A Walk from Oi to Abu

 

Oshima Island, about 4 kilometers offshore from Oi on the mainland of Yamaguchi, has only one settlement, but big enough to have a small supermarket and an elementary school.

Oi has quite a large cemetery. In my area, we have no big cemeteries as graves and tombs are scattered throughout the community.

Along the way, a Buddhist statue with Inari fox guardians.....

The Ooi River begins about 10 kilometers away to the NE as the crow flies.

On this side of the river another shrine, this one a little smaller.

Like the previous shrine, Takakura Arahito Shrine, this one is also an Arahito shrine, and also has no informstion on site or on the internet.

The carving above the entrance to the main building perhaps offers a clue. It appears to depict some type of "wild" deity, suppressing a Jyaku, a lind of demon. Usually the Buddhist Shitenno, the four heavenly kings, are depicted this way. The main figure could also be Shoki, a Daoist "demon-queller, often equated with Susano.

My guess would be that Susano is now the kami enshrined in these Arahito shrines.

Up ahead the headland with the settlement of Abu...

More cormorants. I would guess that the differing head appearances would be due to gender or mating season factors...

It's a scenic section of coast, with plenty of rocky outcropping protruding from the sea. Nice to walk, cycle, drive, or take the train along.

This bird is, I believe, a Blue Rock Thrush, called isohirodori. I believe this one is male.

The previous post in this series on day 30 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Takakura Arahito Shrine.

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