the middle of the 17th Century and includes the main manor house and numerous other structures including a pavilion built by Ryukuan vassals. The large, park-like gardens were built in Chinese style and utilizes the "borrowed scenery" of the bay and the volcano Mount Sakurajima.

The Kyokusai garden features a meandering stream and this was the site of parties that involved poetry drinking games. A cup with sake would be placed at the top end of the stream and while it floated downstream a tanka poem need to be composed and read. Failure to do so meamnt the forfeit of having to drink the sake. Hardly an inducement for success I would have thought.

There are many other features including shrine, gates, lanterns etc, and here was where the Shimazu began their attempts to set up western industrial practices that are now World heritage Sites.

Meet the Neighbours

The noise of my neighbours in the forest behind my house yesterday has prompted me to post some photos of some of them. earlier posts have lost their photos and it is too much trouble to have to go through and edit and repost.

Many of my neighbours, members of my community, are not human. There is a big troop of monkeys that visit regularly. It has been entertaining to watch them and learn a little of their habits and behaviours, but their tendency to treat my garden as a supermarket does tee me off sometimes.

Tanuki are also very commonly seen, these were photoed right outside my living room. They are fairly shy and cause no damage to my life. Often I will also see badgers, foxes, and civets passing through by my house on their rounds.

Several species of frog and toad are welcome visitors. In the garden they eat bugs, and they in turn are eaten by snakes and birds. When tilling I will often disturb ones hibernating in the cold weather. When the rice paddies are flooded in late spring the noise of their calling reverberates within our narrow, steep valley and can be quite deafening.

Mostly living below the house, though regularly found running around inside, are giant centipedes. They are quite poisonous so I will usually kill them at the request of my wife. Usually traveling in mated pairs, when one has been caught it is best to be extra vigilant until its partner is found.

Masks of Ishigaki Island

Masks of Ishigaki

Ishigaki is a small island that is part of what is now Okinawa, though it is much closer to Taiwan than to the main island of Okinawa.

The Ishigaki Shiritsu Yaeyama Museum is a local history museum that had some masks among the displays, and masks are objects I seek out when traveling around Japan.

I know little about Okinawan masks, but it looks like these three are some form of ogre.

I believe the second photo show Angama masks which are worn during Obon. The bottom photo is a Shishi.

Ishigaki Sea Salt

Buy Handmade Masks From Japan

Kagoshima Cathedral

I did post on this topic many years ago, but as my older posts no longer have photos I thought I would post a revised version. Located in downtown Kagoshima, the cathedral was built in 1999 to celebrate the 450 year anniversary of the arrival in Kagoshima of Francis Xavier in 1549

A church was built here in 1909 but was destroyed during WWII. A new church was built in 1949 to celebrate the 400th anniversary. Some stones from this church were used to build a memorial to St. Francis Xavier located across the street from the cathedral.

The exterior is quite striking, but the interior is sublime, being flooded with colored light from the stained glass windows. It also has a nice pipe organ, something quite rare in Japan.

It is a catholic church, but all are welcome for services on Sundays. For the rest of the week the church is open to visitors with no entry fee.

Kitsuki Sunrise

For the 4th day of my walk around the Kunisaki Peninsula in northern Kyushu, I spent all day exploring the castle town of Kitsuki. I spent the night on the south bank of the Yasaka River, and the castle and town were on the north bank, so early in the morning I headed across the bridge at the mouth of the river.

The view out to sea was where the sun had recently risen. I believe it is technically part of Beppu Bay, though it also falls within the boundaries of the Inland Sea. I have a fondness for early morning shots because where I have been living for the past 16 years or so is in a steep, narrow valley so I only get to see the sun in the middle part of the day.

When I lived on top of the world I was able to see the sunrise for a lot more than 300 days a year, and this is probably why I have a penchant for sleeping out on mountaintops here in Japan.

On this particular morning it was quite cloudy, but shafts of golden light were clearly visible......

Seiko Medical Beauty Clinic

Near the waterfront in downtown Kagoshima I came across this rather futuristic-looking building.

It houses a plastic surgery clinic and I can find no information about the architect.

EDIT:.... thanks to a kind and observant reader I have been told the architect was Yuji Nakahara.

On top of Mount Kannomine

Mount Kannomine, 425 meters above the sea on Osaki Kamijima in the Inland Sea, is the highest poinbt on the island and where I chose to spend the night on the second day of my walk along the Akinada chain of islands. This link will take you to the other posts from  that walk and the views of sunset from Kannomine.

As well as an observation point that offers stunning views across the Inland Sea, there are two, small religious sites, a Shinti shrine and a Buddhist temple. The shrine is a branch of Ishizuchi Shrine, the famous shrine on top of Mount Ishizuchi, the highest point on Shikoku, and a center for yamabushi and tengu.

Like the shrine, the small temple was also a concrete structure, and it was a Yakushi-do. It had a nice. small Fudo Myo, but the big surprise was a wooden phallus.

Other than a couple of famous sites and shrines in some of the big cities, phalli are far less common than they used to be and it is always a joy to find them in remote spots like this.