Rokusho Shrine Ebisudani

 

Rokusho Shrine was once a part of a powerful temple-shrine complex in the high country near the centre of the Kunisaki Peninsula, but is nowadays a bit far off the beaten track to get many visitors.

Ebisudani is one of the 28 valleys that radiate out from the centre of the peninsula that is home to an ancient form of shugendo pilgrimage based on Tendai Buddhism and Usa Hachimangu called Rokugo Manzan.

Ashikaga Takauji visited here in the early 14th century and is said to have planted 6 trees and prayed for victory against Emperor Go-Daigo before eventually starting the Ashikaga Shogunate. Some sources claim these 6 trees to be the ones planted, but they are obviously planted much more recently.

A new trail that roughly follows the old pilgrimage route is called Kunisaki Hanto Minemichi Long Trail, and passes right by here.

The shrine was originally the okunoin of Reisenji Temple. Reisenji and Jisso-in, a sub-temple, are now located immediately adjacent to the shrine following the separation of Buddhas and Kami of early Meiji.

As is fairly usual with these Shugendo-based sites in Kunisaki, they are situated in caves and cliffs of rocky outcroppings.

This Hachiman Shrine is probably a post-meiji addition.

Rockusho is a fairly common name and pretty much means "six kami", although the different Rokusho shrines around the country have different 6 kami.

Here the 6 kami start with Izanagi, and is then followed by Yatomagatsuhi no kami and Ono no kami. This pair were created by Izanagi while purifying after fleeing Yomi. One is said to be the kami of disasters, and the second one who fixes disasters. Tbey may be two aspects of the same kami.

The last set of kami are Umetsuno, Nakatsuno, and Sokotsuno, known collectively as the Sumiyoshi kami. Now associated with the head Sumiyoshi shrine in Osaka, the three kami are originally from northern Kyushu and are connected with sea journeys.

The zuijin here are painted, not statues, something I have seen at other shrines in Kunisaki.

The shrine-temple used to hold the Shujo Onie fire festival, but as a sign of its decline, no longer does.

There is a small group of magaibutsu, Buddhist carvings, that seem to show a couple of monks and a nun. The central figure may well be Nimon, the legendary founder of Rokugo Manzan

The previous post was on neighbouring Jisson-in temple.

Mt. Ebisu Jisso-in Temple 5 Kyushu Fudo Myo pilgrimage

 

Jisso-in Temple is situated between  Reisenji Temple and Rokusho Shrine high in the mountains of the Kunisaki peninsula in northern Oita.

The three were all part of the same sacred site until the separation of Buddhas and Kami in 1868.

In the temple grounds stand two Jizo statues, one large, and one small. They are known as Mimi Jizo and local people pray to them for healing from illness.

As well as being number 5 on the Kyushu 36 temple Fudo Myo pilgrimage, it is number 15 on the Rokugo Manzan pilgrimage which closely approximates the ancient pilgrim route for yamabushi of the syncretic cult that combines Tendai esoteric Buddhism and  Usa Hachiman.

The honzon is a Fudo statue dated to 1787. Next door was the much larger original Rokusho Shrine site to which I turn next.

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Fudo pilgrimage was Reisenji Temple next door.

Kakaji Betsugu Hachiman Shrine

 

Kakaji is a town on the north side of the Kunisaki peninsula, and the Hachiman Shrine is te main shrine of the town.

The approach to the shrine crosses a stone-arched bridge across the Takeda River.

Built in the mid 19th century, this type of bridge was rare in the area.

The shrine is set in a forest of pines, and its main feature is an impressive two-storey gate.

One of the komainu guarding the approach is unusual in that it is standing upon a turtle. I can't remember having seen that before.

The main gate has numerous relief carvings.

Many sources suggest the gate may have been built in the late Edo period, but the late 19th century is more likely.

The gate houses two Zuijin, Shinto guardians.

They are unusual in that they are carved out of stone, not wood. I have seen other stone zuijin in the Kunisaki area, but not elsewhere.

The shrine was established in the early 8th century, before the  Hachiman cult spread to the Kinki region with its connection to the founding of Todaiji.

It is one of 5 "betsugu" of Usa Hachimangu. Bestsugu is often translated as "branch", but the relationship is stronger and more direct than that. Maybe "annex" would be more accurate.

As a Hachiman shrine it is now considered to enshrine Ojin, his mother Jingu, and a consort.

The three Munakata "sisters" are also enshrined here.

I visited at the end of my second day walking around the Kunisaki area following the old Kunisaki pilgrimage trail while starting the Kyushu Fudo pilgrimage. The previous post was on my walk from Oreki Temle to Kakaji.

From Orekiji Temple to Kakaji

 

Mount Shiritsuki, 587 meters, is clearly visible as I leave Oreki Temple and carry on up the road.

For a couple of hours, the road is forest and mountain with no habitations of any kind.

I'm on the second day of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Pilgrimage, which for this first part also follows the old yamabushi Kunisaki pilgrimage now followable along the Kunisaki Hanto Minemichi Long Trail.

Every now and then the view opens up to the typical Kunisaki Peninsula landscape of cliffs and spires of rock, the kind of place that attracted yamabushi.

Eventually the road lead down past some mountain farms and eventually reached the main road running along the Takeda River. The next temple is not far upstream but that will be where I start on the next leg as I am heading home now.

The road runs north towards the coast where I will take the ferry across to Honshu.

Along the way I stop in briefly at some local shrines, a Wakamiya Shrine, a Yasaka Shrine, and a Hie Shrine, none with any interesting attributes, and none part of the syncretic shinto-buddhist Rokumanzan culture that is so intriguing in this area.

The largest settlement on the coast is Kakaji and there is a big shrine here for me to explore, but that will be the next post.

The previous post in this series was Oreki Temple.

It is the first week of  May and so the carp streamers are up......

Misosogi Shrine Kurotsuchi

 

There are many Misosogi shrines in the Kunisaki Peninsula area, and I recently learned that it was a name given to Rokusho shrines in early Meiji when Buddhism and Shinto were artificially separated.

Not all Rokusho shrines changed their names, and, like Misosogi, there are still many Rokusho shrines in the area.

This is because they are protective shrines for Rokugo Manzan, the unique mountain religion based on a mix of Usa Hachiman and Tendai Buddhism.

Many of these shrines are built into cliff faces.

This one was the former site of Mudo-ji Temple which was moved about 1.5 kilometers upstream at some point in the past and which I had visited earlier.

It was one of ten major pilgrimage temples in the central part of the peninsula and is known now for its wonderful collection of Heian-Period statues.

There was no info at the shrine but I am going to presume that, historically at least, the enshrined kami is Rokugo Gongen.

This was the second day of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage in which the first few days I followed the old Kunisaki Pilgrimage. The previous post was on the nearby Tsubakido Temple.