Manju-ji Temple Gardens

 

Manju-ji Temple in Matsue has a delightful pond garden behind the main hall, and an extensive, well-manicured karesansui garden in the front.

It is a large Rinzai Zen temple at the top of the narrow Okutani valley to the north of the castle.

Entry to the temple and garden is free, but the temple remains off the tourist radar.

The temple was established in a different location in 1600, some years before the castle was built.

Its original name was Chojuin.

In 1644 it was moved to its current location after being given the site by Naomasa Matsudaira, the new daimyo of the castle.

At that time it was renamed Shobuyama Chojuji.

Later the name was changed to Manju-ji, though a big fire in 1848 destroyed all records, so the date is unknown.

When I visited in June, the azaleas were in bloom, which added to the visit.

One curious feature, seen in photo 4, is an Imperial Messenger Gate in front of the main hall.

To the right of the main hall is a Kannon Hall, and above it is a Myoken Shrine which enshrines Marishiten, Benzaiten, Daikokuten, and Aizen Myoo. From the shrine you can look down on the pond garden.

The front garden is quite sparse, but subtle.

One nice touch was the small turtle at the centre of the concentric circle of ridges.... exactly how it would appear when a turtle surfaces in a pond.

I can find no date or creator for the rear garden, but it appears to be fairly standard.

There is a small one-room teahouse.

And a few koi in the pond.

The previous post in this series on Matsue and Izumo was on Kanden-an, the remarkable samurai teahouse, villa, and gardens not too far from Monjuji Temple.

Matsue has an unusually large number of quality gardens, in large part due to the legacy of the great Tea Master, Fumai Matsudaira, the daimyo of Matsue Castle.

Some recent garden posts from Matsue I recommend would be Fumon-in temple, garden and Teahouse, the gardens at Lafcadio Heans House, and the garden at Gesshoji Temple.

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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...

Recent Manhole Art

 

Japan is quite famous for the variety of brightly colored and diverse designs of its manhole and drain covers. I used to regularly post on the hundreds of designs I have encountered in western Japan, but those posts have never been popular with my readers. However, on my recent post-pandemic excursions I have come across some new ones......this first one depicts Ganryuji Falls, a picturesque waterfall not far from me

Just got back from a trip to Hiroshima, and noticed a new design that commemorats the Saigoku Kaido, the Edo period highway that ran through Hiroshima on its way from Kyoto to Shimonoseki, and that is almost identical to the Sanindo, the ancient imperial highway.

Yoshinogari is a huge archeological site with reconstructed buildings near Saga. Touted as the home of the legendary Himiko, "queen of japan",  in all probability it wasn't.

Also in northern Kyushu is the city of Tagawa, and one of their designs feature the cities official flower, the azalea.

However, while historical and natural features and sites are common, increasingly manhole cover design is shifting to manga, anima, and computer game-derived designs, no doubt with "sponsorship" from said companies.

These two designs are from Saga and feature Zombie Land Saga, an anime about an "idol" group of schoolgirl zombies formed to promote and regenerate Saga. The designs feature zombie schoolgirls with Saga icons, the top one being a statue of Naomasa Nabeshima, Daimyo of Saga, and the lower one featuring the famous Saga International Balloon Festival

Another series of designs in Saga features characters from the computer game Romancing SaGa. As far as I can figure there is no connection with Saga itself, rather than the name.

Yura, a coastal village in Tottori , is the hometown of the author of the Detective Conan  originally a manga character but also now anime. Tottortori airport has been renamed Conan Airport, and some trains have been repainted inside and out featuring Conan characters

However, all over Japan are appearing manhole covers featuring pokemon. There are hundreds of them, each one unique. This one is in Kaike Onsen, a seaside hot spring resort in western Tottori. I must admit I know nothing about pokemon except it is very popular. I believe these manholes are a feature of the pokemon go smartphone game

A few other posts with colorful designs can be found here....

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