Kairyuzan Toda Hachiman Shrine

 

Depicting doves, rabbits, and monkeys, the ceramic roof ornaments at Toda Hachimangu are fairly unusual, though I have seen some on the tile roofs of walls around houses in Tsunozu.

Located close to the sea among rice paddies, Toda Hachimangu has three toriis. The third being Ryobu style. The name Kairyuzan is  Shingon related, and with the Ryobu torii indicated a strong Buddhist connection.

On the path from the shrine to the torii on the beach is a small Inari shrine.

There are also secondary shrines to Kakinomoto Hitomaro, the legendary ancient poet who possibly died nearby. Toyokehime, Kotoshironushi, Otoshi, and the sea kami Wadatsumi, enshrined here before the shrine was converted to a Hachiman shrine in 899.

The shrine was completely destroyed by the tsunami of 1026, which also destroyed Kushirogahime shrine that I had just visited.

The tengai, the sacred ceiling below which kagura dances are performed, was composed of an unusual set of plants I had not seen before. Usually they are pine or sasaki.

As tutelary kami for samurai, Hachiman is often called a god of war. As such, samurai often donated their swords after success in battle. One sword was donated here in the late 16th century by a local samurai who had success in Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea.

Incidentally, the dove is the messenger of Hachiman which may explain the decorations on the roof. Also it adds some confusion to the imported notion of doves being symbols of peace.

The version of Hachiman here is Ojin, Jingu, and all three Munakata kami.

The previous post in this series on day 33 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on Kushirogahime Shrine nearby.

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Itsukushima Shrine Koshigahama

 

The Itsukushima Shrine in Koshigahama near Hagi is situated on the banks of Myojin Pond.

The pond is tidal but also contains freshwater, so species of fish and marine life from both ecosytsems can be found in it.

The pond is on the sandbar that connects Mount Kasayama, a small volcano, with the mainland.

The shrine was established by the second Mori Lord of the Hagi Domain, Tsunahiro, in 1686.

It is a branch of the famous Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima in Hiroshima, which had earlier been part of the Mori Domain.

Not sure what fish these are, but sea bream, parrotfish, mullet, rays, and sea bass can all be found in the pond.

The pond was previously known as Benten Pond and the original Benten Shrine is now a sub shrine of the Itsukushima. Bezaiten was considered a manifestation of Itsukushimahime.

Other sun shrines in the grounds include an Inari and a Konpira.

This was the start of day 30 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on the last part of my walk on day 29, across the Matsumoto River.

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Akiyoshi Inari Shrine

 

On a small side road leading to the small settlement that has grown up around the entrance to Akiyoshido, the biggest cave in Japan, is the entrance to Akiyoshi Inari Shrine.

There was no signboard and I can find absoluteley no information online in either English or Japanese about its history.

Several visitors to the shrine mention that it rminded them of a Ghibli film, and while I have not seen a Ghibli film, I think they are referring to the shrines location i\within a forest with mossy steps leading to it.

The most intriguing thing for me was that a totally unique Torii that stood here when I first visited more than twenty years ago has now disappeared.

It can be seen in the final two photos of this post, and it had a unique curved top section that I can7t remember ever having seen anywhere else.

If you are visiting the area it is worth stopping in as it is quite atmospheric.

The previous post in this series on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Akiyoshidai International Arts Village nearby.

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Tenjin Shrine Tokushima

 

Right next to the Awa Odori Hall and Ropeway Station in downtown Tokushima is the Tenjin Shrine.

It was established by Hachikusa Iemasa at the opening of the 17th century. It was destroyed during the bombings of WWII and the current buildings date to the late 70's.

The giant red torii was erected in 1986 to commemorate Emperor Showa's 60 years on the throne.

There are several smaller shrines within the grounds, including a Himeyama Shrine with associations with finding a spouse and good marital relations.

There is also a Kunin Daimyojin known for business prosperity and success in exams, which seems to be cutting into the territory of the main kami of the shrine, Tenjin, aka Sugawara Michizane.

The biggest secondary shrine is an Inari shrine right next to the main hall......

It is the one with lots of sake barrels in front of it....

The previous post in this series on Tokushima was on the views from Mount Bizan.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.