Tanjoji Temple Birthplace of Honen

Honen

Tanjo-ji Temple is located in central Okayama prefecture, somewhat south of Tsuyama. Tanjo mand "birth", and the temple was built on the site where Honen, the founder of the Jodo shu, Pure Land sect, was born. 

It is quite a large complex and is included in about half a dozen pilgrimage routes, including the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage where it is a "special" un-numbered temple, and it was at the start of my 4th day walking that pilgrimage that I visited.

This is the mausoleum f Honen's parents. His father was a high-ranking provincial official who was later assassinated. Honen was born here in 1133. The temple was established in the early 13th century.

The temple was patronized by the Mori clan and was extensively rebuilt in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Some of the structures are Nationally recognized Important Cultural Properties.

A statue of Honen as a young boy leaving home to become a monk. While studying at Hiezan, the great Tendai monastery above Kyoto, he searched for a method whereby the mass of people could achieve salvation, and settled on what in Japanese is called the nembutsu.

In essence, this means reciting the name of Amida Buddha to ensure one's rebirth in his Pure Land. A disciple of Honen, Shinran, later created the True Pure Land sect, Jodo Shin Shu, and this is the most popular Buddhist sect in Japan.

Next I will post soem photos of the statuary and such from the temple....

Green Tea

Kumenan Kamo Shrine

Kumenan

Kamo Shrine is the collective name given to the pair of famous shrines in the north of Kyoto, Kamigamo, and Shimogamo.

This branch shrine in Kumenan Town in the north of Okayama was established in 835 by a notable who moved here from Kyoto.

The shrine enshrines ancestral deities of the Kamo family, one male and one female, but the chigi on the roof indicates that the male is given predominance.

I spent the night here in late July, on the night between my 3rd and 4th days walking the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage. I would have liked to sleep but the mosquitoes would not allow it.

Tanjoji Temple, my reason for being here, was just a across the valley. The entry to the shrine had a chinowa. A couple of days previously I had been to a shrine in Okayama City that also had one, and in that post you can find a little more detail of what a chinowa is.

Another Japan

Lost in the Mountains Day 3 of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Well actually lost is a bit of an exaggeration. I knew exactly where I was, I was in Mitsukitano, a rather secluded mountain village north of Okayama City. The problem was the road I had planned on taking simply no longer existed, and the alternative was a lengthy detour.

The Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage is a fairly modern invention, made I believe in 1985. This means that there are no well-established, historical routes between the temples, and in fact the guidebooks are written for drivers, though public transport access to each temple is often given.

This means that when planning my walks along it I have to figure out my own route, usually with the aid of googlemaps, but often also with the Japanese official topo maps, whose website is now much more useful. 

There are many factors that influence my choice of routes, I prefer smaller roads if possible, and I prefer to do as little climbing as possible, and often I am tempted to make detours that take me to interesting sites.

On day 3 of my walk  I had chosen not to take the obvious route but had instead detoured up some narrow mountain roads so I could visit the Maneki Neko Museum. I had no particular interest in Maneki Neko, but I partially funded my walks by writing articles for a large Japanese tourism website, and so I try to visit such sites. By taking that detour I had accidentally discovered Kinzanji, the oldest temple in Okayama, with its magnificent ancient pagoda.

So, here I was in Mitsukitano, and across from me I could see the golf course scarring the hillside. My destination lay down there about 1k away between the two mountains, but the road that googlemaps told me should exist did not. It probably did exist at some point in the not-too-distant past. This was not the first time I had been put in this position by following maps, and it would certainly not be the last.

Kinzanji the Oldest Temple in Okayama

 

According to records, Kinzani Temple was founded bu the monk Hoon Daishi, under orders of Empress Koken, in the year 749, which makes it the oldest surviving temple in Okayama.

Also known as Kanayam Kannonji, I came across the temple quite unexpectedly while walking  through the mountain north of Okayama City and spied a large, old pagoda on the hillside.

Qith its dilapidated Nio gate, onky foundations stones of the formerly huge main hall, and a couple of structures other than the pagoda, it looked like it was obviouslt a very major temple coplex in former times, but now almost abandoned.

However there was a walled compound that was home to a cluster of buildings, including what I guessed was the priests home and a small main hall. It is now a Tendau sect temple and apparently home to one of the infamous "Naked Festivals" where hordes of men and boys in loin-cloths jostle for good luck charms....

Garden at Kozanji Temple

 

The garden at Kozanji Temple in Chofu, Yamaguchi, is neither well-known nor well-visited, though the temple itself and its grounds are usually crowded.

It's a large, Zen temple whose main hall is a National Treasure as it is one of the oldest Kara-yo buildings left in Japan. Kara-yo is the Chinese-influenced temple architecture that was introduced along with Zen in the 13th century and so is strongly associated with the Zen sects.

Kozanji is the 19th temple on the 33 temple Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and that was the reason for my visit. While wandering the grounds I was approached by a priest who engaged me in conversation. Foreign visitors to the temple are certainly not rare, so maybe he was intrigued by my pilgrim jacket.

Anyway, it was he who suggested I seek out and visit the garden which is tucked away at the side of one of the main halls and seems to have been designed to be viewed from what I presume to be the abbots residence.

The garden has a pond as well as some shaped azalea bushes, lanterns, etc but was very shaded and primarily a moss garden. Less-manicured than most zen gardens, it was also very shaded.

Far more restrained than the huge Chofuteien stroll-type garden I had visited earlier that morning. Next up I head to the nearby Mori Mansion gardens

Chofuteien Garden

Chofuteien Garden

Chofu, a former castle town not far from Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, was a base of the Mori Clan and though not so well known or visited is actually a delightful place for a visit.

Chofuteien is a large stroll-type garden that opened to the public in 1993. These photos are from a visit I made on November 27th, 2014, on my 24th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. I had been here before in the late spring when everything was green, but the autumn colors were really spectacular.

It is on the site of the former manor of Nishi Yukinaga, the most senior of the Mori vassals.

In the middle of the 31,000 sq meter garden is a large pond, with koi, and a couple of bridges over it as well as stepping stones.

There is a small teahouse looking over the pond and a large summer house as well as a couple of white-walled storehoues, one of which hosts exhibitions.

The path heads up into the woods to a waterfall and heads back down to the storehouses through a bamboo grove and areas planted in a variety of seasonal flowers.

There are two more gardens in the old town, one a temple garden in a large Zen temple, and the other in the Mori Mansion. If readers requested it I could post on them soon.

Buy dokudami tea from Japan

Maneki Neko Museum

 

The Maneki Neko Museum is home to more than 700 examples of Maneki-neko, the "beckoning cat" that probably originated in Edo in the mid 19th century, though Kyoto makes a claim for it too.

The Japanese gesture for "come here" looks a lot like the gesture of waving goodbye in western cultures and the maneki-neko has one of its paws raised, either right or left. Some examples are motorized to raise and lower the paw.

They are made out of stone, ceramic, plastic, or papier mache and can be found in a variety of colors. Usually white, which represents general good luck, but red ones symbolize good health, black to ward off evil, and gold or yellow for wealth.

The museum is in a couple of renovated farmhouses up in the mountains north of Okayama City in a village called Kanayamaji, and though there is no public transport to the place the museum is very popular and even gets lots of tour buses.

I visited on my third day of walking along the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Pagoda at Kinzanji

 

While walking up a country lane north of Okayama City on the third day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, I spied a pagoda on the hillside ahead. I was quite surprised as while studying maps of my route I did not notice any major temples.

Turns out it was Kinzanji, a Tendai temple that was commonly known as Kanayama Kannonji and was founded by Ho-on Daishi in 749.

The pagoda, a three storeyed one, was built in 1788. Approaching the pagoda you pass through the Niomon, which like the nio housed inside, is much in need of repair and is held together by wooden scaffolding.

Where the huge main hall once stood now all that remaons are the foundation stones. The niomon, main hall, and pagoda line up. There is also a goma-do that dates back to the 16th century.