Buddhas, Jizo, & other statues of Kunisaki 2

This set of Jizo are quite unusual, not only in their facial expressions, but also in that they are ceramic and not the usual stone.

Often large groups of statues of different figures will be rakan, disciples of the Buddha.

I am not sure who this guy is, maybe one of you can tell me, but like many of the buddhist pantheon it seems to have its roots in Hinduism.

These look like Jizo, guardian of children among other identities. Possibly Mizuko Jizo for children who died before birth.

Once again, I have no idea who this pair are. maybe some of you know?

All of thesae photos were taken on the Kunisaki peninsular in Oita Prefecture, north Kyushu, one of my favorite places in japan and home to an enormous amount of statues, mostly of stone.

Buddhas, Jizo, & other statues of Kunisaki 1

The Kunisaki peninsular is home to an uncountable number of buddhist statues, mostly made of stone.

Some are by the roadside, and some are in the grounds of temples, but many are at the sites frequented by Yamabushi, the mountain ascetics who lived and visited here.

Some are carved directly into the rock itself, but many are placed in the man-made caves that were used by the ascetics for their meditation practices.

There are a bewildering array of characters in the Buddhist pantheon. As well as various buddhas there are numerous bodhisatvas as well as saints, disciples, and other deities often derived from hindu deities.

Its only recently that I have started to visit buddhist sites, mainly for an interest in the statuary and other art.

I am beginning to recognize some of the figures, but the identity of others still eludes me.

It is my hope that one day I can return to kunisaki and follow the old pilgrim trail as there are for sure many wonders to be found off the beaten track.

Some Buddhas of Kunisaki

The Kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu was home to an unusual branch of Shugendo based on a mix of Tendai Buddhism with "shinto" of Usa Hachiman. The whole peninsular was laid out as a pilgrimage route as an expression of the Lotus Sutra. There were 28 main temples, one for each chapter/verse of the sutra, and more than 32,000 stone statues, one for each kanji/character of the sutra.

This is a statue of the Yakushi Buddha at Iwato-ji. It is in the Ko do, a study hall. It was carved out of a single zelkova tree sometime in the 11th Century. Iwato-ji is my favorite of all the temple-shrine sites on Kunisaki.

The Kunisaki Peninsular radiates out from the highest point, Mount Futago, and the temple here , Futago-ji, is a large complex. Im afraid I dont know which buddha this statues is.

Also at Futago-ji is this statue of Amidanyorai. Its made out of cypress and was created at the end of the Kamakura Period. Behind it is a beautiful painting, a copy of one at Enryaku-ji.

Also at Futago-ji is this statue of the 11 headed Kannon. It was made in the latter part of the twentieth century.

At Fuki-ji, the oldest wooden building in Kyushu, is this statue of Amida. Made of Zelkovia wood in the Heian period, it was originally painted or lacquered and traces of red are still on it.

I dont know which buddha this is, or even the name of the temple. It was not a major temple on the tourist maps but we stopped in and were surprised by the modern paintings on the ceiling and we were served tea by the priests wife.

Maki Odo has a fine collection of sculptural treasures including this Amida, carved in the Heian period out of Zelkovia.

More zuijin of Kunisaki

Here are a few more zuijin from shrines around the Kunisaki Peninsular.

For an explanation of what zuijin are, see this earlier post.

This is something I had not seen before, paintings of zuijin. Maybe the original zuijin statues had become damaged or destroyed in some way, or maybe the shrine could just not afford to pay for real statues.

Almost all the zuijin in Kunisaki were carved out of stone, the only place I have seen that, but some of them were originally painted.

Kakaji Town

Kakaji town is a collection of fishing villages on the north coast of the Kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu.

We stayed in one of the villages, Otakajima, when we visited Kunisaki last year.

The ryokan was excellent quality, but cheap, probably because it is off the main road. Actually the village was in a hidden cove that could only be reached by a narrow mountain road.

The little island, Horseback Island, had a small shrine that could be reached at low tide.

The village ( actually small hamlet would be more accurate) was of course well protected by concrete.

This is not the ryokan!

Zuijin of Kunisaki

Zuijin is the common name given to pairs of statues found guarding some shinto shrines, usually in their own gateways called zuijinmon. Zuijin was the term given to Imperial guards.

They are a development from the buddhist Nio guardians found at many temples.

These first two are at Usa Hachimangu and are grand and large as befitting such a major shrine.

Another name for them is Kado mori no kami, and they are most often seen dressed in Heian Period court dress and carrying bows and arrows. They are often associated with Saidaijin and Udaijin, Minister of the Left and Minister of the Right who were the highest ranking ministers in Nara and Heian government below the Chancellor.

Almost all the zuijin I found at shrines on the Kunisaki Peninsular were carved in stone, and it is the only place I have seen them not made of wood, except for one set I saw made of ceramic in Iwami.

Stone plays a significant part in the religious traditions of Kunisaki, with an inordinate number of stone states, cliff carvings etc.

These last pair probably had wooden bows and arrows at some point.

More komainu of Kunisaki

This wooden komainu was in the museum at Usa Jingu. It is a type of komainu that is no longer as common as the stone ones found at the entrances to shrines and temples. If a shrine has a Zuijinmon, an entrance gate with pairs of zuijin (guardian statues) there will often be a small wooden komainu with them.

The most common komainu now are the stone ones found along the entranceways. These are mostly from the Edo-period.

Here is an excellent paper on different komainu styles. The author discusses many of the different styles and their geographic ranges, as well as laments modern japans drive towards national homogenity which is seeing one, modern, national style of komnainu increasing.

For me, the diversity is what is fascinating.

All of these komainu were found on the Kunisaki Peninsular of Northern Kyushu.

The other place to see komainu is carved into the beams of shrines and temples.

Komainu of Kunisaki

Like shrines and temples everywhere, on Kunisaki Peninsular there are plenty of the guardian Komainu. This one with a flat head is supporting a lantern.

This is a variation on a modern style. Some komainu, like here, have a baby under its paw.

Often seen with elephants and dragons, the ends of beams are carved as komainu

This one is sitting on top of a turtle.... something Ive never seen before.

There are dozens of different styles of komainu, and part of the fascination with visiting shrines for me is to discover new variations.

All of these were found on the Kunisaki peninsular in northern Kyushu.