Yuasa Birthplace of Soy Sauce

 

Yuasa is a small town and port on the coast of Wakayama and once a resting point on the Kiiji Route of the Kumano Kodo, which was the reason I was visiting.

Enough of the old town and its architecture remain so that Yuasa was registered as an Historic Preservation Distrist, the only one in the whole prefecture.

Some of the preservation districts are big tourist spots, like Gion, or Kurashiki, and they are filled with cafes and souvenir shops, but Yuasa is more the kind I prefer, somewhat run-down and with few outsiders....

More recently, Yuasa was registered as  a Japan Heritage Site, and so the increased funding and exposure has brought more visitors and some gentrification.

The reason is that Yuasa has a claim to be the birthplace of soy sauce.

According to the story, a Buddhist monk settled in Yuasa in the 13th century after returning from his studies in Chima.

He brought back a style of miso-making called kinzanji in Japanese. This produced a small amount of liquid that proved to be delicious as seasoning, so the local miso makers created a production method that increased the amount of this liquid, and so soy sauce was born.

Soy sauce production grew in the town with about 90 companies operating here in the Edo Period.

Only a handful remain, with Yuasa Soy Sauce Company being the biggest.

The tone hosts what it called the Seiro Museum. Seiro are wooden trays used in the production of soy sauce.

They are used as a frame to make displays of things related to everyday life in Yuasa.

They can be found throughout the historic district.

Since I visited there are now various ways to delve more deeply into the history of Soy in Yuasa, including factory tours.

Also, like Shodoshima and other locations in Japan, soy sauce-flavoured ice cream is on sale.

The first photo of the post, and the last couple, show the Kadocho Soy Sauce Brewery.

The previous post in this series on walking the Saigoku Pilgrimage and Kumano Kodo was on Jinsenji Temple in Yuasa.

Buttsuji Temple 12 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Like many Zen temples and monasteries, Buttsuji displays a portrait of Bodhidharma, the legendary monk credited with introducing Zen.

Located in the mountains north of Mihara on the coast of Hiroshima, Buttsuji was a huge monastery complex in its heyday.

Though much reduced in size since then, there are still multiple structures on either side of the Buttsuji River.

It was founded in 1397 as a Rinzai sect Zen temple.

At its peak it had 88 sub temples and 3,000 branch temples.

On the narrow road approaching the temple are several of the former sub-temples, like Yotoku-in , the second photo of this post.

The temple suffered periodic declines and rebuilding during the long period of warfare among the various clans vying for power and other fires.

In 1795 a big fire destroyed many of the main buildings but they were rebuilt by 1805.

In 1905 it became the head temple of the Buttsuji branch of Rinzai, with currently 47 branch temples.

WhenI visited on this trip the leaves were only just beginning to turn, but later the temple will attract many visitors for the full autumn splendor.

Earlier I posted on the small pond garden and the large karesansui garden....

The Lecture Hall dates to 1805 and has a seated Shaka Nyorai flanked by Manjusri and Fugen. The two photos above and the one below.

On  the other side of the river steps lead up to the Pagoda.

Below the pagoda are several other statues

The previous post was on the statues of the 500 rakan at Buttsuji.

Nishinotaki Ryusui Temple 42 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

I arrived at Nishinotaki Temple via the mountain footpath that ran from temple 41, Bukkokusan, so I didn't see the quite dramatic entry approach until I left.

Nishinotaki epitomizes all that is so great about the Shodoshima Pilgrimage:- a cave, fantastic views, and lots of Fudo Myoo....

The entrance to the small cave is beside main hall.

Inside is a sacred spring, and according to the various legends  it concerns a dragon that attacked a local village and was pacified and confined in the cave resulting in the sacred spring today.

The honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

A forest fire in 1970 destroyed all the buildings.

The Goma-do is a vermillion, concrete structure with the best views... photo 17 below

A little further up the mountain is a Fudo statues with attendants... photo 14 below.

There are several other Fudo statues including the one on the altar in the goma-do photo 11 below

For those who come by car there is a long staircase lined with lanterns

Nishinotaki is the okunoin of temple 33, Choshoji, which I visited the day before. It had a lovely karensansui grounds.

The previous post was on temple 41 Bukkokusan.