Giant Juniper Tree & Temples 51, 52, & 54 on Shodoshima

 

This huge Juniper tree is well deserving of its ranking as a National Natural Monument. It is in the grounds of Hoshoin Temple, number 54 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage.

It is almost 17 meters tall, with a circumference of more than 20 meters at the base and 17 meters at chest height. It is believed to be about 1600 years old and legend has that it was planted by Emperor Ojin. Using the mythical dates of the Kojiki and Nihongi as historical dates, which many continue to do, made the tree 2,000 years old and therefore the oldest in the world, but no reliable sources do that anymore.

There are two other "temples" of the pilgrimage within the grounds of Hoshoin.

The one closest to the Juniper tree is number 52, officially called Former Hachiman Shrine. It was moved here in 1868 with the separation of Buddhas and Kami, from the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine to the south.

Tomioka Hachiman is a huge hilltop shrine, so what I suspect ths small hall enshrines is what was, before 1868, the goshintai of the shrine. In this case a statue of Amida.

Many shrines had Buddhist statues as shintai, and Hachiman shrines in particular have always been quite Buddhist. Some years ago I was told by a fervent Shintoist that Hachiman was not truly shinto, but Buddhist.

The large temple is Hoshoin, number 54.

It is a Koyasan Shingon sect temple, and the honzon is a Jizo.

The third pilgrimage temple at the site is number 51, Hodobo.

Hodobo was the main temple at Tomioka Hachiman, so it was destroyed in 1868 and the honzon, an 11-faced Kannon, was moved here.

The previous post in this series on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was on the two previous temples, 49 & 50.

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Tamae Kannon-in Temple 21 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

The 21st temple of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Kannon-in, is just a couple of kilometers from the 20th temple, Daisho-in.

Located in Tamae, a fishing village that overlooks the Hashimoto River and the castle town of Hagi on the opposite bank.

A temple stood here in the early 9th century but fell into disuse and disrepair.

In the mid 16th century it was revived and made a Rinzai Zen temple. 

The honzon is a Shaka Nyorai and the Kannon Hall enshrines an 11-faced Kannon, siad to have been found in the nets of local fishermen. Consequently, the temple has been favoured by fishermen for protection at sea.

The temple has burned down several times, but each time the statues survived.

The main hall and Kannon Hall date to the mid 19th century.

The previous post was on the garden at Daisho-in, a few kilometers away.

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Coming Down the Mountain Temples 47 & 48 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

After leaving Renge-ji, temple 44 on the pilgrimage, my way was now pleasantly downhill as the sun got lower in the sky on day 4 of my walk around the island of Shodoshima on its smaller version of the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage connected with Kobo Daishi.

It's a wide path down the mountainside and glimpses of the Nakayama Rice Terraces can be caught.

After a while the entrance to a small cave comes into view.

This is temple number 47, Togano o san.

It is not a big cave, and at the back is the small structure housing the honzon, and Eleven-faced Kannon.

It is said that Gyoki spent time in the cave. He was the legendary monk that is said to have  founded many of the temples on Shikoku a full century before Kobo daishi's time.

Near the cave entrance are several more small "halls" enshrining Amida, Kobo Daishi, and Akiba Daigongen.

A little further down hill and temple 48 comes into view, Bishamon-do.

A benefactor recently paid to have the Bishamoin statue renovated and a new building built.

From here the Giant Kannon can be seen across the valley. I will be visiting it tomorrow.

I didnt notic them myself, but there are wooden statues of the Three Wise Monkeys, evidence that the Koshin cult was strong in the area. Koshin was in essence a Taoist cult but now Koshin sites have been turned into Shinto or Buddhist sites.

The previous post was on Renge-ji, temple number 44 .

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Sankakuji Temple 65 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Sankakuji Temple, the 65th on the Ohenro Pilgrimage is the last temple in Ehime, before entering the final prefecture, Kagawa.

It is on a mountain at 360 meters above sea level, and there are some fine views on the way up and down.

In earler days it was classed as a difficult-to-reach temple, but nowadays the climb is easier.

This is one of the many temples on the pilgrimage founded by Gyoki.in the early to mid 8th century.

In 815 Kobo Daishi visited and carved the honzon, an eleven-faced Kannon. It is a secret Buddha only opened to the public every 60 years.

Within the grounds is a triangular pond with a triangular island. This is now a Benzaiten shrine, but according to legend the triangular "island" was used as a goma altar by Kobo Daishi. The pond is the origin of the temples name.

The temple is known for its very old cherry trees, but when I visited in winter, they were not at all imoressive.

In the early 9th Century, Emperor Saga donated a lot of land to the temple and it prospered and at one time was a large complex.

The whole temple, excluding the honzon, was destroyed by Chosokabe.

The current main hall dates to 1849.

The Yakushi in the Yakushi-do is said to cure warts and corns.

The 7 meter tall standing Jizo was made in 1977

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was number 64, Maegamiji.

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