A Walk Down Mount Raizan

 

March 27th, 2014, and I leave Sennyoji Temple after a couple of hours exploring the unexpected delights of this amazing mountain temple. I head downhill towards the plain of Itoshima, most certainly one of the cradles of ancient Japanese culture.

Along almost all the roads in Japan you will find roadside altars. Sometimes, like this first one, a small structure protects the statues and offering from the weather. As well as the Buddhist statues this one had a collection of stones. Sacred stones have been integral to Japanese religion since the begininng.

The next roadside altar has an even more substantial structure including seats. If this was Shinto it would be classed as a shrine, but with Buddhism it is not a temple. I would call it a chapel.

A series of wooden cutout feet and legs suggest this is a spot to pray for the healing of foot ailments. Not uncommon, I first noticed such things at Kono Shrine in Tottori.

have no idea what this stone memorializes... don't think it is a grave....

Kyushu being a bit warmer than Honshu, the cherry blossoms are out a little earlier....

I continue on down the narrow Rai River valley.....

In postwar Japan land reform distributed the land more equitably, but some quite large farm buildings indicate there were wealthy farmers not too long ago.....

The next roadside chapel was again quite substantial....

I am not sure who tye two statues are.... Jizo are very common roadside statues, but I am only certain about a few identities of Buddhist statues.....

The colorful statue is, I think, a priest, and quite probably Kobo Daishi....

Beginning in Meiji, western-influenced archtecture was a symbol of modernity and used extensively in government buildings like schools, post offices, local government offices, hospitals etc.......

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Pilgrimage was on the upper part of the big temple complex at Sennyoji.

Fukuoka Castle

 

Fukuoka Castle is said to have been the biggest castle in Kyushu, though I believe that means covering the largest area.

Much of the former castle is now Maizuru Park, a huge park with multiples sports grounds and stadiums within it.

The park is also home to numerous gardens planted with different seasonall plants and trees like a Cherry garden, Plum Garden, Iris Garden, and an Azalea Garden.

I visited a little after the peak of the cherry blossoms around the inner area of the castle ruins and on an overcast day.

Other than extensive walls, the most impressive of the remaining original structures is the Tamon Yagura Turret featured in the first few photos.

The castle was constructed between 1601 and 1607 for Kuroda Nagamasa who had been given the domain and nearby Najima Castle which he decided was too small and inconvenient for the building of a catle town.

One of the men responsible for the construction, Noguchi Kazanari, also worked on Osaka Castle and Edo Castle.

When Kato Kiyomasa, the famous Daimyo from Kumamoto, visited he was so impressed with the extensive stonework he named it Seki Castle, literally stone castle.

Covering 47,000 square meters, and with an impressive 47 yagura, much of the stone was quarried on nearby islands, though stones from the dismantled Najima castle and even stones from the fortifications built in preparation for the Mongol Invasion were also used.

Also impressive was the moat system which included a 600 meter wide section to the west that was mostly mud flats at low tide, now turned into Ohori Park.

There are conficting theories on whether a Tenshu, main tower or keep, was actually built. A base was but there seems to be no evidence that one existed, although that may be because in his hatred of Chrsitianity, Kuroda Nagamasa destroyed all documents with the word "tenshu" because it also meant "Christian God".

Like many castle in Japan, in 1871 when the han system was abandoned most of the buildings of the castle were dismantled or destroyed but a couple have recently been returned to ther original site from temples where they had been reassembled.

Maizuru Park and the Fukuoka Castle Ruins are free to enter

The previous post in this series was on Ohori Park, previously the very wide moat that protected the castle from the wesr.

Imayama Daishi

At the other end of the hill known as Imayama on which Imayama Hachimangu Shrine is located is a small temple, Imayama Daishi, dedicated to Kobo Daishi the founder of the Shingon sect.

Among the cherry trees and numerous statues of Jizo, Kannon, 7 Lucky Gods etc is a massive statue of Kobo Daishi himself.  17 meters tall and weighing 11 tons, many sources claim it to be the biggest statue of Kobo Daishi, but actually was superseded by the one built down at Cape Muroto in Shikoku.

Unfortunately when I was there the statue was encased in scaffolding while it was being refurbished. You can pay an entrance fee to enter the small building on which the statue stands and go up to view it at close quarters.

In April, on what was the 21st day of the third month according to the old lunar calendar, a big festival is held here involved a huge parade of locals dressed in period costume.

Nobeoka Castle Ruins

Origunally called Agata Castle, Nobeoka castle was never very big and didn't even have a keep, ony a three-story turret that only lasted 30 years before burning down.

Built on a small hill at the junction of two rivers, a succession of clans controlled the castle with the Naito holding it until the castle was decommissioned in 1870.

There are no buildings left but the gate was rebuilt in 1993. Like most castle ruins the grounds are now planted in cherry trees.

a more than twenty meter high wall supposedly would collapse and crush 1,000 attackers should a single keystone be removed. Saigo held the castle briefly in 1870.

Now it is a popular ohanami spot.

Seen on a walk into Nobeoka

After leaving the Saigo Takamori Memorial Museum, I still had a couple of hours walk to get into downtown Nobeoka and the pilgrimage temples to visit. Along all roadsides in Japan you will find statues of Jizo, often well protected against inclement weather.

Far more common in the big cities, I was surprised to see this group of gaisensha, propoganda buses, belonging to one of the far right, nationalist groups in Japan. Blaring martial music and nationalistic slogans at levels decibels above what is legally permitted, these groups seem to get a free pass from the cops....

There were tunnels to walk through, but unusually one of them had a separate tunnel just for pedestrians and cyclist.....

It was still peak cherry blossom season of course....

Close to the castle, a group of pleasure boats.....

South from Saiki: Day 17 of my walk around the Kyushu Pilgrimage

heading south out of Saiki, my next stop would be Nobeoka, and I had a couple of choices of route. Probably the prettiest would be the coast road, but I opted for the inland route over the mountains, pretty much following the rail line, as it would save me 20k. I left at sunrise.

The route went upstream one of the tributaries of the Banjo River. There was nothing of note along the route that I planned to visit.

I stopped in at a couple of interesting looking temples, and quite a lot of shrines.

Pointing to some kind of forest park, this giant Stag Beetle was a curious sight. It was still the height of the cherry blossom season. By sunset I had gone over the pass and was on my way down the Kitagawa River which would take me all the way to Nobeoka.

Manhole Ohanami

The annual cherry blossom viewing season is now over for most of Japan, but the cherry blossom can be seen year round by looking down. Not surprisingly given its cultural prominence the sakura appears as a design element in many, like this first one from Tadotsu in Kagawa, Shikoku.

It features as a minor design element in countless designs, like this one from Kamo Town in Izumo.

As I sorted through my files to find these I was expecting sakura to much more common than it is. I was surprised to find the Azalea being more common. The sakura above is from Mizukami in Kumamoto.

From Miyahara, also in Kumamoto, also featuring a rose.

From Toyoshi in Kagawa, with azaleas in the center.