Toshunji Temple 16 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Toshunji, temple number 16 of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage is located right next to the famous Pagoda at Rurikoji Temple, and so most visitors usually pass by.

It was established by Motonari Mori, the great warlord who ruled over most of the Chugoku region until fighting for the losing side in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1601.

He founded the temple in 1572 as a family temple within the grounds of his home castle in Yoshida, now Hiroshima Prefecture. It is a Rinzai Zen temple with Kannon as honzon.

He moved it to this site in 1605 after most of his lands were stripped away. He moved it again in 1618 to Hagi.

In 1869, following the Meiji Restoration, it was moved back to this site.

The site was originally an Ouchi Clan temple called Kokusei-ji and the current gate, photo 4, built in 1402, is from the original temple and is an Important Cultural Property.

The Kannon Hall, photo 6, dates to 1430, and was moved here in 1915. It is also an Important Cultural Property.

There is a small garden, mostly bamboo with a few maple.

The previous post in this series on day 23 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the autumn colours at Ryufukuji Temple

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Oki-ke House, Garden, & Museum

 

The Oki-ke is a traditional, large residence next door to the Tamawakasu Shrine on Dogen, the largest of the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan.

It is built in a style unique to the Oki Islands.

It is the home of the Oki family, hereditary priests of the shrine since ancient times.

It was built in 1801 and is designated an Important Cultural Property.

The family still reside there, so it cannot be entered, though one can see inside from a couple of spots.

There is a quite nice garden surrounding the residence and the museum building next door.

I don't remember having seen this kind of bamboo before. It' called Kikko bamboo.

I thought it must have been manipulated in some way to force the strange zig-zag pattern, but its natural.

Inside the museum the pride of place goes to the ekirei, station bell. It seem this is the only remaining example in Japan.

This small copper bell was a mark of status since the ritsuryo-state period of ancient Japan. It gave the person carrying it the right to horses at stations along the old imperial routes.

There are other things on display that may be of interest to some....

The previous post was on the neighbouring Tamawakasu Shrine, also with Important Cultural Properties.

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Jodo-ji Temple 9 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Jodo-ji Temple in Onomichi, the historic port on the Hiroshima coast is said to have been founded by Shotoku Taishi in the early 7th century.

However, no records exist to prove that, although there was some kind of religious site here 400 years later at the end of the Heian Period.

The main gate dates to the mid 14th century and is an Important Cultural Property.

The main hall, left in the photo above, and photo below, dates to 1327 and is a National Treasure.

The honzon is an Eleven-faced Kannon, and the temple now belongs to the Shingon sect.

In 1325 a major fire burned down most buildings and so everything now has been built since then.

Ashikaga Takauji stopped here in 1336 on his way back from Kyushu and donated a set of poems.

He also made Jodoji one of his Ankokuji, nation-pacifying temples.

Below is the Amida Hall, built in 1345 and enshrining Amida

It, along with the gate, Abbots Quarters (hojo), and several other structures and artifacts are also Important Cultural Properties.

The other Nationl Treasure at Jodoji is the pagoda.

This Tahoto-style pagoda was constructed in 1328 and emshrines Dainichi.

Apparently there is a Treasure House where some of the many treasures in the possession of the temple are on display, but I didn't visit it.

I was most interested in the gardens which I covered in the previous post.

To view the gardens you go into the Abbots quarters, the hojo, which has a nice collection of painted screens seen in the final photos.

Usually statues of Binzuru are found on the veranda of a hall, but here he was inside.