Showing posts with label kunisaki pilgrimage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kunisaki pilgrimage. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Yama Shrine Jobutsu

 


Many of the shrines scattered around the Kunisaki Peninsula are simply called Yama Shrine,.... Mountain Shrine.


This Yama Shrine is about 5oo meters west of Jobutsuji Temple, one of the temples of Rokugo Manzan, the religious system based on the mountains of the Kunisaki Pennsula and also temple number 3 on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I was following on this visit.


It's a fairly substantial local shrine, and fairly typical for the shrines in the Kunisaki Peninsula.


There was no shrine immediately adjacent to Jobutsuji, so I am guessing that is the shrine that is linked to that temple.


Unusually there were no Nio guardians, though there were a pair of wooden zuijin.


What was unusual was the relief carving that appears to show the Three Monkeys at the bottom and then an angry figure over a pair of men apparently engaged in cock fighting.


Cock fighting was common in Japan since ancient times, both among the elite and commoners. A statue showing cock-fighting is at Tokei Shrine in Tanabe on the Kumano Kodo.


The photo below shows an unusual carving on a fan-shaped rock in a wall. I have actually seen that before but am unaware of any meaning.


The previous post was on Jobutsuji Temple.


After leaving Yama Shrine my route was over the mountain ridge towards the next temple, Jinguji. The Kunisaki Hanto Minemichi Long Trail I was following roughly followed the historical shugendo pilgrimage route around the peninsula. In places the trail follows roads, but here it was literally invisible. I was able to guess where the route was through the  sugi tree plantation that now passes for forests in many places in Japan.. At the top it was necessary to use chains to climb over the top of the ridge.


Friday, January 31, 2025

Itsutsuji Fudo

 


Mount Fudo is only 350 meters high but has some of the best views in the whole of the Kunisaki area.


It is a rocky outcropping like many in the area and is fairly typical of the kind of spot that yamabushi are attracted to.


The main hall enshrines Fudo Myoo, and is also fairly typical of the Kunisaki area in that it is built into a cave.


There is a smaller hall built into another small cave and other statues scattered around the not easily accessible cliff faces .


I can find very little information about it except that it is considered part of the Kyu Sentoji Temple complex lower down the slope, so may date back as far as the 9th century. However, the buildings are in good condition and must have been reconstructed fairly recently.


It is, of course, part of the old Rokugo Manzan Yamabushi Pilgrimage route that is now closely followed by the Kunisakihanto Minemichi Long Trail that I am following on this first section of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage.


Just below is the statue Another Time by Antony Gormley that I posted about last time.


Bring a little higher than the statue the views are slightly more expansive.


As well as Himejima Island just off the coast, on a clear day Yamaguchi on Honshu is visible.




Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Mt. Ebisu Reisenji Temple

 


Reisenji Temle was one of the 12 main temples located in the heart of the Kunisaki peninsula in Oita that made up the unique Rokugo Manzan cult and pilgrimage, a form of Shugendo based on Usa Hachiman and  Tendai Buddhism.


Situated high up the Takeda River valley, one of the 28 valleys that radiated out from the volcanic heart of the peninsula.


The main gate was relocated here from neighbouring Rokusho Shrine after the separation of Buddhas and Kami. The shrine, Jisson-in Temple, and Reisenji Temple were all originally the same site.


Reisenji is nowadays number 14 on the Rokugo Manzan pilgrimage which can be followed along a recently renovated long-distance trail, the Kunisaki Hanto Moimemichi Long Trail. It is said the temple was founded in 718. The honzon is a Thousan-Armed Kannon.


The shrines and temples of Kunisaki are known for their stone Nio guardians, and Resenji is home to six, 2 of which are guarding the biggest Jizo statue in all of Kyushu.


Almost 5 meters tall, and made out of a single piece of stone, the Jizo was carved in 1860.


I visited at the start of my second leg walking the Kyushu Fudo pilgrimage during which I walked a large part of the Kunisaki pilgrimage at the start as they somewhat coincided. The previous post in the series was on the large Hachiman Shrine near the mouth of the Takeda River.

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu.

Shunko-ji is one of a group of three temples adjacent to each other and all known individually as Tsubakidera, or Camelia Temple. They are located in the Kunisaki area of Oita in Kyushu.

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu.

Shunkoji, on the left in the top picture, seems to be the original, and there seems to be some antagonism between it and the other two.

Altar.

All three temples are built on the site that it is said Kobo Daishi visited after coming back from China and then visiting nearby Usa Jingu.

Statue.

The temple was founded around 320 years ago by the 11th priest of nearby Tennenji Temple. The 10th priest had visited Shikoku and on his return had founded a local 88 temple pilgrimage, the Bungo Ohenro. Curiously the temple across the road is a member of that pilgrimage, and Shunkoji is not.

The main hall.

Shinkoji does have quite a large statue of Kobo Daishi on high ground within the temple grounds. Underneath the statue is a spring said to have been created by Kobo Daishi.

Shunkoji Temple Kyushu.

In my previous post, I showed a few of the Fudo statues in Shunkoji and the Kaiun Fudo shrine at the start of the entrance road.

Azalea.

Later I will do a much longer post on the other two temples.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Kaiun Fudo Myo & Shunkoji Temple Fudo Myo

Kaiun Fudo Myo & Shunkoji Temple Fudo Myo

Kaiun Fudo Myo & Shunkoji Temple Fudo Myo.

Heading down the valley after visiting Mudo-ji Temple in the Kunisaki area of Oita, Kyushu, I stopped at a small roadside shrine with a large Fudo Myo-o statue.

Statue.

This was Kaiun Fudo Myoo, a Fudo known for changing your fortune and luck to good. My guess is it is a fairly modern statue.

Kaiun Fudo Myo & Shunkoji Temple Fudo Myo.

A narrow road leads up a small side valley to a cluster of three temples, one being Shunkoji Temple.

Shunkoji Temple.

Shunkoji Temple also had numerous Fudo statues.

Shunkoji Temple.

Though I was walking the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage, Shunkoji was not a part of the actual pilgrimage, though the whole area of  Kunisaki is an ancient Yamabushi site, so Fudo statues are plentiful.

Shunkoji Temple.

Shunkoji lays claim to a connection with Kobo Daishi, so in the next post I will explore that connection and the temple.

Shunkoji Temple.

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Tennenji Temple & Misosogi Shrine

 


Located above  the Kawanaka Fudo Magaibutsu, Tennenji Temple and Misosogi Shrine are in essence the same place.


They are fairly rudimentary structures, one with a thatched roof. A flood in 1941 washed the original temple away and there have been no resident priests since then and the remaining statues have been looked after by local people.


These 4-5 meter long torches are in readiness for the Shujo Onie fire festival in early February where dancers dressed as demons dance with fire to bring good fortune. These fire festivals take place at several sites around the Kunisaki peninsula. The one I visited at Iwatoji Temple can be seen here.


Next door is a museum devoted to the Shujo Onie festival but which also houses many of the ancient statues from the original temple.


The shrine building has a male-female mask combination. This is fairly common at many shrines, and most would say that the red-faced mask with the long nose was a Tengu, but I think it is a Sarutahiko mask as it is not wearing the tokin, the small black hat that yamabushi wore.


Sarutahiko is considered one of the origins of Tengu. According to the ancient myths, Sarutahiko guided the Yamato heavenly deities down to Japan and later married Uzume and that leads to the combination of masks seen here....


Uzume later became the model for the Otafuku character.....


The shrine, and temple, have their inner sanctuaries under overhangs in the cliff face....