Along the Yato River, Up the Nagatani Valley, & Over to Arifuku

 

The next temple on the Iwami kannon Pilgrimage is in Arifuku, up in the mountains, and so for a few kilometers I follow the very windy Yato River upstream.

It's a long and fairly steep climb up the valley, passing a small local shrine without any of the external trappings of a shrine other than a very small shimenawa

Not exactly sure what this barn/storehouse is used for but I find the small windows and two little doors quite intriguing.

I think this may have been the local Japan Agriculture Offices in the settlement of Nagatani.... official buildings, like police stations, schools, post offices etc in the early Taisho and Showa periods were built in this "western style". Since I took this photo, it has been demolished.

From Nagatani I head over the mountains to the next valley. This little shrine has always intrigued me as it is far from any settlements....

Dropping into the Uyagawa River drainage, abandoned farms are in the process of being reclaimed by nature...

About twenty years ago on my first walk here I noticed an old, rusty bus stop, so I am guessing that in the 50's, 60's, and maybe even the 70's there was a bus service here, but with a population that is now just a fraction of what it was then the area still survives but is in serious decline...

I believe this is called Hebiyama Falls, "Snake Mountain Waterfall"

I stopped in at one of the many abandoned houses....

This one has now probably conpletely collapsed and returned to the earth....

It is said that once abandoned a Japanese house will completely collapse in 25 years or less.... I have seen it happen to many since I have been here.....

Last typhoon season the Uyagawa River flooded seriously.... This was a new bridge from upstream....

These are a very common kind of commercial building from the early 20th century.... in Atoichi, which, like so many villages, used to have a wide range of shops... now the nearest convenience store is 6 kilometers away.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Zen temple Fukuoji.

A Walk up the Kumano River Valley

 

This kind of small torii, cut out of a sheet of plywood, can be found along the roadside in may parts of rural Japan. They are basically a "Don't Dump Trash" sign and don't mark a shrine. Smaller ones can be found in some of the narrow alleys of Kyoto. They are "Don't Urinate Here" signs.

I dropped down into the Kumano River valley just west of Hiroshima City and headed upstream towards the town of Kumano/ Evidence of Autumn could be seen.

This is the brush capital of Japan..... not hair brushes or floor brushes or even tooth brushes...

80% of caligraphy brushes in Japan are made here, and increasingly make-up brushes...

In a small shrine I found this strange creature. I see this a lot at shrines, where someone has found a gnarly piece of wood that looks like something, and with a little bit of work looks even more like it..... I suspect there is a name for this process in Japanese, but I don't know it....

For some reason I passed by an awful lot of small, thatched houses. many such places in the countryside have had the thatch enclosed in metal or even tile, but these were left thatched...

I doubt they are still there now, ten years later.... I know I have seen many thatched houses in my area disappear since moving here.

The main road becomes increasingly built-up with chain drug-stores and fast food restaurants.

So I stick with a smaller road that runs roughly parallel and remains mostly rural....

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on a shrine I visited a litlle earlier.

Daizenji Bangai Temple 5 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Daizenji is a small Shingon temple in Susaki, Kochi Prefecture, and is the 5th of the bangai or bekkaku "extra" temples on the Ohenro pilgrimage.

In earlier times this location was a cape jutting out into the sea with two large rocks. The sea is now a kittle further away and the rocks have been buried under sediment, but in the old days when people passed around the cape at low tide they would sometimes be swept away.

The cape was also considered to be the southermost tip of Mount Ishizuchi and therefore, has some potential spiritual danger for some.

The Daishi Hall is at the base, and steep steps lead up to the bell tower and main hall.

Further up the hill is a small Ishizuchi Shrine.

When Kobo Daishi visited the spot in 815 he prayed for those travelling and a hall was built which became known as Futatsuishi Daishi.

The temple is very close to the main pilgrimage route so most pilgrims stop as no detour is needed as with some of the bangai temples.

The previous temple is Shoryuji Temple, number 36.

The previous post in this series was on my early morning walk through Susaki to get to Daizenji.

Taguchi Hachiman Shrine

 

I'm not sure of the correct name for this shrine. It is in Taguchi and it is a Hachiman shrine.

I can find the shrine on googlemaps, but it is not marked as a shrine so I cant read the name and do any searching.....

At the base of the steps is a small Buddhist "halll".

Architecturally it is very similar to a Hachiman shrine I visited about 30 minutes previously, the one with the dragons and masks in the previous post.

It did seem to be fairly well looked after, so I wonder why its not listed as a shrine on googlemaps. I have seen local shrines disappear from googlemaps, though they are still standing, but maybe not having any ceremonies...

There were some largish ema paintings in the worship hall

And a fairly recent secondary shrine in the grounds....

There was a nice old onigawara and a shachi, .. I guess from an earliet shrine building....

The previous post was on the walk I took this morning on my west to Hiroshima...

Jinguji Temple 2 Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

Jinguji is yet another of the Rokugo Manzan Tendai temples which according to egend were founded in 718 all over the Kunisaki Peninsula.

It is in quite a remote location and so doesnt get as many visitors as some of the more famous Kunisaki temples. I arrived by coming over the mountain ridge along the Kunisakihanto Minemichi Trail that follows the old yamabushi pilgrimage route.

The temple was destroyed by a big fire in the Meiji Period.

There is a treasure house that has some old Oni masks as well as a bunch of "burned Buddhas", statues that have been almost burnt to a crisp by fire. Unfortunately no-one was home to let me in.

The okunoin is a Rokugo Shrine, but I decided not to make the climb as it was already getting close to twilight.

Ther were a few older statues around the grounds and an interisting carved relief. Unusually there were no Nio.

Obvioulsy the temple is on the Rokugo Manzan pilgrimage, and I am guessing that is from where the pilgrim ofudas stuck to the ceiling above the entrance to the main hall were from.

The honzon is a Fudo Myoo, quite a small one.....

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on Yama Shrine where I stopped before climbing over the ridge.