Sasaguri Pilgrimage Temples 22 Kirinokidani Yakushi-do, 2 Matsugase Amida-do, & 56 Matsugase Jizo-do

 

Temple 22, Kirinokidani Yakushi-do is in the same area as the last couple of temples, an Amida-do and a Dainichi-do.

Like most temples on the pilgrimage, it is small, unmanned, and packed with statues.

It was located at the base of the mountain but moved up here several generations ago by the current caretakers grandfather.

Not sure what the dragon statue is about, nor the "ascetic master" statue.

The main hall has the new, golden honzon as well as the origanl small, stone honzon. This seems to be the case with many of the temples, indicating to me that originally many of the temples when the pilgrimage was originally established were just simple roadside altars with a stone statue. Over the years since the local people have gradually built up each site with buildings and many, many statues.

Kirinokidani Yakushi-do was at the top of the mountain, and the next temple was way down at the base.

Matsugase Amida-do is temple number 2,  just across the river from the first temple, the huge Nanzoin.

For me, it was nice to once again come across numerous Fudo statues...

Among the statues in the main hall, the most interesting was a kami statue... Awashima Daimyojin, on the far right of the photo below, and the subject of the 3rd photo below.

It was believed to be effective against women's diseases, especially sexually transmitted ones.

Women from the geisha district of Hakata would make the journey out to the temple....

The final temple of the day for me was the Matsugase Jizo-do. This was the end of the second day, and like the first day was filled with so much......Anyone visiting the area should explore this wonderful pilgrimage, and get away from the obvious attraction of Nanzo-in, which I will be visiting tomorrow.

It was very close to the previous temple and was relocated here in 2011; I suspect because of road-widening work on the main highway.

Outside is a small 6 Jizo hall, and inside the main hall are ten Jizo statues, including the honzon.

Another small snake statue fashioned out of a twisty tree root. No idea what the Kewpie dolls are about; photo below and the top photo of the post.

The previous post in this series covered two pilgrimage temples plus a non-pilgrimage temple filled with dolls.

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Magical Giant Bamboo Forests of Sasaguri

 

One of the great bonuses found on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage is that numerous times the walking trail passes through pristine forests of Giant Bamboo.

With only the merest whisper of a breeze, the bamboos clack against each other like wind chimes....

I know that the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is one of the most popular tourist sites in all of Japan, but who prefers shuffling shoulder to shoulder through a manicured park with literally thousands of people, when you could be alone deep inside a magical space...?

That was a rhetorical question. The value of Arashiyama is you can take the same photos as millions and millions of other people and then post them on the same social media sites....

But, for the rest of us, I highly recommend the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.... very close to Hakata and you don't have to do the whole 4 days.....

These pics were taken after leaving a couple of temples in the Nakanokawachi area....

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Modern Architecture of the Fukuoka Waterfront

 

On my second visit to the city of Fukuoka, many years ago,  I spent an afternoon photographing the architecture in the waterfront area stretching from Momochi to Hakata Port.

The Momochi district where I began is built on reclaimed land so everything is new.

Lots of apartments...

I previously posted  on the Fukuoka City Museum and the Fukuoka Tower in this area....

Mostly I have chosen photographs that are somewhat abstract and geometric, rather than showcasing the buildings as a whole.

This makes photos that resemble the kind of paintings I used to make 40 to 60 years ago...

The photo above is of the TNC Broadcasting Centre next to the Fukuoka Tower. The previous photo is of the Fukuoka City Library.

Below is one of the corner entrances of an otherwise non-descript office building, the NCB Seaside Building.

I think it may now have a different colour-scheme...

The photo above is not actually architecture, rather a view of a very large public sculpture. Not far away is the unusual Twins Momochi.

Across the river these two shots are of what was called the Yahoo Dome when I was there. Now it is called the Mizuho PayPay Dome.

Next door is the Seahawk Hotel which I covered in 2 posts, one on the main hotel, and the second on the impressive atrium.

Just inland from the dome is a huge shopping mall, itself an ugly concrete box, but the movie theatre had some nice decoration.

Next I headed up towards the port area of Hakata.

I posted earlier on the Hakata Port Tower.

A nice water reflection can make any architecture look interesting... below an unusual angle and crop of the Sun Palace Hotel...

And then a short walk upriver towards my hotel, and I couldn't refuse this shot that presented itself.

The previous post in the series was on Marine Messe Fukuoka.

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Marine Messe Fukuoka

The Marine Messe is located on the waterfront in Hakata, close to the Hakata Port Tower.

It is an exhibition space, conference center, and a sports arena.

It was opened in 1995 and was designed by Nihon Sekkei.

It is the largest indoor multi-purpose facility in the prefecture.

For concerts it can accommodate audiences up to 15,000

The previous post in this series on the modern architecture of Fukuoka was on the nearby Hakata Port Tower