Over the Hai no Toge Pass on the Imperial Route

 

After leaving Itoga and its intriguing temple with a cinderella story, and also the oldest Inari shrine in all of Japan, I continue north and head across the Arita River.

It is 28th March, 2016, the 8th day of my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage.

While pilgrimage is a fairly universal phenomenon, most of them seem to be based on one particular site, with maybe many different routes from different directions to get to that site. Think the pilgrimage to Mecca or the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain. Japan has those types of  pilgrimages, perhaps the most famous being the pilgrimage to Ise during the Edo Period, but it also has what might be referred to as circular pilgrimages.

It is generally believed that the Saigoku Pilgrimage that I am walking on in this series of posts, is the oldest of such circular pilgrimages to a series of sites. It visits 33 temples that have a particularly noteworthy Kannon statue. Kannon is one of the most popular bodhisatvas is Japan and is largely derived from the Chinese goddess Guanyin which became equated with Avalokiteshvara the original Indian deity that spread with Buddhism into China.

There are 33 different forms of Kannon, so the Saigoku Pilgrimage has 33 temples. Many other parts of the country created their own version of the 33 temple Kannon Pilgrmage, in fact, the pilgrimage I am most posting about on my blog right now is the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a fairly modern pilgrimage created in the 1980's.

The first temple on the Saigoku Pilgrimage is Seiganto-ji, way down at the southern end of Wakayama Prefecture. The next temple is Kimiidera, located in the northern part of the prefecture. For the past 8 days I have been walking from the first to the next. However, the route I have been walking corresponds to anothet pilgrimage route, the Kumano Kodo.

The Kumano Kodo is a set of three sacred sites in southern Wakayama and the pilgrimage routes between them, and more importanty the series of pikgrimage routes that converge upon them, are now a designated World Heritage Site. The routes close to the 3 sites are the most popular, and are very touristy. However the section I have been walking for the past few days, called the Kiiji route, is more accurately known as the Imperial Route as it was the route used by emperors and other nobles from the court in Kyoto.

The Imperial route has 100 "oji", shrines spaced along the route where these high-ranking pilgrims would  worship and stop overnight at. There are  few, if any, tourists on this section nowadays, but it seems to be becoming more popular among travellers and those with more than a passing interest.

So this post covers about a 10 kilometer section of the route, starting at the river.

The route climbs to the Hai no Toge pass at more than 300 meters above sea level before dropping down into Kitsumoto.

The way is mostly on very narrow mountain road with almost no traffic and also no shops or even veding machines until Kitsumoto. No pilgrimage infrastructure except a couple of public toilets and sign at historical markers.. I did not pass any other walkers, though occasionally exchanged greetings with locals 

I did pass by a couple of the oji shrines, and at times there were some really nice views.

This was very much orange country, with the steep mountain slopes terraced and planted with citrus.

This seems to me to be a fairly modern thing, and I wonder what the several mountain villages I passed through did before the citrus industry came to dominate.

Fruit on trees enclosed within paper bags is  something I see quite often, but am pretty sure they are not oranges.

I guess it is to protect the fruit from damage by insects or birds. An example of why fruit in Japan is mostly a luxury price....

The previous post was on the Tokujoji Temple with associated princess legend.

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

Tokujoji Princess Chujo Temple

 

Tokujoji, a Jodo sect temple on the Kiiji Route of the Kumano Kodo is commonly known as Chujohime Temple.

Sometimes referred to as the Japanese Cinderella, the folktale of Chujohime, Princess Chujo, has some connection with historical legends and numerous versions exist. I will give the version based here at Tokujoji.

The princess was born in 747, to a court noble, Fujiwara Toyonari. her mother died when she was three and her father remarried. Her stepmother disliked her and when she was 13 had the princess abandoned in the mountains near here. The stepmothers servant was supposed to hill the prinvess but took pity on her and built her a hut for shelter.

While in the hut the princess copied a thousand copies of a sutra over three years. her hut was named Anyo-in. Centuries later it was renamed Tokujoji. It was moved several times until 1628 when it ws moved to its current location.

The main hall dates to 1752. There is also the Kaisan-do housing statues of Chujohime and her husband.

The metal walkway in photo 3 is used for a ceremony, unique to the temple,  with a parade of Bodhisattvas, young women wearing golden masks....

The temple owns several artworks said to have been created by Chujohime. They were donated by Taimadera, a temple connected to another version of the Princess Chujo story.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage and Kumano Kodo was on the nearby Itoga Inari Shrine.

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

Itoga Inari Shrine. The Oldest Inari Shrine in Japan

 

Itoga, on the south bank of the Arita River in Wakayama was a stopping point on the most travelled of all the Kumano Kodo routes, the Kiiji route from Osaka and the capital, Kyoto.

The Inari shrine in Itoga lays claim to being the oldest Inari shrine in all of Japan.

The head Inari shrine, and by far the most famous, is the Fushimi Inari Shrine near Kyoto.

Founded by the Hata clan in the first years of the 8th century, most people would consider it the first Inari shrine.

The shrine here in Itoga was founded in the mid 7th century.

Inari, him or herself, has a complex history with many influences and identities, but primarily identifies as a rice-growing deity.

However, there are numerous deities connected with rice and grains, and unentangling historic names in Japan is not so much science as opinion.

Whatever the case, I am drawn to histories that question the official narratives...

There are three huge Camphor trees within the shrine, estimated to between 5 and 6 hundred years old.

Emperor Shirakawa is said to have stopped here on one of his Kumano pilgrimages.

There are numerous shrines that have been moved to within the grounds incuding the Itoga Oji.

Some of the kami enshrined in the grounds include 2 to Okuninushi, and shrines to Susano, Izanagi, Izanami, Kotoshironushi, Sugawara Michizane, Ichikishimahime, Ojin, Oyamatsumi, and many others...

Right next to Itoga Shrine is the Kumano Kodo History & Folklore Museum. As well as displays on the Kumano Kodo it also functions as a rest stop for pilgrims....

With free entry, cetainly worth a visit if you are in the area or walking the Kiiji.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage was on my walk over the pass to reach Itoga.

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

Sakagawa Shrine to Itoga Inari Shrine Over The Itoga Toge Pass

 

After leaving Yuasa I continued north on the Kumano Kodo Kiiji Trail, first up river and then into the mountains.

First stop was Sakagawa Shrine, site of the Sakagawa Oji.

The main kami enshrined here are Izanami, Susano, and Hayatama. 

Versions of the three kami of Kumano,...... not surprising

From here a small, narrow road that later becomes a track, then a trail, heads up towards Itoga Pass.

I am heading into "orange" country. While oranges are grown in many places in Japan, in the mountains in this area the crop dominates....

Beacuse so much of the natural forest has been cut down to make way for the orange orchards, there are more views over the surrounding area....

The path is not so steep

I believe that nowadays a few more people are walking this section of the Kumano Kodo, but back in 2016 when I walked it, I didn't pass a single other walker/pilgrim.

Orange farmers tend to work on very steep slopes, so the preferred method of carrying things is small, motorized monorails. Construction workers also use such things when working on steep slopes.

Itoga Pass, 190 meters above sea level, used to have a couple of teahouses servicing the multitudes of pilgrims who passed this way in the Edo Period.

The way down to the Arida River is steep.

This was the end of March, so the colours are not of approaching Autumn but the pink and red of cherry blossoms forming.....

I very much enjoyed this section of the Kumano Kodo..... I found the most popular section, the nakahechi, a little bit too over-touristed, somewhat pretentious, and too much of it covered in sugi tree farms.....

Coming into Itoga on the south bank of the Arida River, I spied Itoga Inari Shrine, so headed over to investigate. The previous post in this series on my walk along the oldest pilgrimage route in Japan, the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, was on the birthplace of soy sauce, Yuasa.