Iwami Ginzan Kaido Yunotsu Route

 

After crossing over a pass from Shimizu, the footpath once again joins a road and then head roughly East up the Yusato River.

On the opposite side of the valley, a bit too far to be bothered with a detour, is a big, newly rebuilt shrine.

This is Mizukami Shrine and has been important for a long time, being listed in the Engishiki.

The current honden dates to 1761. The shrine enshrines a pair of sea kami, which is quite unusual so far inland. According to the legend, a storm blew them to the nearby coast, and they headed inland attracted to the light of the mountain behind. While here they taught the local people to dry the rice harvest on similar structures used to dry fishing nets, a unique method still practise today.

A little further and I pass by Zuisenji Temple, a large temple with big gatehouse and 350 year old Gingko tree.

A big signboard point out the mountaintops nearby that housed two big castles that straddled the Silver Mine Road, Yahazu Castle and Yataki Castle.

This must have been a bustling valley in the heyday of the mine, as Yunotsu was the biggest port supplying the mine.

Until 1600 the silver would also have been taken out on this route, but after the Tokugawa took over the mines the silver was shipped overland to Onomichi, thereby avoiding the sea route that passed the Mori strongholds of what is now  western Yamaguchi.

After a while, the route turns north, leaves the road, and heads over the mountains.

A big sign in the forest marks Korozaka, Downhill Slope. It is said that battles took place here in the 16th century as warlords vyed for control of the mines.

There is no historical evidence for a battle that supposedly defeated the Mori, who eventually controlled the mine and most of the Chugoku Region, though some believe it refers to an earlier battle at Gassan Toda Castle.

It is now a steep uphill climb through the forest.

I have walked this route, a World Heritage Site, numerous times, and have yet to meet another human along the way....

From the pass there are great views down to where the mine area is.

It is a short, steep downhill walk to what used to be the guard station and then closed-off mineshafts start to appear, and then the one open to the public, the Ryugenji Mabu.

Soon the route reaches Omori, the administrative centre of the mine district.

The previous post was on the curious Ryuukoji Temple.

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Ryuukoji Temple & Many Fudo Myoo's

 

In Shimizu, there is just one small temple, though it is intriguing for me because of the multiple Fudo Myoo statuettes in the grounds.

I recently learned that it is a temple of a relatively new sect called Nakayama Shingo Shoshu, founded in the early 20th century and with the head temple in NE Saga close to the Fukuoka border.

I believe this is a statue of the founder of the sect, Kakue Shonin, and the story of this temple in Shimizu is that a local man, in 1947, had a series of dreams about Kakue Shonin and so established the temple.

I can't say I understand much about the sect, except that Fudo Myoo is the main object of worship, that asceticism is encouraged, and that so is charity and social engagement, all plusses in my book.

The last photo of the post is a signboard showing a trail up the mountain with numerous small halls and with a Fudo carved into a rock face and a waterfall at the top.

I have yet to find the trail and walk it, but plan to this autumn.

It reminds me of another small temple in my area of a modern sect that also practises asceticism with a small waterfall, Zenkakuji.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Iwami Ginzan Kaido while on day 38 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the little settlement of Shimizu where this temple is located.

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Shimizu on the Ginzan Kaido

 

After leaving Yunotsu, the Ginzan Kaido again becomes a footpath and crosses over the old Route 9 and the new expressway, as both run through tunnels at this point.

The next settlement is the delightful Shimizu, a place I enjoy every time I visit as it seems cut off from the outside modern world, though there is a narrow road that leads into it.

It is late April, and the azaleas are in full bloom...

Shimizu means pure water, and sure enough, in the middle of the village is a spring surrounded by deep stone walls.

The water is cold, even in summer, and is guarded by a Fudo Myoo...

There is a small but very interesting temple in Shimizu which I will cover in the next post in the series.

After Shimizu, the Ginzan Kaido once again becomes a footpath.....

The previous post in this series on day 38 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage was on the hot spring resort port of Yunotsu.

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Okidomari Port & the Ginzan Highway

 

I started day 38 of my walk alog the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage at Okidomari, the small port that serviced the Iwami Ginzan silver mines. The port and the mines as well as the road I am taking, the Ginzan Kaido, are all part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For more info on the port and Ginzan Kaido, please see this earlier post.

The next temples on the pilgrimage are a cluster around Izumo. The fastes way would be togo straight up the national highway, route 9, but it would also be the most boring. One of the temples is in the foothills of the Chugoku Mountains, so I have decided to cut inland and head along a mountainous route.

There are still a few houses inhabited in the old harbour village, but less each time I visit.

The Ginzan Kaido heads up through the settlement and then into a  bamboo grove before climbing out.

Not as manicured as the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, but 10,000 percent fewer people....

The previous post was on the last stop of the day before, Kannonji Temple in Gotsu Honmachi

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