Mouth of the Hashimoto River

 

A few miles before reaching the Sea of Japan, the Abu River in Yamaguchi splits into two channels, the eastern being named the Matsumoto River, and the western being the Hashimoto River.

The island of land between them is where the castle town of Hagi was built at the start of the 17th century.

I walked along the west bank of the Hashimoto River from Daisho-in temple to Kannon-in temple.

At the mouth of the river is the fishing village of Tamae.

I am not sure what type of seaweed is out drying,....but my guess would be a species of kelp,... maybe kombu?

From Tamae over the river to Hagi jokamachi is Tokiwa Bridge. Actually two parallel bridges, one for pedestrians, one for vehicles. Mount Shizuka, with the castle ruins at its base, is clearly visible.

Looking back to Kannon-in and its pagoda-like Kannon Hall.

On the other side, the samurai district.....

Looking upstream ro where I had walked from.....

The next pilgrimage temple is 100 kilometers away in Hamada and my route will be along the scenic coastline of the Sea of Japan.

This is a channel that cuts across the corner of the island from the Hashimoto River to the sea. Not sure how much of it is man-made as it seems to be part of an outer moat system...

The final photo is a Kite. click here for another post with kites in flight..

The previous post was on Tamae Kannon-in Temple.

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Ushi-zuki. Bull Sumo in the Oki Islands

 

Bullfighting takes place in numerous areas across the country of Japan, but it is not the man versus bull familiar in the West, but rather "bull sumo", called ushi-zuki here in the Oki Islands, where 2 bulls "fight" each other.

There are 4 rings where the sport in held on Dogo, the main island of the Oki Islands. Three are outdoors, but one is covered and is where demonstration bouts are held for tourists.

It is said that the sport began in the 13th century as entertainment for the exiled Emperor Gotoba on neighbouring Nakanoshima island, but it is no longer held there.

The bouts are organized by weight groupings, not by age.

Each bull has a handler holding a rope connected to the nose ring, and can pull the bulls apart if it looks like injury may occur.

The two bulls lock horns and then attempt to push each other, sometimes spinning. Once one backs down the bout is over, but ut can take up to ten minutes, so is longer than human sumo.

It is claimed that there is no gambling involved, but I remain sceptical. Gambling is technically illegal in Japan,..... except for horse-racing, boat racing, lottery, and pachinko etc.....as a side note, cock-fighting was very widespread in Japan and dates back to ancient times, but I have never heard of any taking place nowadays.

The previous post in this series on the Oki Islands was on a fishing quay nearby.

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Tamae Kannon-in Temple 21 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

The 21st temple of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Kannon-in, is just a couple of kilometers from the 20th temple, Daisho-in.

Located in Tamae, a fishing village that overlooks the Hashimoto River and the castle town of Hagi on the opposite bank.

A temple stood here in the early 9th century but fell into disuse and disrepair.

In the mid 16th century it was revived and made a Rinzai Zen temple. 

The honzon is a Shaka Nyorai and the Kannon Hall enshrines an 11-faced Kannon, siad to have been found in the nets of local fishermen. Consequently, the temple has been favoured by fishermen for protection at sea.

The temple has burned down several times, but each time the statues survived.

The main hall and Kannon Hall date to the mid 19th century.

The previous post was on the garden at Daisho-in, a few kilometers away.

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From Onbara to Kurihara Bridge

 

On the third day of my walk up the Gonokawa River towards its source, I have passed through the boundaries of Gotsu City and Kawamoto Town and have entered Misato Town, a huge area of scattered vullages and uninhabited mountains straddling the river for the next few days.

I leave the small settlement of Onbara after visiting its shrine. A very quiet little place that the "main" road along the river bypasses.

It's mid-October and the Goldenrod is in full bloom. It's originally an American plant but since the mid 20th century and spread across Japan. It occupies the same ecological niche as the native Susuki, often referred to as Japanese Pampas Grass. Goldenrod is an invasive species seemingly taking over. In the US, Susuki is an invasive species seemingly crowding out Goldenrod. Balance of a kind I guess.

A narrow lane leads back to the riverbank. Kurihara Bridge is just ahead.

Several roadside altars have some offerings of coins and fresh flowers, and swept clean, attesting to the care given by at least one of the locals....

The previous post in this series was on Onbara Hachimangu, the local shrine.

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Shinjiteien Garden at Daisho-in

 

Daisho-in, the Rinzai Zen Temple in Hagi that is the 10th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage has a small pond and stroll garden next to the Shoin.

The front part of the temple consists mostly of a moss garden, though it was not well maintained last time I visited.

The Shinjiteien garden, named after the pond in the shape of the chinese character for "heart" is also not well maintained.

The gardens are not worth making a special trip for, but if you have limited time in Hagi and want to visit one of the big Mori cemetery temples, then I would prefer this one to Tokoji.

I have seen photos taken in the Autumn and they do look much nicer...

The previous post in this series was on Daisho-in temple itself and many of the statues...

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.