Yutoku Inari Shrine Part 2 Up Above

 

This is the second half of a piece on the famous Yutoku Inari Shrine in Kashima Saga. The first part, Yutoku Inari Shrine Part 1 Down Below,  looked at the shrine and its buildings at ground level.

The main hall of the shrine is on top of an 18-meter-high platform extending out from the hillside. Steps lead up but there is also a recently installed elevator.

Like the Romon and Kaguraden down below, the main hall is unusually decorative and colorful.

On the hillside across the river is Yutoku Inari Park, sometimes called the Outer Garden. In mid-February, it's not very colorful but in the Spring and Autumn, it is. From the park, there are numerous observatories to view the shrine

Above the main hall is the Okunoin, the inner shrine, and leading up to it are several paths lined with the corridors of red torii, a  typical feature of Inari shrines.

Each torii is usually, but not always, donated by a business, and their name is painted on it. Inari is a very popular kami for businesses with many private shrines erected on business premises.

Inari is, by one method of counting, the most popular shrine in Japan, though it did not become so popular until the Edo Period.

There is no mention of Inari in the ancient texts, though in Meiji the government established it within the imperial pantheon by deciding that it was, in fact, Ukanomitama, though in reality, like most deities in Japan, Inari has a multitude of identities, origins, and forms.

On the way to the inner shrine you pass numerous smaller shrines and altars, all to different manifestations of Inari.

The original Inari Shrine, and now the head shrine for all Inari shrines, is Fushimi Inari in the south of Kyoto, founded by the mysterious Hata Clan.

Yutoku Inari was established by the wife of one of the Nabeshima lords, rulers of the Kashima area.

Yutoku Inari was considered the family shrine of the Nabeshima, and nearby is the family temple of the Nabeshima, Fumyoji, and while Yutoku Inari is very popular, Fumyoji is almost derelict.

Yutoku Inari Shrine Part 1 Down Below

 

Yutoku Inari Shrine near Kashima in Saga is considered one of the three great Inari shrines of Japan.

Though not so easy to access it still gets more than three million visitors a year.

The approach road to the shrine is flanked by a pair of giant lanterns and then a large torii straddles the street of souvenir shops that line the entrance.

The shrine was founded in 1687 by the wife of the Nabeshima Lord who ruled the area, and was operated as their family shrine.

The Romon, main gate, is particularly colorful and decorative and so the shrine has earned the nickname of " The Nikko of Kyushu".

The main hall of the shrine is built upon an 18 meter high platform exending from the hillside, similar to the famous Kiyimziudera temple in Kyoto.

Iwasaki Shrine at the base of the platform is dedicated to those seeking love.

Steps lead up to the main hall, though on a more recent visit I noticed a new elevator in a glass structure.

There is a formal Japanese garden outside the main entrance, and across the valley is the park-like outer garden with many observation points to view the shrine complex. When the azaleas are in bloom in the spring it is very colorful.

The shrine also has a museum containing armour and other historical artifacts from the Nabeshima.

I have visited twice and on both occasions there were few visitors. When the azaleas bloom and when the shrine holds festivals I suspect it gets busier.

In part two I show details of the main hall and the "tunnels" of torii that lead up to the okunoin.

I took a small detour to visit Yutoku Inari while walking day 59 of the Kyushu Pilgrimage.

Part 2 Yutoku Inari Up Above. 14 more photos....

Kawahira

 

Walking up the right bank of the Gonokawa, Kawahira is the first main inlet coming into the river. From Kawahira the road heads into the mountains and then forks with the older road heading into Gotsu from behind, and the newer road heading further inland to Atoichi and onto Arifuku.

One section of Kawahira has been completely re-engineered and raised several metres, ostensibly to prevent flooding. Lots of free, new houses for the few residents remaining, and of course lots for the construction and concrete companies. Kawahira no longer has any shops but it does hve a Post Office and a Koban, a rural police box.

It also had the first proper station on the closed Sanko Line. The other two stops between here and Gotsu, Chigane, and Gotsu Honmachi, were just "halts", platforms with a small shelter, whereas Kawahira has a building, toilets, and what used to be a ticket office.

Kawahira has the first bridge across the Gonokawa after those at its mouth in Gotsu. Though my plan is to walk up the right bank I have to cross the river at this point to the left bank. From here up to Kawado, there is no road on the right bank, the only section along the whole river. The rail line is on the right bank, and back when it ran the trains were so infrequent that I have walked along the line several times in this section, but since the line closed down the tracks have become choked with undergrowth and its no longer possible to walk it.

Ive been to the main shrine in Kawahira several times for matsuri to watch kagura, and one time to watch  Omoto Kagura, the shamanic form that only survives in this area of Japan, but the most common reason to visit Kawahira is for the Tauebayashi, the rice-planting festival.

As my plan is to explore the left bank by walking downstream from the source, I hop on a bus and plan the next leg from Kawado on up. The previous post in this series "To The Source" was To Kawahira

Fumyo-ji Temple Kashima

 

I have to admit that I thought that Fumyoji was an abandoned temple when I passed by the entrance.

It was mid-winter so all the trees and plants were bare, but the paths were overgrown with weeds and there was no sign of any recent maintenance or human activity of any kind.

Fumyoji was established in 1677 as the family temple for the local rulers, the Nabeshima Family. In the woods behind the min hall are the graves of successive lords of the domain, though I did not venture to them.

Kashima Domain was quite a small domain, actually a sub-domain of Saga. They were not big enough to be allowed a castle. Fumyoji was an Obaku sect temple. Obaku being the most recent form of Zen Buddhism introduced into Japan via Nagasaki earlier in the 17th century.

Fumyoji is said to be modeled on Manpuku-ji in Kyoto, the head temple of the sect.

The previous post in this series exploring day 59 of my walk around Kyushu was Tanjo-in Temple.

Meimei-an Teahouse Gardens

 

A Teahouse Garden, called roji or chatei, differs from the other two main types of Japanese garden, the karesansui, dry garden, often called zen garden, and the chisen-teien, or pond garden, and of course shares some features with them.

The Teahouse is meant to represent a rustic mountain hut, and the roji is what is passed through to reach the teahouse and therefore is the first part of the tea ceremony itself.

These photos are from Meimei-an, a  traditional teahouse in Matsue associated with the great Tea Master Fumai Matsudaira.

A fundamental feature of the roji will be the stones that make up the path to the teahouse. Tobiishi are stepping stones, and Nobedan, sometimes called tatami-ishi, are paving stones.

The path will pass by a Tsukubai, a washbasin where the visitor will purify themselves. Usually there will be a lantern behind the tsukubai.

All of the different stones arranged around the tsukubai have different names and functions.

These last two photos are of the garden of the Akayama Tea Ceremony Hall, open to the public where visitors can enjoy a cup of matcha with traditional sweets while enjoying the view of the Meimei-an Teahouse

The previous post has photos and more details about the Meimei-an Teahouse.