Koi Pond at Kaburaiji Temple

 

Kaburaiji is said to be an ancient temple founded by Shotoku Taishi.

It is located near Sanda in Hyogo, at the site of his mother's birthplace.

I will cover the temple in the next post, but for now some shots of the pond in front of the main hall filled with koi.

I was here as Kaburaiji is the next temple on the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I am walking.

I didn't see them, but the temple is known for growing the oldest type of lotus in Japan.

The previous post was on the interior of the nearby excellent Natural History Museum

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Sights Seen Down the Isa River to the Kando River

 

After leaving Izuchi Shrine, I continued on down the Isa River.

After a while I came across a very unusual sight for Japan...... a sheep!!

I have occasionally seen goats, but sheep are very, very rare in the Japanese countryside...

Quite common in the mountains of Izumo are thatched houses....

Yoshikuri Mountain once had a castle on it. It was destroyed during the Amago-Mori fighting of the 16th cetury. The Izumo Fudoki also records that various trees were cut from the mountain and ised to construct Izumo Taisha.

The Isa flows into the Kando River, a bigger river that I did spend three days walking down many years ago. There are more houses and traffic now.

I pass a couple of thatched buildings right next to the road. I looked on Google Street View and couldn't find them so I suspect hat have been demolished.

After a short distance, I turn off from the Kando and head up the Susa River and find a nice spot overlooking the river to spend the night.

The previous post was on the upper part of the Isa River.

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Fujishiro Oji Shrine

 

Fujishiro Oji Shrine in Kainan, Wakayama, used to be considered the entrance to Kumano. The Kiiji Route, the main route of the Kumano Kodo, ran from Kyoto and then through Osaka and Wakayama. This route was primarily coastal or following rivers. From Fujishiro Oji the route heads into the mountains for the first time.

Of the 99 Oji, shrines where pilgrims stopped on the way to Kumano, Fujishiro was considered to be in the group of five most important Oji.

The shrine claims to have been founded during the reign of Emperor Keiko, said to have ruled in the first and second centuries. Historically, this is absurd, so let's say it's an ancient shrine.

The primary kami enshrined is Nigihayahi, a kami claiming descent from heaven and claimed as ancestor by the Mononobe. Seems Nigihayahi ruled over Yamato until Jimmu's expedition from Kyushu. Nigihayahahi submitted to Jimmu.

Other kami enshrined include Amaterasu and of course the Kumano trio.

The Ezra Stone, above photo left, is explained by the signboard below. If you offer sake to the stone and pray, you will become averse to alcohol.

Quite a delightful wooden horse.

The main hall of the shrine dates to mid 17th century.

The shrine is very proud to still have a trio of Heian Period Buddhist statues that represented the Kumano trio. The statues were not destroyed in 1868 like at many other shrines....

There are a multitude of secondary shrines within the grounds, including an Arima Oji Shrine enshrining Prince Arima who tragically died on the pilgrim trail above Fujishiro.

This giant camphor tree is listed as Komorigusu Shrine and is connected to Minakata Kumagusu. At the end of the post is an even bigger and older camphor tree.

Other shrines in the grounds include an Ebisu Shrine, Gion Shrine, Akiba Shrine, and Sumiyoshi Shrine.

The shrine is registered as a museum that includes all these sites as well as a reconstructed residence and garden of the Suzuki family. I Can't show it because it was built after my visit.

For generations, the Suzuki have been hereditary priests of the shrine, and it is believed that this is the origin of the Suzuki name.

Suzuki is a common family name as well as being a manufacturer of motorbikes and cars. My wife's sister married a Suzuki.

The previous post was on the last leg of the Kumano Kodo coming down to Fujishiro Shrine.

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Down the Isa River from Hachimangu to Izuchi Shrine

 

After passing by the entrance to Mount Sanbe, my route continued west down the Isa River.

My first stop, in the village of Yamaguchi, was the village Hachiman Shrine.

It was established in 1095, but I can't find from which "mother" shrine it is from, Usa, or Iwashimizu I think it is a little too early to be a branch of Tsurugaoka.

Curiously it only lists Ojin and Jingu. No mention of Chuai or any consort kami.

The style of architecture with glass doors on three sides of the worship hall is unusual.

Heading down the Isa River, the Yaezakura, the late cherry blossom with thick, pink blossoms appears several times.... I find it much nicer than the Yoshino cherries that dominate...

Of course, lots of other flowers are around at this time..

At some point as I approach Izuchi Shrine I pass from Iwami into Izumo..... it would have been clearly demarcated in earlier times....

Izuchi Shrine is written as Ijitsu Shrine on Googlemaps. It was known as Wakaichi Gongen until 1868.

It enshrines Kunisatsuchi no mikoto, a fairly obscure kami mentioned early in the myths and then disappearing. The honden dates back to 1812.

The previous post was on the delightful scenery of flooded rice paddies around the base of Mount Sanbe.

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