A Walk From Mine to Akiyoshidai

 

I set off long before the sun rose on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Not because I had a long distance to cover that day, only 15 kilometers,  but because there was a lot I wanted to explore at today's destination, and being only a week after the winter solstice, the days were very short.

There was a bit of frost on the ground and vegetation, but real winter had yet to arrive this winter.

On the way out of town I passed the entrance to the cement factory. When I arrived yesterday afternoon, there was no smoke either from the tall smokestacks, nor from the power plant, yet this morning bboth were belchimg smoke....

I pass several of these roadside stones with thick shimenawa circles around them..... must be a local tradition...

I stop by a couple of quite large shrines on the way and will cover them in upcoming posts...

I am still quite taken by these heavily pruned junipers....

I cross the Koto River, the biggest river I've seen in the last 24 hours...., and then I catch a glimpse up ahead of my destination, the unusual landscape of the Akiyoshidai Plateau.

The previous post was on the interesting little town of Mine with its couple of decent museums and history of mining. Got very few views for some reason or other.

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Toshi Daimyojin & Ryosho Daigongen Shrine

 

Heading south from Futagoji Temple I stopped in at a shrine that seems to have been closely connected to the temple.

Toshi Daimyoji Ryosho Daigingen Shrine is the old name for the shrine, the name written on the torii, but in Meiji when the kami and Buddhas were seperated it became simply Toshi Shrine.

The Toshi refers to Otoshi, one of the sons of Susanoo, a kami associated with agriculture, and also connected to "immigrant" groups.

The Ryosho Daigongen are much more fascinating. According to the legend, Ninmon, the legendary founder of the Rokugo Manzan temples on Kunisaki, established this shrine in 717. Next year he established the temples, including Futagoji.

According to the legend, he was practising austerities in the area and was bothered by a pair of kami who he "tamed" and convinced to become the guardian kami of Futagoji. They are enshrined in the okunoin as Ryosho Daigongen.

The pair are said to be a brother and sister,  twin children of Hachiman, the powerful kami whose head shrine is not far from Kunisaki. Interestingly, this was long before Hachiman became equated with Emperor Ojin.

Other than Futagoji Temple and this shrine, there seems to be little mention of Ryosho Daigongen other than a statue held in the treasure house of Usa Hachimangu.

Nowadays, the official kami listed are Otoshi and Izanagi and Izanami

Until Meiji, the rituals and ceremonies performed at the shrine were done by priests from the Futagoji complex.

Like many shrines on the Kunisaki Peninsula, Buddhist Nio guardians of stone can be found. The ones here are said to be unusual in that their eyes are made of copper plate.

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the Okunoin of Futagoji Temple.

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Fossils & Smokestacks. Mine City

 

Mine, pronounced mee-nay, is located roughly in the middle of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Though called a city, with about 20,000 people spread over the area, it is really just a small town. It is now dominated by the quarry and cement plant of Mitsubishi Ube Cement Company.

Cement means limestone, and Mine sits on a large karst, a limestone plateau with numerous caves beneath it, including what is the largest cave in all of Japan.

Lots of fossils have been found beneath Mine, and fossils adorn the manhole covers, are the subject of a series of street sculptures, and fill the small but impressive Mine Fossil Museum which has a huge collection of Ammonites collected from all over the world among its collections.

There is also a Local History and Folklore Museum with collections that include fossils and skeletons of some of the ancient animals that roamed the area, as well as displays on the long history of mining in the area.

Copper has been mined here since ancient times, and was used in the construction of the Great Buddha in Nara.

In the Meiji Period coal began to be mined. At first it was used in the production of lime by burning limestone, but when it was discovered to be good quality anthracite, the Japanese Navy became interested. As I understand it, it was from the coal mines that most of the fossils were found.

The Navy operated the coal mines here and built the railway to take it to the coast, but eventually pulled out and the mines became privately owned again. During the 1930's and 1940's production was ramped up for the war effort. During the war many Korean labourers worked here and then allied POW's.

Production of coal continued after the war until the 1960's when the whole Japanese coal industry was closed down as the country shifted to cheaper oil.

Mine is now dominated by the open-cast limestone mine and associated cement plant. The two huge chimneys are visible long before you get to the town. I believe that a third has been added.

The mine started in 1947 and the cement factory in 1955. Initially, it was powered by coal but now uses "biomass". Though the main employer in the area, it never replaced the importance of the coal industry and the area continues to depopulate...

The last three photos show a small  Brutalist building, which offers me the opportunity for some abstract photography, and finally a public sculpture.

For those with an interest in geology and fossils, Mine would be worth a visit if nearby. There is a train station, though for several years the line has been closed and a replacement bus service is in operation.

The previous post in this series on day 26 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on a couple of interesting shrines I visited on my walk to Mine.

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Kunibiki Messe Atrium

 

The Kunibiki Messe is a huge convention and exhibition centre in Matsue, Shimane.

The utilitarian fire escape on the side of the main building has been photographd by me several times as the shadow creates an intriguing pattern.

Outside is a huge, red, abstract steel sculpture. No idea who made it, although it is included in the Kunibiki Messe logo.

Kunibiki Messe was designed by one of my favorite architects, Shin Takamatsu, born in Iwami and designer of quite a few public buildings in Shimane.

It opened in 1993.

My main focus in this post is on the atrium.

Filled with metallic, and glass,  geometric shapes,..... cylinders, spheres, cones, it feels like a playful space..

The oval cycliner that crosses through the upper space carries an escalator.

Some of the forms were cordoned off and entry not allowed, which was a shame...

A few people use the space, though its main function seems to be decorative. It is hard to do anything interesting architecturally with what is basically a huge space like a factory or a hangar....

The previous post in this series on Matsue, was on the thatched teahouse Kangetsuan.

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Hara Hachimangu & Jingukogo Shrine

 

While walking from Chofu to Mine I stopped in at a couple of shrines. The first a Hachimangu in the village of Hara.

It is said to have been founded around 1420 as a branch of Hakozaki Shrine, the famous Hachiman Shrine involved in the defense against the Mongol invasion in what is now Fukuoka.

As well as the standard Hachiman trio of Ojin, Jingu, and Chuai, it also enshrined the three Munakata princesses.

The shrine has three huge trees, a Gingko, a Sugi, and a Mukunoki, and it is the one of the most interest.

It is the third-largest tree in all of Yamaguchi with some impressive statistics....it is 27 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 5.3 meters. It is in remarkably good condition and is said to have been planted when the shrine was established, making it about 600 years old. I recently posted about another sacred Mukunoki tree in my neighbourhood.

The shrine is home to a unique dance, Iwato Mai. In the mid Edo Period two men from the village travelled all the way to Izumo to be taught a sacred dance based on the Iwato Myth. I suspect that must have been Sada Shrine near Matsue, the origin of much of the kagura performed nowadays.

The next shrine was Jingukogo Shrine, literally "Empress Jingu" Shrine.

One source says that originally it was a Hachiman Shrine, but in the early 15th Century the spirits of Imimiya Shrine were transferred here.

The main kami is Jingu along with Chuai, Ojin, the Sumiyoshi kami, and Emperor Nintoku.

Whereas Imimiya Shrine is the spot where Chuai fought against the Kumaso, this spot is said to be where Jingu gathered her army for her invasion of Korea.

The grove of trees surrounding the shrine is distinctively very different from the surrounding area and is beleievd to be between 300 and 500 years old.

The oldest tree is said to be a huge Yew tree..... It and the grove are registered natural properties

The previous post in this series was on the walk the day I visited these shrines

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