Abuto Kannon

 

Abuto Kannon is a Kannon Hall perched on a rocky outcropping overlooking the Inland Sea at the southern tip of Numakuma Peninsula between Fukuyama and Onomichi.

It has been promoted by local tourist authorities in recent years but is still hard to reach and virtually unkown.

It is part of Bandai-ji Temple,  which claims  an origin of 992, and is now a Rinzai Zen temple

However, the real history is lost in time, although for sure it is said to have been rebuilt in 1338 and then once again fell into disrepair.

It was certainly rebuilt in 1570 which is when Mori Terumoto built the Kannon Hall.

The legend says that a local fisherman found a Kannon statue in his net and placed it on the rocks where the hall is now.

The kannon Hall is a registered National Important Cultural Property.

I arrived from Tomonoura on a footpath that leads down from the main road and then approaches the hall from the East.

From the temple a covered corridor leads up to the hall which has an open veranda on three sides.

The views are amazing.

As well as safety at sea, the temple has a reputation for childbirth and child-rearing.

Abuto Kannon has the biggest collection of breast-shaped ema votive plaques I have seen outside of Karube Shrine which I had visited a few days earlier.

There is no public transport to Bandaiji Temple.

A nearby ryokan will organize a viewing of Abuto Kannon from the sea if enough people sign up.

This was my first stop on day 11 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and entailed making a long detour off the most direct route, but was well worth it.

The previous post was on the Yosakoi dancing at the Fukuyama Summer Festival the evening before.