Tanoura Coast to Orii Coast

 

After the Tanoura Beach my route heads inland and then starts up towards another pass.

It's May so paddies are flooded and in some cases planted.....

Miniature farm machinery is one of the reasons rice is so expensive in Japan. Every farmer, who has a tiny farm , must buy machinery to plant and a different one to harvest. Each is used for just a couple of days a year. I my little village there is some sharing, but still Yanmar, Honda, etc are very profitable for a reason...

In many cases after the machine has planted humans must go in finish tings off....

A tiny narrow road over the pass..... I love these roads.... no traffic and wide enough....

Coming down into the tiny settlement of Imaura.....

Really, ormer settlement would be more accurate..... there was a couple of inhabited houses among the abandoned ones, but by now they too are abandoned.....

There is a substantial shrine, and a little harbour without any buildings....

The shrines name is Imoyama Shrine but I can find no sources on which kami are enshrined or any history.

It does have a kaguraden that is still in use, so I guess there are enough scattered farms in the surrounding mountains to support an annual matsuri.

There seems to be just a couple of small boats at the harbour, out of the water.

It is a popular spot for recreational fishermen ( and women)....

After climbing out from Imaura harbour I pass by the Orii Cliifs, top photo of this post. A little while later I look down on the Orii Coast and Mount Taima looms ahead.

Then I drop down to Orii Beach, well "protected" by lines of tetrapods. On the way down I pass another abandoned love hotel..... at Orii Station I hop on a train and head home.

The previous post was on the walk from Kamate to Tanoura...

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Tsuchida Hachimangu

 

Tsuchida is a small coastal village between Kamate and Okami on the Iwami coastline in western Shimane.

I stopped in at the local shrine while walking up the coast on day 34 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

It's a fairly standard village shrine, a Hachimangu.

It is said that the shrine was moved to this spot in "ancient" times. There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds but no info available.

The current building has two dates from the 18th century engraved into some beams. This version of Hachiman has Ojin, Jingu, and Tamayorihime. It also lists Kotoshironushi as a primary kami.

Being a Hachimangu, there still remain some Buddhist statues in a small shrine next to the stairs.

The previous post was on the scenic harbour at Kamate..

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Hachiman Shrine & Makio Shrine in Yasaka

 

Day 9 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage and during the morning I stop in at two noteworthy shrines.

Iwami is a remote region, and the area in the mountains now collectively grouped together as Yasaka Town is a remote part of that region. Though I have lived here for decades, this was an exploration for me...

The first shrine I reached was the Hachimangu in the area called Nakayasu after thebfamily that were installed in the area as local  administrators in the mid 14th century.

They served under various different lords until the mid 16th century when the Mori attacked and defeated them, then took over.

This Hachimangu was established as a branch of Usa Hachiman in the mid 15th century to protect the nearby castle. It became the tutelary shrine for ten villages in the area.

There are a pair of huge Sugi trees flanking the stairway, and a third up near the shrine buildings.

They are big enough to be protected and registered as Natural Monunments by the prefecture.

An older Tenmangu shrine was moved into the grounds in early Meiji.

With its Ryobu-style Torii, Makio Shrine, much further south, is quite picturesque. (top photo above)

Said to be founded in the early Heian Period, making it about a thousand years old, it was relocated to its current location in 1582.

 

Unusual is the combination of main kami, Izanagi, and Otoshi. Izanagi, well known as the male of the creator-kami pair with his sister/wife Izanami. Otoshi, one of Susano's sons, with association with rice harvest and Korean clans.

There is a kagura den, but it looks like it has not been used in a while....

The previous post was on the last temple I visited yesterday, and the place I stayed the night.

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Tsuda Hachimangu aka Mozukujima Hachimangu

Tsuda Hachimangu is right next to the train station, Iwami Tsuda. It is known locally by its old name Mozukujima Hachimangu

In earlier times, the site of the shrine was a small island in the mouth of the river and the villagers would collect a type of seaweed called mozuku.

This is a giant Hagoita, a kind of paddle used to play a Japanese game similar to badminton. Often decorated with kabuki characters or other auspicious figures, they became used as talismans for good luck, especially at new year.

One thing noticeable here is that the shrine is kept in good order and appearance. It is obviously well looked after.

Not sure if the ring on the ceiling is the same thing, but alongside the main shrine was a used chinowa, the grass ring used for parishioners to pass through for purification. When used, the circle is fresh green.

Another notable thing about this shrine was the large number of masks on display.

There are a couple of quite cool, large oni masks, a Susano, a single Tengu and then two pairs of tengu as well. All in all well worth a visit for me.

Another striking thing about the shrine is the large numkber of secondary shrines...

There is an Omoto Shrine which lists Kunitokotachi as the kami. It is one of the primordial kami and I suspect was named in the Meiji period. In the rest of Iwami Omoto is a local land kami.

There is an Inari Shrine visible in photo 6, and a Nakayama Shrine, once again listing Kunitokotachi.

There are two Ebisu Shrines, both enshrining Kotoshironushi, and one adding Omononushi also.

Finally, there is an Itsukushima Shrine.

The version of Hachiman here is Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata kami.

The final photo shows a Soreiden. This seems to be connected with ancestors and funerals, and as this area was part of the Tsuwano Domain at the end of the Edo Period, and the Daimyo of Tsuwano decreed that all people in the domain would have Shinto burials, it may date to that period.

The previous post in this series on day 33 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage, was on the walk to get here

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.