Mizunokuni (outside)

This is one of my favorite museums in all of Japan. The setting, landscaping and water-scaping, architecture, artworks, and even the lunches in the cafe are all excellent, and yet the place is empty most days.

It's only a few kilometers from where I live, and I drove by it hundreds of times and never went in, presuming it to be overpriced and boring like so many provincial museums.

When I finally made it in I was gobsmacked and have been back many times since.

The museums proper name is Museum 104 (104 degrees being the angle between the 2 hydrogen atoms in a water molecule.... but you knew that already!)

 but it is known as Mizunokuni,.... Waterland...., and as might be guessed, it focuses on the art, and science, of water.

The museum was designed by Takano Hiroyuki, and opened in 1997.

The main building is meant to represent Noah's Ark resting on Mount Ararat, but to me it looks more like a bridge.

Unfortunately, the museum closed to the public a few years ago.

The buildings still stand so much of what is in these photos can still be seen....

Okameyama Fukuoji Temple 12 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Day 7 of my walk along the old Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage, and for the first time I have crossed into Hamada Domain from the Shogunate-cotrolled Ginzan Domain. During the Edo Period the old province of Iwami was basically divided by the Gonokawa River.

I'm heading up the Yato River and after leaving Oda there is a small tunnel through to Ichiyama, the next main settlement on this side of the river.

On the opposite bank is a huge Zelkova tree overhanging the river. This is a suijin altar, and in May during the Suijin Festival the priest will visit here and the local people will leave a giant purification wand, an Onusa. In the old days they would have come here by boat but since the Yato River was dammed it is no longer navigable.

Ichiyama is named after the high point in the photo above. There are the ruins of a very small castle on the top.

The new road that bypasses the actual village is lined with azalea bushes which look great at this time of the year.

On the opposite bank this grove of riverside bamboo is a favorite gathering spot for all the local egrets in the evening as the sun sets and they settle in for the night as a flock.

And then Eno comes into view. It is not a large settlement, yet is home to two temples, one of which is the one I am to visit.

After crossing the river I look towards the mountains where I will be heading next.

For such a small hamlet, Fukuoji is quite a substantial temple, and I have been unable to find out why.

It is a Soto Zen temple, and I believe it was founded in the 14th century.

The local story is that the village headman found a statue of Kannon on a giant turtle in a pool in Senjokei, a gorge with many waterfalls a few k upstream from Eno.

He then established the temple and installed the statue as the honzon.

One day I may get around to asking a local historian about the temples history......

The previous post was on Oda Hachimangu Shrine...

Oda Omoto Shrine

Oda Omoto Shrine

Wednesday April 30th, 2014, and I start day 7 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage from my home and head south across the river and through Kawado.

Fot this first section of the day I am following the Yato River and after Kawado the next village is Oda. One of the very common place names in Japan, it means either Big Paddy or Little Paddy, depending on the kanji used. This one is Little Paddy.

I follow the old road through the village rather than the new road that bypasses it by following the river. About the middle of the village a grove of tall trees are noticeable behind what is a small community centre.

As is often the case with a grove of old trees, this is a sacred grove, marked by a shimenawa and a small altar in front.

This is a shrine to Omoto, a local "land" kami that gets no mention in any of the so-called "shinto" holy books, the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, no connection whatsoever to any of the imperial kami, and is not officially recognized as a shrine, and yet is the most popular kami in the region. In Izumo and on the Oki Islands she is known as Kojin, and is also represented as a rope serpent.

The rope serpent is made and used in a form of shamanic kagura that was once widespread in western japan but was outlawed, along with Shugendo from which it derived,  in 1868. It continues in this small part of japan however. If anyone is interested in seeing some of this shamanic kagura, leave a message or comment.

The previous post in this series on the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Mishima Shrine in Kawakudari that I visited at the end of the previous days walk.

Onomatopia

Kannon Falls

 

While on my walk up the right bank of the Gonokawa River to its source I took a side-trip when I reached Shikaga to once again visit Kannon Falls, the tallest waterfall in Sakurae Town.

Its about 2k from the river up a small, narrow road that passes by a small quarry producing crushed rock for road construction. The only habitation is a homestead right next to the car park. With an older, thatched minka, I always thought it would be an ideal location for a tea room or cafe. there arent  enough visitors to make it a big business, ut I thought it would attract more visitors to the falls.

From the parking lot it is an easy walk a few hundred metres along the bubbling stream to reach the falls.

The lowest fall is about 30 meters, and above it are two smaller drops that bring the total to about 50 meters. However, after a good rainfall it flows much heavier and becomes a single fall.

The pool at the base is shallow and many families come here in the summer to cool off ....

There is  small altar to Kannon at the base. When we first moved here we were told that in earlier times a young woman committed suicide by jumping from the top of the falls and the Kannon was to pray for her spirit.

However another story tells of a local farmer who encountered a dragon that lives in a pool upstream of the falls and that the Kannon was to pacify it.

The previous post was on the walk from Watari to Shikaga.