Kando-ji Temple 23 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Kandoji, is a fairly small and nondescript temple in the south of Izumo City. As well as being temple 23 on the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage, it is also temple number 5 on the much older Izumo Kannon Pilgrimage. The post from my earlier visit is here.

Though now quite modest, it was in ancient times very large and powerful and is said to have had a strong relationship with Izumo Taisha, but I know that in 15th and 16th centuries Gakuenji Temple oversaw Izumo Taisha. It is said that it was the foremost temple in the San-in region.

Said to have been founded in 781 by Socho. Amazingly, it is claimed that Saicho, the founder of Hiezan and the Tendai sect and a contemporary of Kobo Daishi, was the second abbot of the temple, and that Kobo Daishi himself was the third.

Another claim is that Kobo Daishi wrote the Iroha while here and a copy in his handwriting is owned by the temple. The Iroha was a poem for memorizing the kana syllabary that Kobo Daishi is said to have created. It can be thought of as a Japanese version of the Alphabet Song in English. Not too long ago I posted on another temple claiming to be where he wrote the Iroha, Dogakuji Temple in Tokushima. Historians are of the opinion that the Iroha was composed hundreds of years after the time of Kobo Daishi.

The temple converted to the Jodo sect. It has an Amida as its honzon, said to have been carved by Gyoki. The 11-faced Kannon in the Kannon Hall is a secret Buddha.

The previous post in this series on day 40 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the nearby Umaki Fudoson, one of the top 3 Fudo's in Japan.

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Yumachihachimangu

Yumachi is the settlement between Tamatsukuri Onsen and Lake Shinji and has a quite substantial Hachimangu.

Unfortunately there was no signboard and nobody around so I couldn't find out the names of the numerous secondary shrines in the grounds.

It was curious that it din't have an Izumo style shimenawa.

One of the older sessha had its own protective roof and walls

Tamatsukuri Historical park

Both the manhole designs for Tamatsukuri feature magatama, the "comma" shaped jewels. This first design also includes an image of the Tamatsukuri Historical Park.

Located on the hillside right behind the Public Onsen, the park is the site of the biggest magatama production area so far discovered in Japan.

There is a modern structure protecting the archeological remains of the magatama workshop and a reconstruction of a yayoi period building.

Behind the park is a small museum with displays on magatama and their historical production.

Tamatsukuriyu Shrine

The main shrine in Tamatsukuri is the Tamatsukuriyu Shrine. The three main kami are Kushiakarutami, Onamuchi (Okuninushi), & Sukunahikona. The latter two are well known, but this was my first encounter with Kushiakarutami, who was the priest Tamasuri (he who makes the jewels) who enshrined Okuninushi following the ceding of the land to the Yamato, Kuniyuzuri.

Kushiakarutami is also equated with Haakarutama and Amenoakarutama, the first being the kami that gave Susano the jewels he used in his "contest" with Amaterasu, and the second being the kami that produced the jewels that were hung outside the cave that Amaterasu used to hide away in. The common feature of all these kami is the production of "jewels", the comma- shaped stones known as magatama. Tamatsukuri was a center of magatama production and the unusually shaped treasure house of the shrine has many of the objects found in archeological digs in the shrine area.

Nowadays the shrine is most well known for its "wish fulfilling stone" (negai ishi). Nowadays you can buy small stones from the shrine office and hold them against the almost spherical stone and have its power transferred.

There are numerous secondary shrines within the grounds including an Inari, Konpira, Susa, a Tama no Miya, Several other shrines I can find no information about, Kikakashi, Fukutoku, & Sanatama.

Inari Shrine at Tamatsukuriyu Shrine

The biggest shrine in Tamatsukuri is Tamatsukuriyu Shrine, and within its grounds is a small Inari Shrine.

Guarded by a pair of fox statues, the fox being the messengers of Inari.

It is fairly common to find beheaded statues with missing heads replaced by a  head-shaped rock. Ive seen that with jizo statues a lot but never before with a fox statue.

Behind the shrine shelves have been made is a small overhang in the rock and several lines of miniature fox statues have been left by worshipers/petitioners.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 33 Seiganji

The 33rd and final temple on the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage is Seiganji, located in the north of Tamatsukuri Onsen.

It is a Rinzai Zen temple and the honzon is a Kannon, but it is not the Kannon of the pilgrimage.

It is located in the small Kannon Hall next to the main hall. It was built originally in 1702 and was located in the mountains at a temple called Iwayadera. It was moved here in 1873.

Staffs left by pilgrims who have completed the pilgrimage. I have never seen another walking pilgrim while I walked the pilgrimage, and I suspect most of the staffs were carried by car pilgrims.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable pilgrimage for me. I will post a couple of more posts of shrines I visited on my way from here to the station, and then I will concentrate my posts on my Kyushu pilgrimage.

Inside Tamatsukuri Public Onsen

A good half of the public onsen in Tamatsukuri is a wedge-shaped concrete structure that in reality serves no purpose at all.

But it looks good, and makes for some nice photographs...... :)

It was designed by Shimane born architect Shin Takamatsu and opened in 1996.

Tamatsukuri Public Onsen

Tamatsukuri Onsen is among the oldest in recorded history in Japan. Located on the Tamayu River near Lake Shinji it has numerous ryokan and guest houses as well as many large resort style hotels.

In the river itself are several small pools that can be used for free and the main street also has a free foot bath, but the town had no public onsen until 1996.

The architecvt chosen to design the new public onsen was local boy Shin Takamatsu.

His design is ditinctive and uses one of his trademarks, geometric solids.

Cherry Blossoms at Tamatsukuri Onsen

Now that several months have passed since the cherry blossom viewing season its time for me to post on the subject.

I am not a huge fan of Ohanami,.... seems to be more of a city thing. I like the mountainsides with their wild sakura as they appear and fade like slow motion fireworks. but the overkill of white that has mostly been planted in the modern, urban Japan don't do anything for me.

However, as I walked through Tamatsukuri Onsen on my way to the final temple on the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the river that runs through the town and down into lake Shinji was lined with cherry tree in full bloom.

It helped that there were no blue tarps under the trees filled with people drinking and eating....

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 32 Zenkoji

The penultimate temple of the Izumo 33 pilgrimage is located just south of downtown Matsue in the township of Nogi. It is said that the pine tree in front of the Kannon-do was planted by General Nogi, one of the heroes of the Russo-Japanese War who is known for his ritual suicide following the desth of Emperor Meiji. It is just coincidence that the town is also called Nogi.

The Kannon-do was originally located some distance away at a temple called Fukuoji and was moved here about 350 years ago. The monument in front of the main hall is a memorial to the dead of Iwo Jima.

Zenko-ji belongs to the Jishu sect, a branch of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the monk Ippen, and is not such a common sect, in fact I don't remember having visited a Jishu temple before.

It's a relatively small, urban temple but with quite a few statues in the grounds including this fine Fudo Myo and this one below who had lost his head at some point.