Jozenji Temple 71 on the Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Jozenji is a small temple in the hills to the east of Sasebo and is the 71st temple on the Shungon Kyushu pilgrimage, said to be the longest of all circuit pilgrimages in Japan.

Like the previous temple I visited a little earlier, Tozenji Temple, it claims to have been founded by Gyoki in the early 8th century.

It is said that Gyoki was traveling through the region promoting the establishment of the famous Todaiji, the first "national" temple in Japan in which he played a part.

While in this area he is said to have carved a statue of Yakushi Nyorai which is the honzon of this temple.

This was a different location, but exactly where is unclear to me because place names have changed so much. There does seem to be a connection with Saikyoji, a big temple on Hirado Island.

Wherever it was, the temple was destroyed during the anti-Buddhist movement in early Meiji and was rebuilt at the current location in 1880.

There was a path leading through the trees to a miniature Kannon pilgrimage.

Though there was no sign of it when I visited in March, the temple is known as a great spot for autumn leaves viewing.

The previous ost in this series was on Turtle Rock at Tozenji.

Ishiteji Temple Part 4

 

This is the last of four posts on the colorful and chaotic Ishiteji Temple in Matsuyama, Ehime.

The first post looked at the entrance and main part of the temple. The second looked at the tunnel leading to the okunoin, the "inner temple".

The third looked at the tunnel coming back from the Okunoin, and this post looks at some of the other halls and the area around the Treasure Hall.

The honzon of Ishiteji is a Yakushi Nyorai, a so-called Medicine Buddha, but there were numerous halls and altars to a variety of Kannons.

There were also a few of the kind of wooden carvings that populated the tunnels and okunoin.

While paintings can be seen at some temples, there seemed to be a lot more here...

The Treasure Hall is open as a museum with an entrance fee and is worth a visit.

It is located in a quieter part of the temple with some vegetation and much fewer people.

There are several walls with relief carving done in Indian style.....

Though a major temple on the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage, Ishiteji does not have a Shukubo, paid temple lodgings, though when I visited ten years ago there was a tsuyado, a free place to stay for walking pilgrims, but I have no idea if that still exists.

For information on the temple's history and about the various historical buildings, see Part 1.

For those with an interest in actual history, rather than legend, I did read that it is believed Ishiteji was te center of a local yamabushi pilgrimage that later became joined up with several others and eventually became the 88 temple pilgrimage of later..

The previous post in this series was Ishiteji Temple Part 3. The previous temple on the pilgrimage was temple 50, Hanta-ji.

Onsenji Temple

 

Onsenji is the guardian temple of Kinosaki Onsen in Toyooka, Hyogo, and is located halfway up Daishiyama Mountain overlooking the hot spring town.

According to the legend it was founded in 738 by Dochi Shonin who spent 1,000 days in ascetic practise before a spring arose. It was traditional for visitors to visit the temple before heading to the healing baths of Kinosaki.

There are some temple structures at the base of the mountain where the steps up to te main temple begin, and the temple also has its own stop of the ropeway that goes to the mountaintop where the okunoin of the temple ( photo 8) is adjacent to the ropeway station.

The main hall of the temple dates back to the late 14th century and is the oldest wooden building in the former province of Tajima.

The honzon is a "secret buddha" and is only shown to the public once every 33 years. It is a Thousand-Armed Kannon built from a single piece of wood said to be from the same tree as the honzon of the famous Hasedera Temple in Nara.

Set among some giant trees, the temple has a Tahoto, a Shingon-style pagoda, was rebuilt in 1767.

Though the honzon is not shown, the main hall does have some nice statuary and the settings and architecture of Onsenji are quite picturesque. I will cover the main gate and lower buildings in a later post. The previous post in this series on Toyooka was the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway.

Inori no Sato Religious Roadside Attraction

 

Coming down from Unzen Hot Springs towards Obama on the coast of Tachibana Bay, the road is steep and without any settlements until just above the town.

Inori no Sato is sometimes described as a park, sometimes as a roadside rest area, but it looks like some kind of religious roadside attraction with a wide range of statues and altars, and yet is not a temple or shrine.

It is sometimes referred to as Unzen Daibutsu Inori no Sato because of the Buddha statue seen in photo 2, which was made by the same sculptor who created the Ushiku Great Buddha in Ibaraki.

That was a standing figure 120 meters tall, whereas the statue here is a seated figure only 3 meters high including the base.

There are several statues of Kannon, photos 3 & 7, and several Fudo Myo statues, photos 6 & 14.

Under a gazebo in the middle of the park is an impressive statue of a Dragon grasping a golden sphere, photo 5, with a smaller version, photo 8. This is a common symbol across East Asia. The Secven Lucky Gods, shichifukujin, also make an appearance, photo 4.

Various figures from the world of Yokai make an appearance, including a Kappa Pond, photo 9, and a giant red Tengu mask, photo 10.

No overview of Japanese popular religion would be complete without an Inari Shrine, photo 11, a small collection of monkey statues probably related to the Koshin cult, photo 13, and a statue of Shotoku Taishi, photo 12.

There seems to be an emphasis on praying for good luck, success, and other "this worldly benefits", known as genze riyaku in Japanese.

Not shown in these photos is a miniature Shikoku Pilgrimage with 88 small statues, and a pair of "sexual" statues based on Dosojin.

There is no entry fee, though offertory boxes stand in front of all of the statues, and no sect or religion is being pushed. The whole thing was funded by a local businessman, Mr Takujima.

It seems he is the chairman of a successful construction company and Inori no Sato is his attempt to contribute to the well-being and perhaps revitalization of the local area.

The previous post was on the Unzen Hells.

Temples 24 to 27 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Early on my third day walking the Shodoshima Pilgrimage I visited a small group of temples in close proximity to each other. Temples 24 to 27 are just off the main road on the south coast,  adjacent to one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island, the Olive Park.

Temple 24,  Anyoji, has a Daisho-do, Jizo-do, and a bell tower as well as the main hall and the priests residence. The grounds have some nice Camelia trees.

The buildings are all fairly modern, circa 1990 with several nice kinds of onigawara tiles.

It is claimed that the temple was founded by Gyoki and later revived in the 17th century. The honzon is a Kannon.

A footpath leads up the hill to the next temple which has no vehicular access.

Temple 25, Seiganji-an, is a much smaller, more rustic establishment.

At the top of the hill, the honzon of Seiganji-an is a Yakushi Nyorai.

A little further along the trail is a well with a Jizo-do.

This is the okunoin of temple 26, Amidaji.  The well, called Omizu Daishi, is very popular and is one of countless water sources attributed to Kobo Daishi himself.

The Jizo is an Enmei Jizo, a "long life" Jizo.

Near the well the asphalt starts again and leads down to temple 27 before coming to 26. Sometimes the route for walking pilgrims differs from that for the more numerous car pilgrims.

Temple 27 is Sakuranoan, so named because of a famous cherry tree that stood here earlier. The honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

Just a short distance away is temple 26, Amida-ji.  Like Anyoji, it also claims to have been founded by Gyoki and revived in the 17th century.

The previous post was on temples 22 and 23.