Rokusho Shrine

 

Not far from Kamosu Shrine is Rokusho Shrine, one of the 6 Shrines of Ou and the main shrine of the Provincial Government Offices in the Nara Period.

For me, however, the most interesting thing here is the 5 different Kojin altars with their serpents made from rice straw. An earlier post on the Kojin here.

The vast majority of shrines in Izumo have at least one Kojin altar. The five here would have been brought in from nearby areas during the "shrine consolidation" program of the late Meiji government.

The Kojin here are not as impressive as some of the ones at Adakaya Shrine, a few kilometers away, but still have the stylistic head and jaws. In Iwami, the similar kami is called Omoto, and our serpents have much smaller heads and narrower bodies.

Rokusho means "six shrines" and refers to the six kami enshrined here: Izanami, Izanagi, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukiyomi, & Okuninushi.

There appear to only three secondary shrines other than the Kojin altars, but in ancient times when the provincial government was in operation Rokusho Shrine was the Soja Shrine wherein all the kami from the shrines in the province that the governor should visit are collected together in the Soja Shrine so he didn't have to travel.

Behind the shrine is a historic site where the layout of the government offices can be seen.

The previous post was on Kamosu Shrine with its National Treasure main hall.

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Sasaki Residence on Dogo

 

The Sasaki Residence on Dogo, the largest of the Oki Islands, is a traditional residence of a village headman.

The first noticeable thing was the roof. Whereas tile roofs were common on temples and wealthy properties, thatch was far more common, but required very steep roofs. Strips of overlaid cedar bark weighted down with bamboo with stones on was fairly common, but almost never seen nowadays.

The roof of the Sasaki Residence is the only example of this kind in the Oki Islands.

On my first visit to Dogo and the Sasaki Residence the first thing I noticed was the Kojin altar in the grounds. This was my first time seeing the larger type of straw snake.

In ny region with have Omoto, but the rope snake is better made, but smaller and with a small head. The Kojin on Dogo were much larger, and with larger heads, more like those I would later discover in Higashi Izumo.

It is said to be typical Oki-style residence with three entrances....

I was struck by the fact that it was only one single building, often such places have a cluster of connected buildings....

It was built in 1836, and the Sasaki have been headmen of the village for many generations...

It is an Important Cultural Property of Japan.

There are various artifacts on display, both domestic and agricultural....

There are , of course, plenty of artwork on screens and doors etc...

Entry is only 300 yen and they have a decent leaflet in English explaining about what you are looking at...

It is closed for a few months in Winter...

The previous post was on my walk around the upper reaches of Saigo Bay on my way here...

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Along Nagahama

 Continuing with my walk along the Sea of Japan Coast........

After leaving the roadstation at Taki Kirara I headed off along Nagahama, the long beach that runs up to near Izumo Taisha.

Sanpoko Shrine is a small, local shrine, just across from the shoreline. Can't find which kami is enshrined here though there is a small statue of Ebisu.

Not surprising as he is the kami for fishermen. Also was a Kojin straw serpent wrapped around a tree.

I have found one if these at every single shrine I have visited in Izumo, and with some shrines having more than one, which suggests that Kojin is the most common deity in this area...

A small stream with its source just a few kilometers away enters the sea.

It was a pleasant Saturday so lots of people were enjoying the beach. This was late June, 2020, and while social distancing was in operation, there was no kind of lockdown in Japan....

The beach runs pretty much all the way to the Shimane Peninsula, and according to one of Izumo's myths, the Kunibiki Story, the Peninsula was formed by "pulling" land from other areas including the Korean Peninsula.

When the god had drawn these lands together, he anchored them to Izumo with two great ropes. Nagahama was the rope that anchored the western end of the peninsula to Mount Sanbe, the volcanic peak not too far away down in Iwami.

An unusual wind farm in that the wind generators are relatively small....

The other rope that anchored the eastern end of the peninsula was the huge sandbar of Sakaiminato which connected the peninsula to Mount Daisen.

Soon I reach the mouth of the Kanda River, a main river that flows down from the Chugoku Mountains.

Not long after moving to Shimane, one of the first long-distance walks I did was a three-day walk down the Kanda River to Izumo Taisha for Kamiarizuki. One of these days I will write it up and post it.

All the waterways that pass through the Izumo Plain, between the mountains and the Shimane Peninsula, are heavily engineered with straightening and embankments etc. This whole area was the sea 10,000 years ago and in historical times was mostly marsh.

As I am going to be sleeping out on the beach I need to stock up on food and drink and the most convenient convenience store involves heading up the river a little ways and then crossing and heading to the store before coming back to the river and heading back downstream on the opposite bank.

The line of pruned trees is a windbreak protecting an old farmhouse. Called tsujimatsu, these "living walls" are unique to Izumo and traditionally use Black Pine.

A newer tradition of the area is growing grapes for the Shimane Winery.

Near the mouth of the Kanda River another river, the Shinnaito runs parallel with it before joining it. The Shin in Shinnaito suggest that this is an engineered river part of land draining and reclamation.

The fact it has massive flood control barriers also suggests that...

I have never seen cormorants so high up in a tree before....

I'm getting close to my resting place for the night. Up ahead is the famous Inasa Beach next to Izumo Taisha where all the kami of Japan arrive later in the Autumn.

Looking back, Mount Sanbe is clearly visible. The previous post in this series was on the section of coast between Tagi and Taki Kirara...