Saidoji Rokkakudo

 

Seemingly floating in Esaki Bay, Saidoji Temple has a distinctive hexagonal hall.

The origin dates back to the early part of the 15th Century and a wealthy family by the name of Nabeyama who had an ony daughter named Okiku. They had hoped to marry her off but she fell in love with a servant named Shichigoro.

When she became pregnant by him, her parents drove him away, and in her sorrow, she threw herself into the sea.

Her parents searched for her for three days and three nights, to no avail, however they did pull up in a et from the sea a Jizo statue holding a child. They took this to be a reincarnation of their daughter and enshrined it on the tiny island.

Seven years later, Shichigoro returned in the guise of a monk and converted the shrine into a temple.

In the 17th Century when the Mori had control of the area they rebuilt the temple with a hexagonal hall. This was to protect the building against the powerful stormy winds. At the same time, they planted a Black Pine, which still grows today.

I have seen other hexagonal buildings in temples around Japan, but the signboard here claims that this one os one of only two in existence, so I suspect they are talking about some aspect of its construction.

The dragon carving was quite nice....

A Boke Fuji Kannon for protection against senility..... an increasingly common Kannon statue in Japan....

The previous post was on the walk to Esaki from Susa.

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Shoyoen Garden at Dogakuji Temple

 

Dogakuji Temple in Tokushima on Shikoku is the temple where Kobo Daishi studied as a young child. It is the 2nd of the 20 extra temples on the famous Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage, but also the 11th temple of the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, which is why I visited it.

Behind the main buildings is a small pond garden named Shoyoen.

It is thought to have been built in the late Muromachi Period, the mid to late 16th century.

It features a lot of rock, native Awa Bluestone.

Some of the rock is not brought in and positioned, but original to the site.

Noticeable are the bridges, each composed of a single, very thin slab of stone.

It is said that the great 20th century garden designer and scholar Mori Shigemori liked his garden and spent a lot of time here....

The final three photos are from a small garden between two of the buildings.

The previous post was a large one on Dogakuji Temple itself.

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Dogaku Temple 11 Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

The gate at Dogaku-ji is quite unusual. Architecturally, it is, I believe, Chinese in style, but with a different style of roof that is not normally seen with this kind of gate.

Some people complain about the graffiti scratched into the walls, but some of it seems quite old and overall gives a kind of wabi-sabi patina....

Dogakuji turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise.

It is the second of the twenty "extra" temples on the Shikoku Ohenro pilgrimage, but when I walked that pilgrimage, it was too far off the main route for me to visit.

I visited it as the 11th temple on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, and my first stop was the cave-like structure housing the Fudo.

Often, Fudo is shown with two young boy attendants. In total, he has 36 of these attendants, and on this pilgrimage, each temple has a different one of the 36. Here at Dogakuji, it is Ratara Doji.

The Fudo is a Noten Fudo, said to offer protection against dementia and strokes.

The Seven Lucky Gods.

It is said the temple was founded by Gyoki.

There is a miniature Ohenro pilgrimage with all 88 of the honzon statues represented as well as then20 extra.

I believe that under each of the circles on the ground is sand brought from each temple as well.

Now this "hall" is filled with windchimes.

I visited on December 27th, 2016. A few months later the main hall was completely destroyed by fire,but I believe it has now been rebuilt.

The temple is famous for its wisteria, but in midwinter, were obviously dormant.

The temple is most famous for being where Kobo Daishi studied and trained as a young child.

He came back much later as an adult and enshrined various statues that he himself had carved, including the honzon, a Yakushi Nyorai.

It is a National Treasure and survived the recent bfire.

The spring was used by the child Kobo Daishi for water for his inkstone.

Behind the spring is a delightful garden I will post about next.

The main hall that burned down a few months after this photo was taken...

Several Mizuko Jizo line the approach.

Overall Dogakuji was a nice surprise and has many sights of interest.

The statue to the right of the steps is of Iroha Daishi, about the legend that Kobo Daishi composed the Iroha, a poem that is a kind of mnemonic for the Japanese syllabary, similar to the alphabet song in English. He is said to have composed it as a child here, but the statue shows an older Kobo. For many reasons, historians say the Iroha was composed several centuries after Kobo Daishi.

The previous post in this series on my walk around Shikoku on the Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the nearby temple 10, Tozenji.

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From Susa Bay to Esaki Bay

 

Susa Bay and Esaki Bay are two inlets either side of Mount Takayama that protrudes out into the Japan Sea. There are no roads or trails that go around the coast so my route cuts across.

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom as I meander around the convoluted inlets of Susa Bay.

There is actually not a lot to report..... mountain road was almost completely trafficless and, other than one small roadside shrine, with not much to see...

I can't resist a "Geometric Abstract".....

I have walked thouands of kilometers along roads like this..... no traffic, almost no buildings..... but lots of up then down.... the mountain roads of Japan, now bypassed by new main roads with tunnels...

Esaki Bay, like Susa Bay, is a delight....

In fact, when the sea is calm and the sun is out, the Japan Sea coast of Yamaguchi and Shimane can't be beat, but because there are no shinkansen lines, it remains one of the "hidden" delights of Japan.

Esaki Bay is long and narrow, and at the end where the biggest fishing village is there is a new concrete bridge connecting the two sides of the village.

The previous post in this series on day 32 was on the walk from Utago to Susa.

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.