Sufu Beach to Hamada Port

 

After leaving the Hachimangu Shrine I pass by the small beach at Sufu before heading over a little rise and dropping into the wide curving beach and bay of Nagahama.

This is also the westernmost wharf of Hamada Port, the only deep sea port on the Shimane coast.

This western wharf has the Coast Guard station and seems to primarily export cedar logs.

Nagahama is home to several large shrines, but on this trip i passed them by, but did visit one small Inari Shrine.

The beach at Nagaham is well protected by a long wall of terapods with just a few gaps in between.

Near the eastern end of Nagahama, a small harbour for small inshore fishing boats.

Then, the main part of Hamada Port. Numerous silos, plus one of the container-lifting cranes. I know one of the major exports from the port is used cars.... shipped to Russia

I didn't visit, but looks like my kind of place.....

And then the main fishing port. This is the biggest fishing port in Shimane by far. It has a fish market with a couple of touristy restaurants. Squid is one of the biggest "products" landed here....

The fishing port has the infamous Hamada Great Bridge. Absolurely useless, goes to a little island that is just 10 meters from the mainland and that already had a bridge. Brainchild of a former mayor who decided it would make Hamada look like San Francisco. A prime example of the construction excesses of Japan before the bubble burst .

The previous post in this series on the Chugoku and Iwami Kannon Pilgrimages was on the two shrines I visited in Sufu, mentioned in the opening of this post.

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Namba Yasaka Shrine

 

The Yasaka Shrine in Namba, Osaka, has become well known for its distinctive kaguraden shaped like a Komainu's head.

Though there are no records, the shrine claims to have been established during the reign of Emperor Nintoku in the 4th century. Nintoku is one of those emperors that probably existed, but at least a century later.

It was known in ancient times as Namba Shimonomiya.

Like many Yasaka Shrines it was, until Meiji, a temple-shrine complex and during the late Heian Period was connected to Gozu Tenno, an epidemic fighting deity with nunerous origin stories.

The version I prefer is the one that has Gozu Tenno brought to Japan from Sila by the Hata Clan.

Gozu Tenno was the deity of Gion-sha, the home of the Gion Matsuri and a common name of many Yasaka Shrines before Meiji.

From the Kamakura Period onwards, Gozu Tenno became conflated with Susano, which is the deity now enshrined in all Yasaka Shrines, along with his wife, Kushinada, and their eight children.

There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds.

The shrine-temple complex burned down numerous times, usually because of war, with the most recent destruction being during WWII.

The current buildings date to the 1970's.

The most interesting structure is called a Shishi-den, but to me it looks like a komainu.

Various performances take place in it, so that would make it a kagura-den by my calculation..

Over the last ten years or so it has become an "instagrammable" spot and is much more popular than it used to be...

The previous post on the architecture and sights of Namba was on Namba Parks

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Sufu Kasuga Shrine & Hinoashi Hachimangu

 

Not far from Shotokuji temple and Jorinji Temple is a Kasuga Shrine with great views over Sufu and the mouth of the Sufu River.

There appear to be few existing records, but as Kasuga Shrine is the family shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family, and the local rulers claim descent from a branch of the Fujiwara family, that makes sense.

The Kasuga Daimyojin consists of Takemikazuchi, Amenokoyane, Futsunishi, and Himegami.

I was impressed with the older-style masks....

About a kilometers away near the mouth of the Sufu River, is Hinoashi Haxchimangu. This shrine does have records.

The governor of Iwami, Fujiwara no Kunikane, established the shrine as a branch of Usa hachimangu in 1114. Thirty years later the shrine was given extensive lands to support it and its festivals. It was the tutelary shrine for 16 villages. The Suo Clan, descendants of Kunikane, made it their family shrine and gave more support. When the Suo moved with the Mori to Nagato a lot of the shrines lands were confiscated.

There is a very popular Inari shrine within the grounds. Over the centuries it has been located at numerous locations.

The previous post in this series on walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Jorinji Temple.

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The Way to Konjiji Temple

 

Konjiji is temple number 12 on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

It is also the okunoin of Dainichi-ji, temple 13 on the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage.

It is located high on a mountain and was renowned as a shugendo site, a training place for yamabushi.

For those on foot it is a great opportunity to get off the main roads.....

As would be expected, there are lots of Fudo statues....

And numerous sacred sites along the way....

Including a small waterfall with shimenawa and fudo....

I don' know where the ladder goes.... I climbe part way up, but as I had a very heavy pack I chose to come back down....

The previous post in this series on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the garden at Dogaku Temple, the previous temple down beow the mountain.

if you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.