Chichi Sugi... the Boob Cedar

Chichi Sugi, which translates as Boob Cedar is an 800 year old tree on the slopes of Mount Daimanji on Dogo, the biggest of the Oki Islands in the Japan Sea off the coast of Shimane.

It is an Urasugi, a species that grows on the Japan Sea side of the main Japanese island of Honshu.

Heavy snowfall causes the trees to produce stronger lateral branches that then grow vertically.

The rounded protuberances growing down from the branches... which is the origin of its nickname "boob", are believed to help absorb moisture from the air.

The other two species of sugi that grow in Japan are the Omotesugi which grows over the rest of Honshu and Shikoku, and the Yakusgi in southern Kyushu.

Cold air rising from the gaps between the big rocks that form the slope meets warm air from the sea, and mean that the area is often misty and foggy which adds to the otherworldly atmosphere.

As with many old, large, or unusual trees in Japan, it is marked as sacred by a shimenawa wrapped around it and a torii gate in front.

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A Lovely Walk from Kiyo to Utago

 

I began day 31 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage at Kiyo, a fishing harbour on the north coast of Yamaguchi

Its late March, and so Spring is gathering steam on the land....

Kiyo's little harbour only has a few small boats..... there is a beach here, and a surf shop suggests surfing, though I have not seen any on my trips here....

This whole section of coastline, from a couple of days walking further up the coast, to 5 or 6 days walking down the coast, is part of the Kita Nagato Coast National Park..... or maybe it's a Quasi National Park...

Anyway, it is a delightful stretch of coastline, but off most tourists radar...

The first half of today's walk hugs the coastline, literally. From the sidewalk, I can drop a stone into the water.

A few small, craggy islands and a rocky headland with cliffs make for a dramatic sight...

When the sky is blue, and the wind is minimal or non-existent, the water is incredibly clear...

The train line from Masuda to Hagi also hugs this coastline for most of the way. With only a few trains a day, all of them slow trains, it is not a bad way to spend a few hours...

Up ahead, the next settlement, Utago....

Fibreglass fishing boats don't decompose gracefully like wooden ones.....

Utago is a bit more substantial than Kiyo.....

The previous post was on the sights that ended yesterday's leg of the journey, 

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Baby Sumo & the God of Sweets

 

Kitsumoto, a remote settlement along the Kumano Kodo, turned out to be a delightful surprise. Not only is it a scenic, traditional village in itself, but the two shrines in the village are both home to some unique features.

Located on the Yuasa to Kainan section of the Kiiji Route of the Kumano Kodo, the old Imperial route from the capital down to the Kumano sanzan shrines, I was walking in reverse as the first part of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

At the first shrine I came to, Yamaji Oji Shrine, a small sumo ring was just inside the grounds. This was for Naki Sumo, sometimes called Crying Baby Sumo. It is fairly common and found in numerous sites around Japan. a "bout" will involve a pair of infants, with the first infant to cry being declared the winner. If they cry simultaneously, then the louder baby wins. The Japanese believe that a crying baby can ward off demons and that loud crying increases the health of  a baby.

Yamaji Oji shrine is one of the 99 Oji shrines along the imperial route that were resting and stopping places for elite pilgrims.

In earlier times this one was known as Ichitsubo Oji or Kutsukake Oji.

An inscription on the main building is dated to 1680, which suggests that is when it was constructed.

The bell tower has the name of the temple that was part of the site until its removal in 1868.

As a tutelary shrine, Yamaji-oji is listed as an enshrined kami, along with Ojin (Hachiman), and Amaterasu. I would also suspect that the Kumano Sanzan are now enshrined here.

Heading down the long, narrow valley, the next shrine is Kitsumoto Shrine.

It is also the site of an Oji shrine, Tokorozaka Oji, but is most well known for enshrining the "God of Sweets"

The kami enshrined here is Tajimamori. According to the myth-legend, he was sent by Emperor Suinin to a mythical realm to find a magical fruit. What he brought back was Tachibana, said to be the source of all the mikan fruits in Japan.

A tachibana tree in the shrine grounds is said to be the latest of cuttings made from the original tree planted here. The daimyo of the domain in the Edo period made mikan production a priority as the hills were too steep for rice terraces, and so that is why I had been passing through so much orange country the last day.

In ancient times the fruit was considered a sweet, and so Tajimamori became known as the kami of sweets. Confectionery companies of all kinds send offering to the annual festival here, although there are other shrines in the country connected to Tajimamori as well.

The previous post in this series on day 8 of my walk along the Kumano Kodo and Saigoku Pilgrimages was on the walk over the mountain pass to get to Kitsumoto.

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Married Islands & Sugawara Shrine

 

Approaching Abu, 2 small islands lie just offshore.

The smaller island is named Megashima, which means Doe Island. It has a single torii and may have a hokura.

The larger island is named Ogashima, which means Stag Island. It has several torii and some shrine buildings. It is a branch of Kashima Shrine.

Being male and female islands, they are known as Married Couple Islands.

In Abu itself, the main shrine is a Sugawara Shrine.

Obviously Sugawara Michizane is enshried here.... same as in Tenmangu shrines or Tenjin shrines.... though am not sure why they have different names.

These shachi on the roof of a small hokoro were quite unusual...

Many shrines to Sugawara have an ox statue, from the ox that was carrying his coffin in Dazaifu and then stopped. At that spot Dazaifu Tenmangu was built, though until Meiji it was actually a temple.

There was no signboard at the shrine, and I can not find any information about the shrine online in either Japanese or English...

There were some nice paintings on the ceiling and a fairly unusual pair of komainu

The previous post in this series on day 3 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the walk from Oi to here...

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.