Dark & Stormy Kuroshio Coast

 

December 2nd, 2011, and day 21 of my walk around Shikoku on the Ohenro Pilgrimage begins under a cloudy sky, though the rain of yesterday has abated.

Kuroshio is the name of a north Pacific current that passes along the Pacific Coast of Japan.

Here at the southern extreme of Shikoku, where the current passes, there is also a town called Kuroshio, where I will mostly be today.

As usual I tried to stop in at every shrine I passed, but this one was too far off the main road so gave it a miss.

On this section of coast the sea was much calmer than yesterday evening when I reached the coast.

Passing through Ida Port I did visit the next shrine.

It is a Tenmangu enshrining the ancient courtier, Sugawara Michizane.

Often used by students praying for exam success, Tenmangu shrines increased somewhat in the late 19th century as a preferred "national" shrine....

There was no signboard so have no info on the history.

Nearby was Kannonji, a very small temple.

There was a tsuyado here, free lodgings for walking pilgrims, and I had thought about staying here but it got dark too quickly yesterday so instead of chancing it I stayed in a henro hut.

Next up a small Ebisu shrine. As kami for fishermen, Ebisu is very common on the coast.

While it is not actually raining, the air is more than damp.

The way ahead looks like darker , windier weather....

It costs a lot to have old cars disposed of in Japan, which is why in the countryside you can often see abandoned cars slowly begining to decompose...... very slowly....

This small shrine is a Yaku Shrine..... no details....

The Sunahama Museum is a little free museum on the beach.

The skeleton of a Minke whale was impressive....

Across the Minato River....

And then across the bigger Fukigami River...

The previous post was yesterday's walk over the mountains to reach the Kuroshio Coast.

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From Kushiro-cho to Tsuda-cho

 

The end of day 33 was fast coming to a close and so after visiting Kushirogahime Shrine I headed towards Iwami Tsuda Station where I could take a train back home.

This little rail bridge across the mouth of the Enda River gives a clear impression of how secnic the whole San-in Rail line is in Shimane and Yamaguchi.

Up ahead, the beach runs up to the Unohana Peninsula, and on the other side of the peninsula my destination.

The peninsula is home to a group of kofun, burial mounds, some quite large. Obviously important people of the area. The tombs date to the  6th and 7th centuries and the chambers are lined with stones in the  style of north Kyushu and Korea.

After visiting the Toda Hachimangu, I arrive at Tsuda. The station name is Iwami Tsuda to distinguish it from another Tsuda up country.

Walking through the village to the station I came upon this quite remarkable collection of "folk art".

Obviously a beachcomber who makes whimsical sculptures and characters out of driftwood and rope, and plastic bouys of various sizes....

I came back here a few years later and his collection had expanded...

One more stop at the shrine next to the station....

The previous post was on Toda Hachimangu Shrine that I had stopped in at.

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Sanmei-in Temple 8 Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

The 2nd of March, 2018, and I begin day 6 of my walk around Kyushu on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage in the rural suburbs of Nakatsu. The first 5 days were spent in the Kunisaki Peninsula.

Sanmei-in is temple number 8 on the pilgrimage, and the Fudo is enshrined within the Goma Hall. I had visited this temple some years ago as it is also temple 20 on the Kyushu 108 Pilgrimage. That post can be viewed here.

It is a pretty new temple, founded after the experience of the priest performing austerities for 50 days on a sacred mountain.

each time I have visited the main hall, the elevated hexagonal building was closed.

It houses an eleven-faced, thousand-armed Kannon.

The Fudo in the Goma Hall is a "stand-in" as the original statue split in half during a ritual for the healing of the priest's father.

It is a Shingon temple and has a miniature Shikoku Pilgrimage in the grounds.

The previous post was on Miyahata Shrine, my last stop on day 5.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.