Kamiko Hachimangu & Shimoko Ikan Shrine

 

After visiting Ankokuji Temple, I stopped in at the Hachimangu shrine in Kamiko.

It was established by the new governor of Iwami, Fujiwara no Sadamichi in 889.

After being appointed, he fell ill and was unable to travel to his post. He prayed at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura and recovered. In gratitude he established the Hachiman shrine here.

It has quite large, well-maintained grounds...

Interestingly, the hachiman here is listed as Ojin, and his mom, Jingu, and hois dad, Chuai. No mebtion of any Munakata kami. I wonder if that is a thing of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu?

While walking downstream towards Shimoko, I pass a small local shrine....

And, of course, the ubiquitous Buddhist roadside statue...

In Shimoko, I visit Ikan Shrine, with a pair of huge trees, including this Gingko...

Established in 869, the shrine was located a little to the NE. Its current location is the site of the provincial government offices. There is a pond behind the shrine, said to be from that time.

The main kami is Amatarashihikokinioshihito no mikoto. Quite a mouthful. Said to be a son of Emperor Kosho, one of the early emperors that historians have no evidence of. He is claimed as ancenstor of the Wani Clan that later spawned the Ono Clan and the Kakinomoto Clans, among others. The shrine is listed in the Engi Shiki.

The shrine is said to have been merged with Fuchu Shrine, believed to be the Soja Shrine for Iwami. A Soja shrine enshrined all the kami from around the province and was located close to the government offices so that the governor did not have to travel all around the province to execute his duties towards the shrines, but could simply visit the one shrine nearby.

Many sources claim that a female Kami associated with weaving and also related to the ancestors of the Kuroshio Clan who settled the area is also enshrined here. There is a lot of confusion about her exact identity.

As well as the giant trees, the komainu are quite impressive, as is the dragon carving and the elaborate roof decorations.

The previous post in this series was on the nearby small temple Komyoji.

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 It will not be published or made public.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

Komyoji Temple 26 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Komyoji is a small temple downstream from Ankokuji, and almost adjacent to Ikan Shrine.

It is a Shingon temple, and the honzon is an Amida triad. Other than that, I can find no info on its history.

It is known for having a collection of roof tiles and roof ornaments from the old Kokubunji which no longer exists, although I didn't see them.

Not sure what the seashells were about. Also, very unusual to see a kagura mask in a temple. This one looks a lot like Predator, but the mask is much older than the movie...

The previous post was on Ankokuji, temple 25 nearby.

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

Ankokuji Temple 25 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Ankokuji is not far from Tadaji, temple 24, and even closer to Komyoji, temple 26, and is located in Kamiko, a little upstream from Shimoko.

I was surprised by how substantial a temple it was, and then I learned that it has the tombs of several generations of the Masuda Clan, who ruled the area. They were descendants of the Fujiwara governor Kunikane, who changed their names. They later moved from this area, where the national government offices were located, to the area where the city of Masuda is now located.

It was originally called Fukuenji and was said to have been founded in the early 8th century. It fell into disrepair but was revived in the early 12th century as a Tendai Temple and flourished under the patronage of the governor Fujiwara no Kunikane.

It again fell into disrepair after a big fire but was revived as a Rinzai Zen temple in the early 14th century by the wife of Masuda Kanenaga to pray for her deceased father.

In 1348 the temple was chosen to be the Ankoku Temple for Iwami Province.

In 741, the emperor ordered the building of a Buddhist monastery called Kokubunji in each province. It was an attempt to impose central control over the country. These Kokubunji were usually built at the site of the government offices of each province. The Iwami Kokubunji and government offices were located in this area of Shimoko.

In 1348 Ashikaga made Ankoku Temples in each province of the country for similar reasons. Whereas the traditional Buddhist sects were dominated by the Imperial court and their related families, when the warriors took over the country they usually chose Zen temples as they were new sects not yet under the control of the old guard.

There is a fine pair of ceramic komainu.

The hillside behind the main hall is planted with azalea bushes.....

Mu guess is that the red shrine in the pond is a Benzaiten shrine...

There is also a small karesansui garden in the front...

Shachi and other roof ornaments from earlier versions of the temple....

The previous post was on the interior sights of nearby Tada-ji Temple.

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

Inside Tadaji Temple

 

The honzon of Tada-ji temple in Hamada is an Eleven-faced Kannon, but it is a secret Buddha only visible once a year.

However, there is a Thousand-armed Kannon to be seen...

And to my great delight, several Fudo statues......

However, perhaps the most interesting thing to see are the 59 wooden statues which I have earlier referred to as "drowned Buddhas".

They were discovered floating in the sea below Tada-ji in 1870.

They have been dated to the Kamakura Period, and are about 1,000 years old.

In 1868 the new government unofficially encouraged anti-Buddhist sentiment, and in some areas this led to the destruction of many temples and their treasures.

On the Oki islands for instance, every single temple was destroyed. In other areas nothing was touched.

It seems to have been very much based on situations where local priests were particularly oppressive to the people, rather than any ideological or religious reasons.

The currents along the coast here are from the west, so its seems that the statues drifted from the west over a two year period.

One would think that with such a major collection of statues, and the known currents and time frames it would be possible to figure out where they came from.

Apparently not. The whole anti-Buddhist movement is avoided as a topic, which may explain the reluctance to find out....

After already being very old and probably somewhat deteriorated due to age, plus two years knocked around in water, has led to some eerie expressions on some of the statues.....

If you are visiting Tadaji, it is well worth ringing the bell at the priests house and office and having them open the main hall for you.

This link will take you to a short, earlier post on the drowned Buddhas.

The previous post in this series was on the exterior and grounds of the temple.

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