Ankokuji Temple 25 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Ankokuji is not far from Tadaji, temple 24, and even closer to Komyoji, temple 26, and is located in Kamiko, a little upstream from Shimoko.

I was surprised by how substantial a temple it was, and then I learned that it has the tombs of several generations of the Masuda Clan, who ruled the area. They were descendants of the Fujiwara governor Kunikane, who changed their names. They later moved from this area, where the national government offices were located, to the area where the city of Masuda is now located.

It was originally called Fukuenji and was said to have been founded in the early 8th century. It fell into disrepair but was revived in the early 12th century as a Tendai Temple and flourished under the patronage of the governor Fujiwara no Kunikane.

It again fell into disrepair after a big fire but was revived as a Rinzai Zen temple in the early 14th century by the wife of Masuda Kanenaga to pray for her deceased father.

In 1348 the temple was chosen to be the Ankoku Temple for Iwami Province.

In 741, the emperor ordered the building of a Buddhist monastery called Kokubunji in each province. It was an attempt to impose central control over the country. These Kokubunji were usually built at the site of the government offices of each province. The Iwami Kokubunji and government offices were located in this area of Shimoko.

In 1348 Ashikaga made Ankoku Temples in each province of the country for similar reasons. Whereas the traditional Buddhist sects were dominated by the Imperial court and their related families, when the warriors took over the country they usually chose Zen temples as they were new sects not yet under the control of the old guard.

There is a fine pair of ceramic komainu.

The hillside behind the main hall is planted with azalea bushes.....

Mu guess is that the red shrine in the pond is a Benzaiten shrine...

There is also a small karesansui garden in the front...

Shachi and other roof ornaments from earlier versions of the temple....

The previous post was on the interior sights of nearby Tada-ji Temple.

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Motohama Otoshi Shrine

 

Down below the Otoshi Shrine near Hamada Port is a small Benten-Sha and a memorial to sailors and fishermen lots at sea...

The Otoshi shrine was founded in the first half of the 8th century by "inviting" the kami of Izawa and Otoshi shrine in Mie, which suggests that figures in the provincial government offices nearby were responsible.

Otoshi is a common kami in this area as a son of Susano connected with farming and with links to Korean immigrants. The Otoshi here though, uses a different kanji, and the Izawa shrine is very closely connected to Ise, so it seems to be a different kami than the Susano connected one. Another clue is that a site I use to research Engi Shiki shrines usually has links to descriptions of all the major kami, but for the Otoshi of this shrine, no link....

The shrine received further donations from visiting dignitaries from Kyoto, and was listed in the Engi Shiki, so was obviously an important shrine in the past, but now is unmanned and somewhat dilapidated.

The zuijin in the gate were kind of cool, as were the relief carvings....

There are some secondary shrines in the grounds, the biggest being a Sumiyoshi Shrine, then there is an Inari shrine and an Ebisu shrine....

From the shrine there are nice views over the fishing port...

The previous post in this series on the Chugoku Kannon and Iwami Kannon pilgrimages was on two of the pilgrimage temples in the neighbourhood.

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Namba Yasaka Shrine

 

The Yasaka Shrine in Namba, Osaka, has become well known for its distinctive kaguraden shaped like a Komainu's head.

Though there are no records, the shrine claims to have been established during the reign of Emperor Nintoku in the 4th century. Nintoku is one of those emperors that probably existed, but at least a century later.

It was known in ancient times as Namba Shimonomiya.

Like many Yasaka Shrines it was, until Meiji, a temple-shrine complex and during the late Heian Period was connected to Gozu Tenno, an epidemic fighting deity with nunerous origin stories.

The version I prefer is the one that has Gozu Tenno brought to Japan from Sila by the Hata Clan.

Gozu Tenno was the deity of Gion-sha, the home of the Gion Matsuri and a common name of many Yasaka Shrines before Meiji.

From the Kamakura Period onwards, Gozu Tenno became conflated with Susano, which is the deity now enshrined in all Yasaka Shrines, along with his wife, Kushinada, and their eight children.

There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds.

The shrine-temple complex burned down numerous times, usually because of war, with the most recent destruction being during WWII.

The current buildings date to the 1970's.

The most interesting structure is called a Shishi-den, but to me it looks like a komainu.

Various performances take place in it, so that would make it a kagura-den by my calculation..

Over the last ten years or so it has become an "instagrammable" spot and is much more popular than it used to be...

The previous post on the architecture and sights of Namba was on Namba Parks

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Sufu Kasuga Shrine & Hinoashi Hachimangu

 

Not far from Shotokuji temple and Jorinji Temple is a Kasuga Shrine with great views over Sufu and the mouth of the Sufu River.

There appear to be few existing records, but as Kasuga Shrine is the family shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family, and the local rulers claim descent from a branch of the Fujiwara family, that makes sense.

The Kasuga Daimyojin consists of Takemikazuchi, Amenokoyane, Futsunishi, and Himegami.

I was impressed with the older-style masks....

About a kilometers away near the mouth of the Sufu River, is Hinoashi Haxchimangu. This shrine does have records.

The governor of Iwami, Fujiwara no Kunikane, established the shrine as a branch of Usa hachimangu in 1114. Thirty years later the shrine was given extensive lands to support it and its festivals. It was the tutelary shrine for 16 villages. The Suo Clan, descendants of Kunikane, made it their family shrine and gave more support. When the Suo moved with the Mori to Nagato a lot of the shrines lands were confiscated.

There is a very popular Inari shrine within the grounds. Over the centuries it has been located at numerous locations.

The previous post in this series on walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Jorinji Temple.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.