Gyonyu Dam

Early on the second day of my walk around the Kunisaki Peninsula I quickly pass the highest point, which I will be revisiting in a few days when I come up from the south. I carry on east towards the coast where I have a room booked for the night.

Partway down I soon come to the resrvoir behind Gyonyu Dam. Finished in 1997 the dam is for "flood control", which is really just code for " we have shedloads of cash to pour as much concrete as we can". The construction industry in Japan occupies a similar position in the economy as does the military industrial complex in the USA.

There are more dams in Japan, per capita, and per acre, than anywhere else. There is not a river that has not been dammed.

The reservoir is quite pretty, especially with the low sunlight and the remnants of Fall color. From here the valley descends and widens as it approaches Kunisaki Town.

Kunisaki Peninsula Walk Day 2

I woke before the sun on November 25th, 2012, the second day of my walk around the Kunisaki Peninula. It promnised to be a glorious day.

I had slept out on the bank of the reservoir behind Namiishi Dam and my route was east towards the sun. By the end of the day I planned on being in the small port town of Kunisaki on the coast where I had a room booked,

The first few hours were uphill until I passed close by the road leading up to Futagosan, the mountain and temple that are geographically and spiritually the heart of the peninsula.

There was virtually no traffic though the road was wide. Now the rest of the day would be downhill, passing Gyonyu Dam and its reservoir.

Sunset at Nameshi Dam

At the end of a very long first day of my walk over and around the Kunisaki Peninsula I stopped for the night on the banks of the reservoir behind Namiishi Dam.

I had now reached the high country in the middle of the peninsula by walking up one of the numerous valleys that radiate out from Mount Futago, and  the landscape was dramatic with features that made it an obvious site for early Yamabushi to inhabit.

There is a small park here, and that is where I spread out my sleeping bag....

All the posts of this days walk can be found by clicking here, though they will be in reverse chronological order.

Tomorrow I will pass over the high center of the peninsula and hopefully reach the east coast.

Itsukushima-Gu, Togo

Towards the end of my first days walk across and around  Kunisaki  the valley narrowed and the road started to climb towards the middle of the cone shaped peninsula.

Like all the shrines I had visited that day on my walk from Usa Hachimangu, the shrine had a golden Gingko tree in its grounds, though no Nio.

This small shrine was called Itsukushima-Gu, and is therfore a branch of the famous Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima near Hiroshima, enshrining one of the 3 Munakata goddesses connected to travel between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula.

There was no signboard nor anyone around so I couldnt find any more information, though there was a small Inari shrine and several what I presumed were aragami shrines.

What is noticeable to me is the difference between shrines in different areas of Japan. In some places, like here in Kunisaki, there is a palpable sense of ancient mystery, though I continue to define what exactly that means :)

Togo Hachimangu

The entrance to the long approach to Togo Hachimangu is, like many shrines here on the Kunisaki Peninsula, flanked by a pair of stone Nio. This pair look as if they are having a conversation by cellphone.

In the grounds are several smaller shrines, one almost certainly being the local land kami that would have been enshrined here before the Hachiman shrine was. The Hachiman cult spread in this area centuries before on Honshu.

There was no signboard and I can find no other information, though for sure the prefecture has records on all the shrines I don't have the book for Oita.

The Honden is in traditional Usa Hachiman style, This is on the old pilgrimage route that started at Usa Hachimangu and went into and around the many sacred sites scattered across the peninsula. From here the land rises more steeply towards the high point at the middle of the peninsula.

There was no name attached to this small statue, though he is holding a shaku, a flat wooden scepter used nowadays primarily by Shinto priests, though in historical times it was used by aristocrats during rituals.

Kibune Shrine, Bungokawachi

The Kibune shrine in Bungokawachi on the western side of the Kunisaki Peninsula is one of about 500 branch shrines of the Kifune Shrine just north of Kyoto. Curiously another 2 Kibune shrines are within a kilometer of this one.

Inside the main building was a fine red Oni mask, a pair of nice wooden zuijin, and a wonderful ceiling of paintings, many of which seemed quite recent.

The main kami of Kibune shrines are Takaokami and Kuraokami, formed from the blood of Izanagis sword after he slew the kami of fire that burned Izanami to death. They are both associated with water.

There is a small Inari shrine to the rear.

Yasaka Shrine near Sakai, Bungo Takeda

By lunchtime of my first day walking across the Kunisaki Peninsula I was approaching the foothills and the valley I was going to follow up to the center of the peninsula. In the middle of the rice paddies in a small village east of Bungo Takeda I came across this Yasaka Shrine.

Being a branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, and formerly known as Gionsha, it enshrines Susano as well as various members of his "family" Like most of the shrines I'd visited today there was a carpet of golden gingko leaves.

There was a small secondary shrine in the grounds but there was no sign so I could not find out which kami was enshrined there.

Kifune Shrine, Saigi, Usa

Wandering around the countryside in the Fall it is easy to notice shrines and temples by the brilliant foliage of ginko trees. Unfortunately this small village shrine in Saigi near Usa station,  had no signboard and there was no-one around to ask for details, so all I know is  it is a Kifune Shrine.

200 meters away and 1 kilometer away were two other shrines named Kibune, though they were written with different kanji, but all three are in all probability branches of the Kifune Shrine in Kibune, just north of Kyoto.

The two main kami are Takaokami no kami and Kuraokami no kami, both connected to water sources and according to myth created from the drops of blood when Izanagi killed the kami of fire that killed Izanami.

There were several smaller shrines in the grounds, including this one to another type of water kami. The door was open and the shintai, the object that the kami resides in when it descends, was a rock. The vast majority of the shintai I have seen have been rocks.

Iwasaki Shrine, Usa.

In November of 2012 I went for a 5 day walk around and over the Kunisaki Peninsula, one of my favorite areas in Japan. I had been wanting to walk an old Shugendo pilgrimage route, but at that time had not yet found a reliable map of the route, however I did know that it started from Usa Jingu and headed east towards the peninsula and that is the route I followed.

Several hours into the walk I was approaching Usa Station and came upon Iwasaki Shrine. There was no information board at the shrine but I have been able to dig up a little info.

It was founded in 723 and the list of main kami is headed by Ojin and Jingu, and yet curiously its not called a hachimangu.

There are a lot of secondary shrines in the grounds, including Kibune, Konpira, Sugawara, Inari, and Izumo.
























When I have finished all the posts on this walk I will post a chronological list, but for now all posts with kunisaki fall will suffice

Hachizu Shrine

After leaving Usa Hachimangu and heading towards the Kunisaki Peninsula I chose to avoid the main road and instead headed through the back roads through the village of Hachizu where I stopped in at Hachizu Shrine.

There is a very unusual mix of kami enshrined here, the primary being Amenominakanushi, by some accounts the first kami to come into being, yet very little is known or written about him. There were apparently no ancient shrines deicated to him, but in the Meiji era when the buddhas and kami were seperated, many shrines chose to rename Myoken, the deity of the North Star, Amenominakanushi....

The next is Yaekotoshironushi, another version of the name Kotoshironushi, the son of Okuninushi and now more commonly equated with Ebisu. Then there is the pair of kami Mikahayahi and Hihahayahi who who created out of blood dripping from the sword that Izanagi used to kill the god of fire. Finally there is Uganomitama, the female aspect of Inari.

I am guessing that the pile of rice straw is to make new shimenawa. Secondary shrines within the grounds include Kibune, Tenjin, Konpira, Gion, Inari, Dosojin, and Wakamiya.