Tomonoura Temple Walk Part 1

 

Tomonoura is an historic port on the coast near Fukuyama. In mid August I walked around the town before visiting the Historic Preservation District.

I decided to explore the large number of temples along the hills at the back of the town.

As it was Obon, many of the temples had curtains on the gates and main halls displaying the temple crest.

The first nine photos are from Ankokuji Temple, a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1273.

Originally called Konpo-ji, in 1339 the Ashikaga Shogun designated it an Ankoku Temple, one established in every province. The Ankoku system was an attempt for the samurai class to establish a national temple system for political purposes in a similar way to the establishment of the Kokubunji temple centuries earlier.

The Shakado Hall was originally the main hall of Konpji Temple and is a fine example of the Chinese style Zen architecture of the time. It was extensively repaired in the 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries.

It is a National Important Cultural Property, a;long with the triad of statues inside.

The first photo of this post is a Jizo statue also dating back to the Kamakura Period.

Immediately adjacent to Ankokuji is Shohoji Temple, another Zen temple.

Founded in 1598, it is also a Rinzai temple, a branch of Myoshinji.

In its early days it is said to have had a delightful garden, though it no longer exists. It is also said that Korean Delegations on their way to Kyoto were lodged here.

There is a small dry garden dotted with Jizo statues.

In plan form it is a "circle, triangle, square" garden favored by some zen gardeners and based on a famous piece of calligraphy.

Some of the Jizo statues are old, but some are of the more modern "cute" style.

When I was there the lotus was blooming....

Not far away was Jitokuin, yet another Rinzai Zen temple. Founded in 1601 with a Kannon as honzon, the small hall pictured above contains a Yakushi statue "brought" from Korea. In reality probably looted during Hideyoshis invasion.

Honganji was much larger and more important in earlier times. said to have been founded in the 13th century, it is a Jushu Sect temple, one of the lesser Pure Land Sects.

A lot of the temple town area has narrow lanes with high walls and is quite evocative.

Overseeing the area is Nunakuma Shrine, the main shrine of the town. Originally two shrines, both with ancient origins, the Watatsu Shrine, said to be established by Jingu on her return from her failed invasion of Korea, and a Gion Shrine dating from at least the Nara Period.

On this visit I didn't go in, but I will post about it later. In late Meiji with the shrine consolidation program the two shrines were merged and renamed Nunakuma Shrine.

Daikanji was curious because the gate carried a different crest than the main hall. Founded in the 12th century as a Shingon Temple, it later spent a century as a Pure Land Temple before reverting to Shingon in the 16th century.

However it seems that it was established by merging 5 different temples in 1938., with one of the former temples also used to lodge senior Korean envoys.

The new main hall was built following a fire in 2014.

Myorenji was founded at the start of the 17th century.

It is a Nichiren sect temple and was supported by the local Daimyo of the time, Mizuno Katsutoshi. The main temple structures date back to the mid 18th century.

The previous post in this series on day 10 of my Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the National Treasure,  temple 8 Myoo-in.

Mitarai Historic Preservation District

Mitarai is a well-preserved historic district on an island in the middle of the Inland Sea, its location being one of the main reasons it escaped redevelopment and modernization

Mitarai rose to prominence in the Edo Period as a safe harbour for the ships of this busy marine travel route. Mr Miyamoto, who unfortunately is no longer in business, was a boatbuilder who then turned to making realistic scale models of the kinds of vessels that plied these waters.

Mr Miyamotos premises were formerly one of the many waterfront teahouses that the port was famous for.

Of course "teahouse" really had very little to do with tea but is a codeword for brothel.

While ships would wait in the harbour for favorable tides and winds, the sailors and passengers would be entertained by young ladies.

A ranking system for "nighttime entertainment" districts was regularly published, like sumo rankings after which it was modelled, and Mitari was considered one of the top such districts in all of Japan.

Even after the introduction of steam-powered vessels, when the need for the harbour ceased to be, ships would still stop here.

Wakaebisuya was one of the top "teahouses" in Mitarai and catered to the high-end of the clientele, and it is said more than 100 girls worked here. There were many other teahouses and so the total number of prostitues was in the thousands. The 5 photos below are of Wakaebisuya, which is now open to the public.

It is said that in Wakaebisuya the daimyo of Kumamoto once spent 1,000 gold pieces in a single night.

sailors who had to stay on board their boats were served by girls who were ferried out to the ships in a kind of boat called Ochirofune.

The town continued to be known for its entertainment right up until the 1956 anti-prostitution law which put vpaid to many such districts across Japan.

Mitarai remained forgotten until 1999 when a series of bridges connected this group of islands to each other and the mainland.

MItarai was recognized as a Historical Preservation District not long afterwards and started to attract some more visitors, but still there were very limited options for eating or accommodation.

However, the 2021 Oscar-winning movie "Drive My Car" was partially filmed here and now there are several more lodging and dining choices.

As well as Wakaebisuya, there are several traditional buildings open to visitors.

Though only built in 1937, the Otome-za is a traditional Japanese theatre that was converted briefly into a cinema but has been restored to its former glory.

There is almost no public transport to easily reach Mitarai. There are some small ferries that connect to Omishima on the famed Shimanami Kaido route, and you can drive across the bridges from near Kure in Hiroshima.

Many people visit by bike as the Tobiishima Kaido is a cycle route along the islands, and of course its possible to connect with a short ferry ride to Omishima.

There is not much else to see on the island, but at the other end of the Tobiishima kaido the Shotoen is  well worth a visit.

The previous post in this series was on the walk along the islands to get here.