Fumyozan Koyaji Temple 61 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Koya Temple near Takeo Onsen in Saga, is said to be named after Koyasan, the base of Shingon Buddhism, as the area is similar in appearance.

It is also said to have been founded by Kobo Daishi himself as he was wandering around north Kyushu after his visit to Tang China.

When I arrived in 2014 there was a construction site right inside the main gate. I believe the garden was being built or refurbished.

Unusually there was an exterior, stone statue of Enma, known as the King of Hell. Usually, he is found inside his own hall.

The honzon of the temple is a Thousand-armed Kannon, apparently said to be the largest in Kyushu, but unfortunately, I didnt enter any of the buildings.

There were several Fudo statues in the grounds, including this rather large one. There is also a Fudo hall with a Fudo statue that is known for answering prayers for financial prosperity.

It seems that the buildings only date back to 2006.

The temple is known for its large collection of rhododendron plants.

The garden is now known for Autumn foliage but there is now a 500 yen entry fee to the garden.

The previous post in the series was of Mizuko Jizo at this temple.

Taiyuji Temple 6 Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage

 

Taiyuji Temple, number 6 on the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage, is a large complex in downtown Umeda close to Osaka Station.

It is said to have been founded in 821 by Kobo Daishi himself with Emperor Saga donating a statue of Senju Kannon which is now the honzon. The temple was burned to the ground during the Siege of Osaka in 1615 and then once again at the end of WWII. Most of the current buildings date to 1986.

There are numerous statues and shrines scattered throughout the grounds. It is said that in the Meiji period, the  Freedom & Political Rights Movement was established here before spreading around the country.

The Okunoin of the temple is a small cave enshrining a Fudo Myo statue.

The much larger Fudo housed in the Ichigando is the focus of the Fudo Pilgrimage

A statue of young Kobo Daishi. The Kuzan Hakkai Garden is a rock and gravel garden with unusual stepping stones covering 200 tsubo.

I was visiting on the second day of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage. The previous post in this series is the nearby Osaka Tenmangu Shrine.

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu

Shunko-ji is one of a group of three temples adjacent to each other and all known individually as Tsubakidera, or Camelia Temple. They are located in the Kunisaki area of Oita in Kyushu.

Shunkoji, on the left in the top picture, seems to be the original, and there seems to be some antagonism between it and the other two.

All three temples are built on the site that it is said Kobo Daishi visited after coming back from China and then visiting nearby Usa Jingu.

The temple was founded around 320 years ago by the 11th priest of nearby Tennenji Temple. The 10th priest had visited Shikoku and on his return had founded a local 88 temple pilgrimage, the Bungo Ohenro. Curiously the temple across the road is a member of that pilgrimage, and Shunkoji is not.

Shinkoji does have quite a large statue of Kobo Daishi on high ground within the temple grounds. Underneath the statue is a spring said to have been created by Kobo Daishi.

In my previous post, I showed a few of the Fudo statues in Shunkoji and the Kaiun Fudo shrine at the start of the entrance road.

Later I will do a much longer post on the other two temples.

Kumadaniji Temple Revisited

Kumadaniji Temple 熊谷寺

The Tahoto, two-storied pagoda, at Kumadaniji Temple. Built in 1701, it is an Important Cultural property of Tokushima. The Tahoto is usually found at Shingon and sometimes Tendai temples.Kumadaniji is Shungon.

It is temple number 8 on the Shikoku Ohenro pilgrimage, but I was revisiting it on day 2 of my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myoo pilgrimage which followed a similar route for the first day and a half.

Earlier I posted about the impressive Niomon gate that stands out in the valley. At the Sanmon, Mountain gate, of the temple there were a pair of Shitenno guardians, Jikokuten, I believe, pictured above.

The main hall of the temple burned down in 1928, but the Daishido, pictured above, survived. It was built in 1774.

A statue of Kobo Daishi as a mendicant monk stands in front of the bell tower.

A statue of Bishamointen, another of the Shitenno, at Kumadaniji Templenin Tokushima.

Toyogahashi Bangai 8 on the Shikoku Ohenro

 

Eitokuji is a small temple between temples 43 and 44. immediately adjacent to a bridge, Toyogahashi.

It is the eighth bangai site on the pilgrimage. I have never read a convincing explanation why there are 88 temples on the pilgrimage. 88 is not a significant number in Buddhism. However, when you add twenty extra temples, known as bangai, you end up with 108 which is a significant number in Buddhism.

Some of the bangai temples entail a diversion from the main route, and most pilgrims don't visit them. However, some, like Toyogahashi, are directly on the main route, and so most pilgrims stop.

Underneath the bidge is a big altar, with the focus being a statues of Kobo Daishi asleep. The statue was wrapped in a new, thick, duvet when I was there.

According to the legend, Kobo Daishi could not find lodgings for the night and so had to spend the night under the bridge. From this legend come the tradition that pilgrims do not hit the floor when crossing bridges as Kobo Daishi may be sleeping underneath.

The temple has a small tsuyado, so that is where I spent the night.

Cape Oyama Kannon

Kannon

After descending from Konomine Shrine and Konomineji temple 27 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, the route heads north up the coast of Lochi and you soon reach Cape Oyama. Not sure of the proper definition of a cape, but to my mind Cape Oyama does not extend out into the sea enough, though it is a pretty section of coast with rocky outcroppings and cliffs.

There is a small cave in one section and it has a small chapel/shrine with a Kannon statue. Or rather it had. It seems that it no longer exists, though it may be reinstated.

It seems that during earthquakes rocks used to fall from the roof of the cave quite easily and so it was always considered somewhat dangerous. There was an elevated cafe in front of the cave and some huge pillars erected to hold up the cave roof.

There was also a statue of Kobo Daishi in the cave which suggests some kind of link with him.

Recent photos show the small chapel destroyed and the cafe closed. Maybe it was storm damage or collapsing rocks, or a combination of both. Maybe it will be restored, or maybe not/

Increasingly I find that the some of subjects of my photographs and blogposts have ceased to exist. Maybe I should have a seperate blog called Glimpse of Disappeared Japan"

Buy tatami direct from Japan

Goishizan Temple 2 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

This is one of the iconic views of the Shodoshima Pilgrimage. Temple number 2, Goishizan is only a few hundred meters from Temple 1, Dounzan, and the car park at Goshizan is a good place to park to explore Dounzan and the okunoin of temple 3.

At the open parking lot there is a view down the mountain and a small, modern, concrete hall topped with an oversize statue of Kobo Daishi, the focus of this 88 site circular pilgrimage.

From here you pass through a torii gate and head along the mountainside until eerging from the trees at another torii. From this torii a step of very steep, rough steps lead up to the Gyoja-do, an ascetic route. From the Gyoja-do you can see a small k9npira Shrine perched on top of a rock pinnacle nearer the summit.

Like the famous 88 temple pilgrimage on Shikoku, on which this Shodoshima pilgriage is modelled, many of these mountain sites would have been Yamabushi sites before becoing incorporated into the pilgrimage .

Carrying on past the torii you come to a small structure that leads into the cave which is the main hall. The hinzon is a Namikiri Fudo, a wave-cutting Fudo Myo.

There is often someone here on duty selling candles, incense, and pilgrimage supplies.