Yokomineji Temple 60 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

At 745 meters above sea level, Yokomineji, temple 60, is the highest of the pilgrimage temples in Ehime, and the second highest of all the 88 pilgrimage temples.

I visited in February about 11 years ago and in the autumn there had been a major storm that severely damaged the trail up the mountain.

On the lowest slopes of Mount Ishizuchi, Yokomineji is one of the Henro Korogashi.... hard to reach temples, and with the path blocked by storm debris it was even more so ......

Said to have been founded by famed and legendary founder of Shugendo, En no Gyoja, in 651.

Gyoki, nd then a century later Kobo Daishi, also visited.

Almost to the shrine you pass the Furubo Jizo-do. There used to be a small settlement in the area as during the Edo period this was a well travelled road.

Yokomineji has quite a complex history not made easier by the reconfiguring of the Jaoanese religious landscape in the latter half of the 19th century.

When Enno Gyoja founded it he carved a statue of Zao Gongen, the main deity of what is now Shugendo. Later when Kobo Daishi came he carved a Dainichi statue and made it the "main image".

What seems certain is that it was a syncretic site with both kami and Buddhist elements. A report from the 17th century writes of a Zao Gongen main shrine, and a Kaisan-do dedicated to Sekisen, and a hall dedicated to Dainichi and Kobo Daishi.

In early Meiji all the Buddhist elements were removed and a new temple hall built near the Niomonto house them. This was called Omineji.

What was Yokomineji Temple became a branch shrine of Ishizuchi Shrine and a temple at the base of the mountain became the 60th pilgrimage temple.

By 1909 it was reinstated as Yokomineji Temple, though the observant notice that the architecture remains shrine-style.

The statue a few photos above is a Hoshiku Daishi. Holding a sword, I believe this represents Kobo Daishi performing a star ritual when he visited here. It stands on the site of the former Kaisan-do.

I did not spend much time exploring as it was very cold and there didn't seem to be anyone around. I certainly saw no other pilgrimas.

As I was about to leave it started snowing. 

On the way down I stopped in at Tsumashiro Daimyojin Shrine.

The guardian deity of the temple, many of the crude torii had rotted and collapsed.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Koryuji, the 10th bangai temple.

Choshoji Temple 33 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Choshoji, temple number 33 of the 88 temple pilgrimage on Shodoshima is located on a hillside at the southern edge of Ikeda Town.

Built on several terraces with great, stone, retaining walls it is quite impressive and seems to not be suffering financially.

It is a Shingon temple of the Omuro School.

It was founded in 1676, although some sources say it was relocated to this spot at that time.

The honzon is a Dainichi Nyorai and is flanked by a Fudo Myoo and an Aizen Myoo.

The main hall, built by temple builders from Kyoto, and the Shoin and Kuri were all built in 1996.

The previous main hall was built in the early 19th century and is now used as the Daishi Hall.

As all the buildings on this upper level were built in 1996 I am guessing that was when the karensansui landscaping was also done.

So far on this pilgrimage I have not noticed much in the way of gardens, so this was very pleasant.

The temple has a set of hachiman statues that are registered as Important Cultural Properties. They were shintai at the neighboring Hachiman Shrine but were removed with the shinbutsu bunri edict of early Meiji

The previous post was on the Ikeda Saijiki which is just below the temple.

Shoboji Temple & Seiganji Temple 30 & 31 on Shodoshima pilgrimage

 

After a couple of small, hermitage-type "temples", number 30, Shoboji, in the small coastal settlement of Yoshino on the Mito peninsula, was quite substantial though there was no-one home.

It is said the temple was founded by Kobo Daishi himself in the early 9th century.

The main hall is said to be about 250-300 years old.

The honzon is a small statue of Dainichi dating back to the Heian period, possibly even the 10th century. It is one of the oldest Dainichi statues in all of Kagawa. Flanking the Dainich is a Tamonten and a Jikokuten from the same period although these two are believed to have been carved locally.

Not far away, around a small headland, and in the next coastal settlement, is Seiganji, temple 31.

This is even more substantial and with a bell tower gate dating back to the Edo period.

The most noticeable thing here though is the massive Sago palm that almost obscures the view of the main building. probably about 1,000 years old, though some claim it to be 1,600 years old, 7.5 meters high, and with a trunk diameter of 8 meters.

It is said the temple was founded by Gyoki in the first half of the 8th century. While sleeping at this spot he is said to have a dream of Myoken, the Buddhist version of the North Star deity and a very, very popular cult in Japan.

Believed to be Taoist in origin and brought to Japan by Korean immigrants, esoteric Buddhism adopted the deity. Right next door is a Myoken Shrine. Thousands of Myoken shrines were renamed and the deity renamed as a Shinto kami in the early Meiji period. One possible site of origin in Japan is the Yatsushiro Shrine in southern Kyushu. That post also links to a favorite Myoken temple of mine, Nose Myokensan near Osaka.

The main hall is on the hillside above the main temple grounds. It was built in 1933 out of Taiwanese Cypress and features many carvings. The honzon is a standing Amida Nyorai. Also in the main hall are a Senju Kannon, a Myoken Bosatsu, and a Fudo Myoo.

Leading up to the main hall is a delightful Edo-period rock garden. In front of the garden is a large flat stone that if you stand on it the North Star is visible directly above the main hall/

The previous post was on temples 28 nd 29.

Ryushoji Temple 64 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Ryushoji, the 64th temple on the 108 temple Shingon Pilgrimage around Kyushu, is  located just off the main road that crosses over the Shimabara Peninsula just south of Unzen Mountain.

The temple is high enough up the lower slopes of the mountain to have great views down and over the Ariake Sea to Kumamoto.

The temple is visible from some distance because of the huge, brightly colored statues of Fudo Myo standing more than 13 meters tall.

At its base are another couple of brightly-painted Fudo statues.

When I first visited in 2014 the newly built main hall was still behind scaffolding and blue tarps, but it opened in 2015. I revisited a few years later while walking the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage.

The temple suffered no damage during the eruptions of the 1990's, though it did receive a lot of ash and the road which heads on up to Unzen Hot Springs was closed for a while.

The honzon is a Dainichi Nyorai, but I can find no other information or dates for the temple.

The previous post in this series chronicling day 62 of my walk along the pilgrimage was on the buried houses of the Unzen disaster.