Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 26 Senjyu-In

The 26th temple of the pilgrimage is located on a hillside northeast of Matsue Castle, and is known for its views over the rooftops towards the castle and for a 350 year old Weeping Cherry tree.

The temple was reconstructed on this site after the construction of Matsue Castle. It was originally in Hirose which is where the domains castle was before Matsue. This location was chosen so the temple could guard the NE direction of the castle, the direction from which demons arrived.

It is a Shingon temple and the honzon is the 11 faced Kannon.

In a clearing in the woods above the temple was a small abandoned shrine. There was no sign and it had two small buddhist figurines of Kobo Daishi in front of it, but most interesting was this group of monkey statues.

I can find no information about them, though mny first thought would be a connection to Sanno Shinto and Hiyoshi Shrine, but that was Tendai not Shingon. The larger figure seems to be holding rice.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 25 Chosui-ji

Chosui-ji, temple number 25 on the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a small rural temple located in Fukuhara north of Matsue City.

There is little information about it except that it formerly stood on top of the mountain and was moved to its current location in 1875.

It is now a Soto Zen temple, and the honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

Though not as famous as many pilgrimages, the number of ofuda left on the Kannon Hall attests to its continued popularity in Izumo....

Kumano Shrine, Honjo

Honjo is a large village on the north shore of the Nakaumi and the main village shrine was a branch of Kumano Shrine. I think this was the first shrine I had come to in the last 2 days of walking that was not either in the Izumo Fudoki nor the Engi Shiki.

The three main kami are Izanami, Hayatamano, and Kotosakano, though usually it is Izanagi associated with the other two rather than Izanami. The shrine had a small but in good condition mikoshi, fairly simple.

In the grounds was a Tenjin shrine, an Inari shrine, and an small shrine with no name.

The Inari shrine had a lot of small kitsune figures, usually white ceramic or plain stone, but also this pair of golden ones. There was also a small pair of figures, Daikoku and Ebisu.

Kurami Shrine

Kurami Shrine is yet another small shrine with an ancient pedigree. It is listed in both the Izumo Fudoki and the Engi Shiki. Izumo has more shrines listed in the Engi Shiki than any other provinces other than the home provinces of Yamashiro, Yamato, and Ise, an indication of the importance of Izumo in ancient times. The previous group of shrine I had visited today all had a strong yamato influnce in the kami enshrined, and it would be interesting to find out what the historical reasosn were for this. At Kurami we are a back to more Izumo kami.

The primary kami here is Takaokami, formed from the blood that dripped from Izanagis sword after he slew Kagutsuji, the kami of fire that killed Izanami. There are, of course, numerous versions of the story but the most common suggest it is a kami with connection to water and rain and is also considered the main kami of Kifune shrines.

The secondary kami is Hayatsumuji, and he seems to be a kami of wind. There is a mention of him in connection with Amewakahiko, the second emissary sent by Amaterasu to ask Okuninushi to cede Japan to the Yamato and who, like the first emissary chose to stay with Okuninushi. After  Amewakahikos death his body was carried back to the High Plain of Heaven by Hayatsumji.

Other kami enshrined here are Tsurugihiko, a son of Susano but not mentioned in Yamato myths. A shrine to him near Matsue claims he is a kami prayed to for safe return from war. Susano is enshrined here as well as Ukanomitama, another child of Susano most commonly eqauted with Inari, Also enshrined here is Takeminakata, the son of Okuninushi who was against the ceding of the land to the Yamato and who is the primary kami of Suwa shrines.

In the grounds were two aktars to Kojin, neither of which seemed particularly fresh.

Tree cutting ceremony at Kurami Shrine

Visiting Kurami Shrine involved a small detour off my pilgrimage route,  but I deemed it worthwhile as it was supposed to be a fairly important shrine historically.

As I approached the shrine I could see some activity going on in the grounds that as I got closer appeared to be a ceremony of some kind.

The ceremont contained the three elements that I associate with Shinto ritual, offerings, in this case sake which was then shared with the participants, the reading of norito, and purification.

Apparently one of the trees in the grounds needed some serious trimming work doing on it and the priest held the ceremony for the tree and for the men doing the work. I have not seen this before so am not sure how common such ceremonies are. I have seen trees being cut in shrines with no preparatory rituals.

Take Shrine

Take Shrine, another small village shrine on the shore of Nakaumi, gives the appearance of being abandoned. The grounds have not been kept up and there are no signs of activity. However, it was once a fairly important shrine, being listed in the Engi Shiki, which meant it received offering from the imperial government. Behind the shrine are two altars to Kojin, but they look as if the rope serpent has not been replaced for several years.

The 2 kami enshrined here are Takemikazuchi and Futsunishi, 2 martial kami associated with the ceding of Japan to the Yamato. The Kojiki has Takemikazuchi being the kami that Amaterasu sent down to Japan to ask Okuninushi to cede the land. the Nihonshoki says it was both takemikazuchi and Futsunushi. The Izumo Fudoki mentions only Futsunushi. So why the disparity?

In a nutshell, the Kojiki is really just a family history, a justification for the ruling clans divine right to rule Japan. At the time of its writing one of the most, if not the most, powerful clan was the Nakatomi/Fujiwara, who by this time had appropriated Takemikazuchi as one of "their" kami. The Nihonshoki was the official national history in Chinese style. It is much larger and contains many, many variations on the stories, reflecting the diversity of "histories" that existed at that time just as "Japan" was being formed out of many regional polities. The Fudoki were local gazeteers written to compile local histories, legends, and features.

The Kojiki was pretty much ignored for a thousand years until the Edo Period when National Learning scholars began to analyze the language of it. It really came to prominence with the rise of State Shinto and its focus on the Imperial family.  As noted above, the Nihon Shoki, sometimes called Nihongi, is much more detailed and therefore took longer to be completed but in my opinion is a far more interesting read. The Fudoki are almost completely lost, but the Izumo Fudoki is complete and is largely the reason why Izumo legends are so well known. Futsunushi, mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki was associated with the Mononobe Clan, the ancestor of which is buried near Izumo. The Mononobe were destroyed by the Nakatomi in their rise to power. I think this brief explaination shows why the three different versions of the myth exist.

Junisho Shrine

Junisho Jinja

Junisho Shrine is another small village shrine on the banks of the Nakaumi just about 1k north of Oi Shrine. Junisho means "twelve places" and refers to the 12 different kami enshrined here.

The first two are Izanagi and Izanami, the brother-sister, husband-wife, pair who really are the most important of the Japanese kami. It was they who created the Japanese islands and populated them with a whole pantheon of kami.

Among the kami created by Izanagi and Izanami perhaps the most important are the siblings Amaterasu and Susano, both also enshrined here. Amaterasu is often called the most important Japanese kami, but that is really just a hangover from State Shinto, her importance being that the imperial family claim descent from her. In real terms Susano is more important. He "descended" to Japan long before the descendants of Amaterasu, and there are far more shrines in Japan to Susano and his lineage than there are for Amaterasu and her lineage.

Between them, by "trial of pledge", Amaterasu and Susano created the  Gonansan Joshin, 5 male and 3 female kami, 6 of whom are enshrined here. The three females, often called the Munakata Kami, were kami strongly connected with travel between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. They are Tagitsuhime, Takiribime, and Ichikishimahime. The three male are Kumanokusubi, Ikutsuhikone, and Amenohohi. Its not clear why 2 of the eight are not enshrined here, nor why the only kami enshrined here, Konohanasakuyahime, that is not part of the obvious grouping of twelve.

There is also an altar/shrine to Kojin.

Oi Shrine

Oi Shrine is a small village shrine on the shore of the Nakaumi. It is listed in the Izumo Fudoki and therefore must be at least 1300 years old. In the Fudoka it was called Oisha and the kami enshrined was Okuninushi. However the main kami is now Amaterasu, along with Amenokoyane, Nakatsutsu (one of the Sumiyoshi kami), Yamato Takeru, & Homuda Wake (Ojin), along with Okuninushi.

It woud be interesting to know why this whole slew of Yamato kami came to supplant the local Okuninushi, but I can find no information as to when or why this happened.

There is a small Inari shrine next to the main shrine, and, like all the shrines in the region, altars to the local Kojin, in this case 4 in total. Before the twentieth Century these would have been out in the local communities, but the government, in their bid to strengthen their new Shinto religion, closed many of the local shrines and forced the local people to move their altars/shrines to a central shrine more often than not enshrining a "national" kami.

It is obvious that these Kojin altars are the site of much more activity than the main shrine.

Kora Shrine

Kora Shrine

Kora Shrine, located on the small hillside overlooking the Ohashi River just before it empties into the Nakaumi, appears to be just a small, local shrine, however, it is listed in the 8th Century Izumo Fudoki, though using different kanji to write the name.

The kami enshrined is is listed as Tamatare, known as Kora no Tamatare, the main kami of Kora Taisha a big shrine near Kurume in Fukuoka. According to the myth, he was a "minister" serving Jingu during the mythical subjugation of Korea. He is represented as having a long white beard. (Quite a handsome guy :))

The main shrine itself seems barely used, however, there is a substantial altar to Kojin with a very, very long body, and this seems to be the main focus of the shrine.

Kojin is often called the Kami of the Hearth, but here in Izumo its identity is more complex. It is a mix of land kami, ujigami, Tanokami, etc and is obviously the main kami for the people of the area, as opposed to the elite and rulers of the area.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Day 11 Higashi Matsue to Matsue

For the eleventh day of my walk along the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage I started fromn Higashi Matsue Station and crossed the Ohashi River which connects Lake Shinji with Lake Nakaumi.

The first part of the walk was along the western shore of Lake Nakaumi, which actually isnt a lake but a shallow lagoon.

There was a lot of shrines to visit, and also a lot of Kojin altars with their rope snakes. At one shrine I arrived as a ceremony was taking place, always a nice surprise.

I wouold visit 2 temples of the pilgrimage, before coming into Matsue, the Prefectural capital, and home to one of the handful of original castles keeps left in Japan.

Takeuchi Shrine

Takeuchi Shrine is a very popular shrine on the outskirts of Matsue., It shares the ground with Hirahama Hachimangu and there is an Inari shrine halfway up the approach steps.

The Hachimangu obviously enshrines Ojin, though usually with either his mother Jingu or his father Chuhai or his wife Himegami. The Inari shrine, again obviously, enshrines Inari which nowadays is considered to be Ukanomitama.

Curiously, considering he is purely Buddhist, there was a Daruma!! Though not so curious if you have even a minimal understanding of the religious history of Japan :)

The main kami enshrined here is Takenouchi no Sukune, a legendary figure associated with Jingu and Ojin and who lived 280 years hence the reason why many people come here to pray for a long life. According to the myth his life spanned 5 emperors and many clans claim descent from him, most notably the Soga.

He is enshrined at Ube Shrine in Tottori