Kitakata Hachimangu

 

I don't think I have ever seen an arrangement of three torii like this before.

Kitakata Hachimangu is located in Ajisu, Yamaguchi,  on the old Imperial Highway, the  Sanyo-do.

It is said to have been founded in 751, which is around the time Usa Hachiman spread from Kyushu due to its part in the building of the great Todaiji Temple in Nara.

Later, in 1233 the shrine was split into two with a north and a south. In 1255 the two shrines were moved to their respective current locations.

In 1408 the buildings were destroyed and rebuilt except for the tower gate.

It was rebuilt in 1571 under the rule of the Mori Clan.

Once again the buildings were heavily damaged and were rebuilt between 1608 and 1637.

There are a fine pair of zuijin and komainu in the worship hall...

A large secondary shrine in the grounds is Akazaki Shrine.

I can find no information on it ecept that one source says three female kami are enshrined here.

Curiously, the Yamaguchi Jinja Honcho webpage says that the three Munakata Princesses are "companion kami" to the main Hachiman kami of Ojin et al. Maybe it is referring to Akizaki Shrine but the website would usually list a secondary shrine and its kami.

A small, Gokoku Shrine.... in essence, a branch of the infamous Yasukuni Shrine.

The previous post was on a Kumano Shrine and a Kochi Shrine I had visited earlier in the morning.

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Tenjin Shrine Tokushima

 

Right next to the Awa Odori Hall and Ropeway Station in downtown Tokushima is the Tenjin Shrine.

It was established by Hachikusa Iemasa at the opening of the 17th century. It was destroyed during the bombings of WWII and the current buildings date to the late 70's.

The giant red torii was erected in 1986 to commemorate Emperor Showa's 60 years on the throne.

There are several smaller shrines within the grounds, including a Himeyama Shrine with associations with finding a spouse and good marital relations.

There is also a Kunin Daimyojin known for business prosperity and success in exams, which seems to be cutting into the territory of the main kami of the shrine, Tenjin, aka Sugawara Michizane.

The biggest secondary shrine is an Inari shrine right next to the main hall......

It is the one with lots of sake barrels in front of it....

The previous post in this series on Tokushima was on the views from Mount Bizan.

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Along the Shimoko River

 

2nd of May, 2014, and I begin day 8 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage from Arifuku, the small onsen resort in the mountains between Hamada and Gotsu.

The paddies are all flooded and will be planted with rice soon.

I stop in at a deserted, though not defunct, pottery.

Behind, some of the climbing kilns, anagama, no longer in use.

I think this may be the Yoshida Pottery, as they specialize in larger more utilitarian pieces, rather than the other potteries nearby which have modern showrooms and make more delicate pieces.

My route for a few days will be roughly SW, inland from the coast, down to where Iwami ends , then up the coast back towards my area of Gotsu.

After leaving the pottery I head over a pass and drop down into the Shimoko River valley and head upstream.

Heading upstream I start to pass numerous ruins of a "ghost railway", the Imafuku Line of a raiway that was planned to run over the mountains to Hiroshima.

It was started in 1933, then halted by the war, and never completed and opened.

Since I first moved here 20 years ago, they have started to turn it, somewhat successfully,  into a tourist attraction.

In Utsuicho I stop in at the local shrine, an Otoshi Shrine.

There are quite a lot of Otoshi shrines in Iwami. Otoshi was a son of Susanoo and is a kami of agriculture and rice.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Fukusenji Temple in Arifuku.

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From Mountain to Temple

 

December 1st, 2011, and day 20 of my walk along the Shikoku Pilgrimage begins at the first hint of a lightening sky.

It was not far down from my sleeping spot on the mountain before I reached civilization where a few lights were already on...

A lovely thatched house right next to one of Japan's famous porn vending machines.... maybe not the ancient-modern juxtaposition most often thought of....

The walking pilgrims route to the next temple pretty much follows the rail line, the JR Dosan Line

As was my habit, I stopped in at most shrines I passed.

This one was a Daiyamano Shrine and it was necessary to cross the railway tracks to reach it, a not so uncommon occurrence.

Behind the rather utilitarian worship hall, the honden was protected by a roof. Theer is no information on the shrine history or kami.

There has been no Autumn colour this morning other than some gingko leaves on the ground at the shrine...

There is still some mist in the Niita River valley.....

a small roadside shrine....

and then one final shrine visit before I get into the town and the next temple Iwamoto-ji...

Unfortunately, onece again, I can find no information on the shrine kami or history...

The previous post was on the previous days walk up into the mountains.

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