Yasakaji Temple 47 Shikoku Pilgrimage

Yasakaji Temple 47 Shikoku Pilgrimage

Yasakiji Temple, number 47 on the 88 temple Shikoku pilgrimage, is located at the base of the foothills to the south of Matsuyama City and is just a short walk from the previous temple, Joruriji Temple.

Said to have been founded in 701, it is unusual in that the founder is said to be En no Ozuni, sometimes known as En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo. Most of the temples claiming origins before Kobo Daishi tend to claim Gyoki as their founder.

Many historians believe that the Shikoku ohenro was created by numerous smaller Shugendo pilgrimage routes being connected together.

Yasakaji is also often connected to Emon Saburo, the legendary "first" pilgrim who walked around Shikoku numerous times attempting to catch up with Kobo Daishi.

Not far from Yasakaji is Monjuin, a temple believed to be Saburo's family temple, and now one of the 20 extra "bangai" temples, so I will do a fuller account of the Emon Saburo story when I cover Monjuin in the next post in the series....

Connecting the main hall and the Daishido are two passages covered in murals, the way of heaven, and the way of hell.

These last three shots depict scenes from various Buddhist "hells".

Saga Shrine & Matsubara Shrine

Saga Shrine & Matsubara Shrine

With lines of people waiting for their first shrine visit of the year, hatsumode, 5 full days already into the year, it is an indication of how popular Saga Shrine is with local inhabitants. It is also the main venue for Shinto-style weddings, car-blessings etc.

many miko, shrine maidens, were also in evidence. Mostly students hired for the new year period, the shrine's busiest, and most profitable, time of the year, major festivals may also see the hiring of temporary miko.

Saga Shrine is located just north of the moat of the old castle. The shrine is relatively new, founded in the Meiji period and enshrining the last two daimyo of the former Saga Domain, Nabeshima Naomasa and his sone Naohiro. A lot of the last generation of daimyo got themselves enshrined as gods, especially those daimyos who were pro-imperialist like the daimyos of Choshu, Satsuma, and Saga.

Immediately adjacent to Saga Shrine, and in reality not at all separate, is the older Matsubara Shrine, founded a century earlier, and enshrining the ancestors of the Nabeshima and their earlier generations.

Within Matsubara Shrine are many sub-shrines and other points of interest, but on this trip, it was so crowded and I just literally walked through. A few years ago while walking the Kyushu Fudo  Myo  pilgrimage I stopped in and explored more deeply, so will post much more later.

This was the end of my 56yj day walking the Kyushu pilgrimage, and I estimated that I had already walked more than 1500 kilometers, several hundred more than the whole of the Shikoku Ohenro, and I still had more of Saga, all of Nagasaki, and then back into Fukuoka before I would finish. Tomorrow I would head back home and return to Saga in February to continue on....

Ryuzoji Hachimangu Shrine

Ryuzoji Hachimangu Shrine

Ryuzoji Hachiman Shrine is a small urban shrine located in downtown Saga. It was originally located near the original castle, but when the castle was greatly expanded in the mid 17th century, it was moved to the current site. The torii is in the Hizen style, and as far as I know this is the only style of torii based on region rather than cult.

It was founded by the Ryuzoji Clan who controlled the area before the Nabeshima Clan, who were vassals of the Ryuzoji, were given control. In the middle of the approach are a couple of red torii which lead to an Ebisu statue

The Ebisu cult is very strong in the area..... along the Nagasaki kaido, which runs through Saga, are hundreds of roadside Ebisu statues. A few days earlier along a branch of the Nagasaki kaido, the Hita kaido, there are also Ebisu statues. This one is very unusual in that Ebisu is holding a child. It is called Kosodate Ebisu. It was made in 2007. Most of the Ebisu statues around Saga have their own names and associations with different benefits.

The shrine was founded as a branch of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. Hachiman was originally a Kyushu cult based in Usa in what is now Oita. Earlier on this day I had visited Chiriku Hachimangu, a large shrine that had been established as a direct branch of the Usa Hachiman while it was just a local cult.  With the construction of Todaiji and the Great Buddha in Nara, Hachiman was taken up to the home provinces and eventually became a national cult following the establishment of Iwashimizu Hachimangu south of Kyoto. I believe most Hachiman shrines now in existence are branches of Iwashimizu. Later however, the Minamoto Clan adopted Hachiman as their patron deity and established Tsurugaoka Hachiman, and subsequently, Hachiman was adopted by the samurai.

Within the grounds of Ryuzoji Hachiman is another shrine, Kusunoki Shrine, established in 1851 by the Nabeshima. Enshrined here is Kusunoki Masashige, a 14th century samurai known for fighting for the Imperial Court in Yoshino, the so-called Southern Court, who were in opposition with the Shogun-supported Emperor in Kyoto, the "Northern Court".

The shrine is the site of a meeting at this time wherein Saga joined with Tosa, Choshu, and Satsuma in an alliance against the shogunate and for the Emperor which led to the Meiji Restoration. What is not clear to me is whether the shrine or the meeting came first.

Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium

Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium

At the northern end of what was the grounds of Saga Castle is yet another Modernist public building, the Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium.

It was built in 1963 and designed by Junzo Sakakura (1901-1969).

After graduating he joined the studio of Le Corbusier in Paris where he eventually came to head the studio. He assisted Le Corbusier in his only Japanese project, the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.

Not visible from the ground is the rather elegant roof of the gymnasium, a saddle shape formed by two parabolic curves.

What is clearly visible is the aging concrete surface, something that so many concrete structures in Japan suffer from and that will only get worse as time marches on.

Saga Prefectural Museum

Saga Prefectural Museum

Located within the moats of the former Saga Castle, and adjacent to the reconstructed Castle Palace, is the Saga Prefectural Museum.

It opened in 1970 and in 1983 the Prefectural Art Museum was opened next door and is connected by a passageway.

It was designed by architects Teichi Takahashi and Shoya Uchida, two architects that I not heard of before. At the time I'm sure it was classed as a "Modernist" design, though now it is more likely called Brutalist.

The displays cover archeology & History, Geology and the Natural Sciences, and folklore. Many items dug up from the Yoshinogari site are on display. Entry is free except for special exhibitions.

Outside the museum is the Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest.

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest

Within the grounds of what was Saga Castle, adjacent to the reconstructed palace, are the Saga Prefectural Museum and the Saga Prefectural Art Museum. Between them and the moat is the Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest.

Tadao Koga (1903-1979) was a Japanese sculptor born in Saga and many of his works are on display in this outdoor exhibit. I suspect there is more of his work inside the art museum but I did not go in to find out.

The works on display are larger-than-life bronzes that reminded me of socialist art of the mid-20th century.

Other than a statue of Saigo Takemori in Kirishima, he does not seem to have produced anything of note, though he was chairman of the Japan Sculpture Society.

The top piece is Hoshin, 1960. The second is Spring Cloud, 1963, the third is Gamecock & Man, 1958. The fourth is Limit, 1965. The fifth is Grow Next Generation, 1956.  The sixth is Factory Night Watchman from 1938, and the final photo is Three Fishermen from 1954.

It's a nice, free, public art space that is worth a look if you are visiting the castle.

Kitakyushu Central Library

Kitakyushu Central Library

The Kitakyushu Central Library is located in Kokura not far from Kokura Castle.

It is one of those buildings that in model form, or seen from the air, is quite striking, but when viewed from the ground is not so impressive and its form is not so clear.

However, from the interior, it is all much clearer.

It opened in 1974 and was designed by prize-winning Kyushu native Arata Isozaki and is often considered one of his most important earlier works.

The interior features pre-cast concrete barrel vaulting and fan vaulting and is said to have been inspired by the 18th-century design for the French national Library by Etienne Louis Boullee.

The building also houses the Kitakyushu Museum of Literature which has changing and permanent exhibits relating to more than 30 writers who have connections with Kitakyushu, including Mori Ogai, and Seicho Matsumoto, who has a whole museum devoted to him nearby.

Saga Castle Palace

Saga Castle Palace

The Saga Castle History Museum is housed in one of the biggest wooden reconstructions in Japan.

When I first visited in early January 2014, they were getting ready for a concert by massed koto and shakuhachi. The gendered roles are telling. The men wore western-style suits implying modernity and the women wore kimonos, representing tradition.

It is a reconstruction of part of the palace that was built on the site following a fire at the castle in 1835. It was mostly destroyed in the Saga rebellion in 1874.

Though only about one-third of the former palace has been rebuilt, it is still massive, covering 2,500 sq m, and using 700 tatami mats, 320 being used in the great hall where the concert was taking place.

There are various historical exhibits scattered around the building, but they tend to be somewhat swallowed up in the vastness of the place.

The vastness of the place is a large part of its attractiveness. What was disappointing was there was no ostentatious decoration as I have seen at other palaces in Japan. However, entry is free and that is good.

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest