Tanokami, Eggs, A Church, a Giant Torii, & A Dragon

On the 26th day of my first walk around Kyushu I headed directly north from Shibushi towards Miyakonojo where I had a room for the night. As usual I stopped in at any shrines I passed, and after leaving one that was down a track I noticed a statue in the corner of a rice paddy.

This turned out to be a statue of Tanokami, the god of the rice paddies, and though I had come across this kami before, this was the first time I had seen one in statue form. I had heard that southern Kyushu had plenty of these statues and hoped to find lots more over the next week or so.

One thing Japan is renowned for is the huge number of vending machines, and in the countryside you can find some strange ones. Vending machines for fresh eggs are actually not all that unusual.

Walking through the outskirts of Miyakonojo I came across this church. It's a real church, a Catholic one built in 1933, not a fake wedding chapel, which incidentally I saw a little later. The fake wedding chapels are usually much bigger and grander, with plenty of soaring spires and elaborate gothic decorations.....

After checking in to my room I went for a walk and couldn't miss a huge torii straddling the road. This led to the towns main shrine set in a big park. Kamibashiragu Shrine seems to be connected to the arrival of the Shimazu Clan in southern Kyushu, though now it has plenty of imperial kami enshrined.

Kunisaki Autumn Walk Day 3

It had taken me two days to walk across the Kunisaki Peninsula from west to east. For this third day my route would be south and then southwest down the coastline. There were a lot of shrines, many of them with banners flying indicating matsuri time..... it was November and the rice had been harvested..

At one shrine a handful of older men and a priest were preparing for some ceremony. Usually just  a small group of men, usual village elders, attend these. I have been several times to my local shrine. It is generally agreed it is not for women, though I have never received a satisfactory answer why.

One shrine, Shiraishi, was among the sand dunes. Shiraishi means white stone and refers to a stone pulled up from the sea by a fisherman. It is said the stone was a dragons head, and so the shrine enshrines Ryujin, the undersea Dragon King. People pray here for rain during droughts.

There were a lot of smaller Ebisu Shrines, either in the grounds of bigger shrines, or more often, there own little roadside shrines. All the little villages along this stretch of coast had fishing boats hence Ebisu.

After passing Oita Airport I arrived in the castle town of Kitsuki where I had a room for the night.

Renjoji one of the oldest temples in Japan?

Renjoji

Renjoji is temple 27 on the Shingon Kyushu 108 temple Pilgrimage and is located just outside the town of Mie in Bungo Ono, Oita.

The guidebook to the pilgrimage, and the information signboard at the temple had two different versions of the temples origins. The book says it was founded by a Chinese monk in 546, whereas the signboard says it was founded by a local man who than brought over a monk from Paekche on the Korean Peninsula.

The official version of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan has the king of Paekche sending a statue to the Yamato court in the mid 6th Century, but that ignores the fact that northern Kyushu and the Japan Sea coast, much closer to the peninsula, had extensive contacts and interactions with Korea, and it seems highly unlikely that Buddhism did not appear in these areas before then. Here in Shimane we have two temples that claim an origin that predates the Paekche gift to Yamato.

The main deity here is a small statue of Kannon, but the temple has a strong connection with Yakushi Nyorai, the "Medicine Buddha" and there is a hall containing almost 1,000 Yakushi statues which I will post about next.

Kyushu Pilgrimage temple 17 Amida-In

Located on a hillside along a narrow lane in the hills south of Kokura, Amida-In was a bit of a surprise.

It was relocated here from the big temple complex of Daigo-Ji south of Kyoto in the late 19th Century, but its not clear if that was any buildings or just the main statue.

Strangely being called after Amida, the main deity enshrined is Fudo MyoO, of whom there are several stone statues in the grounds as well as numerous other Buddhas and bodhsattvas.

As well as the Shingon style Pagoda, there was also a small shrine in the grounds. Just inside the priests quarters was this large, complex carving of a dragon.

There be Dragons!

Dragons are ubiquitous in Japan, often found at both Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples. Carvings of dragons above the main door can be found at both. This one, with a rather nice eye, is at Saido-ji Temple in Esaki, Shimane.

This one, sculpted in plaster, is an example of kote-e, plaster relief art, and is on the treasure house at Anyo-ji in Omori, part of Iwami Ginzan.

Often associated with water, this fairly modern stone carving is a spigot outside one of the public onsen baths in Yunotsu, Shimane.

This carving is above the entrance to the main hall of Ichibata Yakushi temple in the mountains above Lake Shinji in Shimane.

Bronze dragons as spigots for temizuya, water basins for purification, are also very common. This one is at an Ebisu Shrine on a small island connected to the beach at low tide at Todakohama near Masuda.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 29 Asahidera

The familiar figure of a Fudo Myo statue marks my way up  Mount Asahi towards the 29th temple located near the summit at 324 meters, and named after the mountain itself.

Yet another temple reputed to be founded by the prolific Gyoki, it is now a Shingon temple with the honzon being an 11 faced Kannon. Mount Asahi is a kannabiji, a mountain considered to be sacred and one of many mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki.

Unusual nowadays because the road does not reach all the way to the temple itself, so a trail through the dark forest leads to the final flight of stone steps.

For the elderly priest who still lives there and for some of his guests there is a small railway of the kind favored by construction workers or others who must work on steep slopes like the orange growers on some of the islands in the Inland Sea. This is the first time I have seen one used for passengers.

Great views can be had down onto Lake Shinji.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage temple 28 Jyoso-ji

The Nio gate to Jyoso-ji is some distance from the temple itself, though the temple complex was much larger in earlier times. It is said that the temple was founded by Gyoki, which would make it early 8th Century.

It is also said that Gyoki carved the Nio, and while they are fairly old I am certain that is a rather fanciful legend.

Located in the mountains behind Sada Shrine, the temple was the Okunoin (inner sanctuary) of that shrine. It now belongs to the Shingon sect.

In front of the main hall is a 450 year old plum tree, but it had long since past its blooming when I visited in June.

The main hall has some fine dragon carvings above the entrance.

Hachiman Shrine, Yuki

These two demon masks were located behind the main building of the Hachiman Shrine in Yuki, a fishing village on the south coast of Tokushima. The spot is named Oni no Koshikake, "Demons Seat".

Apparently several local people saw an  Oni sitting at this spot. Interestingly this is not a story from long ago, as it happened on September 15th, 2002.

Being a Hachiman Shrine, the main kami is Ojin, his mother, Jingu, and either his father Chuai, or his "wife" Himegami.

There was a small Ebisu shrine in the grounds, not surprising at it is a fishing village.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 15 Koanji

Koan-ji was founded in the early 8th Century, Tempyo 11. Now it is a Soto sect zen temple.

Originally it belonged to the Hosso sect, one of the 6 original sects based in Nara.

It was the family temple for one of the retainers of the Amago clan who ruled the area before being ousted by the Mori.

It is not known how old the wonderful ceiling painting of a dragon is, b ut it is obviously old.

It is the last temple of the pilgrimage in the Hi River watershed.

Happy New Year of the Dragon

This is a detail from Twin Dragons on the ceiling in Kennin-Ji in Kyoto. It was painted in 2002 to commemorate the 800 year anniversary of the temples founding. The artist is Koizumi Junsaku and the painting measures 11.4 by 15.7 meters.

I wish all of you a great new year. In a few days I will be back home and can start posting more regularly again.

Takano-Ji inside

Inside Takano-Ji is like stepping into another world. The ceiling is painted with bright murals of dragons.

All the colums and architectural details are also brightly painted.

If this was in Kyoto there would be a hefty entrance fee and crowds of people.

Above the main altar a huge mandala.

There are some amazing statues. I think this must be one of the Shitenno, the four heavenly kings.

There is also a collection of paintings.

One could easily spend hours taking it all in.