Treasures of Makiodo

The Treasure Hall at Makiodo Temple in the Hunisaki area.

Makiodo was built on the site of Makisan Denjo-ji, a large temple in the Kunisaki Peninsula area of Oita. The temple burned down in the early 14th Century but some of the statues were saved and are on display now at Makiodo.

Amida Nyorai flanked by the 4 Shitenno

Makisan Denjoji was reputed to be the biggest of the Tendai temples in the Kunisaki area that was home to a Tendai version of Shugendo. I visited it on the first day of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage. The first group of temples on the pilgrimage are located in the Kunisaki area and as I had been long wanting to walk the old Kunisaki Pilgrimage I used this opportunity. The Kunisakihanto Minemichi Long Trail approximately follows the old pilgrimage route.

Rare Statue of Daitoku Myo at Makiodo

All the statues on display in the Treasure House are obviously more than 700 years old and include a seated Amida Buddha with the four Shitenno, Heavenly Guardians, flanking it. What is believed to be the biggest example of A Daitoku Myo in Japan, seated astride an ox, and a wonderful Fudo Myo with his two attendants.

Fudo Myo at Makiodo in Kunisaki

In a separate building are other artworks and a pair of Nio guardians. Makiodo is located less than 3 kilometers north from the Kumano Magaibutsu, and like many of the really interesting places in Japan , not really served by public transport.

Ancient Nio statue on display at Makiodo

Not the Village of Dolls

Not the Village of Dolls

On my first day walking the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage I left Taizoji Temple and the Kumano Magabutsu and started north along the road. The first few days of the pilgrimage I was going to be roughly following the old shugendo pilgrimage route around the Kunisaki Peninsula. Not far along the road I came across these figures by the side of the road dressed as pilgrims.

I thought the figures were just connected to the pilgrimage, but then a bit further up the road I spied this female figure with an old couple back at the abandoned building.

The group of skiers made it clear that these were another example of the kinds of "dolls" that are appearing all around Japan in depopulated areas, the most famous of which is Nagoro in Tokushima that has received masses of international media attention.

While Nagoro is the most famous, I have seen such figures in amny places on my walks around the hinterland. They have been developed out of scarecrows. I remember about 18 years ago walking in the mountains in my home area and coming across a big group of brightly decorated figures in some small rice paddies by the side of the road. It was called a scarecrow festival.

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The Demons Stairway

The Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita remains one of my favorite places in Japan. Taizoji Temple is the starting point of the Kunisaki Minemichi Long Trail, a 135 kilometer trail that roughly follows an old shugendo pilgrimage route. The first group of temples of the Kyushu 36 temple Fudo Myo Pilgrimage are located along, or close to, the trail, so when starting my walk I started from Taizoji.

Behind the temple is a stone stairway eading up the mountainside. Many of the rocks used to construct it are large and it's very much a jumble of uneven rocks because it is said a demon built the stairs in just one night. They lead up to the Kumano Magaibutsu.

Magaibutsu are relief carvings in cliffs or large boulders, and Kunisaki is home to many of them. The Kumano Magaibutsu were carved about a thousand years ago. The largest is of Fudo Myo and is more than 8 meters in height.

The second figure is believed to be Dainichi Nyorai and is more than 6 meters in height. From the magaibutsu the stairs carry on up to a shrine higher up.

Taizoji

The first seven temples of the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage are located on the Kunisaki Peninsula. Rather than visit them in numerical order I decided instead to walk most of the Kunisaki Minemichi Long Trail, a 137 kilometer route that to a large extent follows the ancient yamabuchi pilgrimage route that winds around the peninsula.

The route starts at Taizoji, actually it starts up above the temple at the largest cliff carvings in Japan. The temple is now uninhabited. There is a lot of statuary,..... the 7 lucky gods,..... the Chinese zodiac animals..... several Fudo Myo's....... quite an emphasis on genze riyaku, praying for "practical benefits".

Behind the main buildings was a new, small building devoted to prayers for luck with the lottery...

It was up the mountainside behind the temple that the real delights await.....

Shujo Onie Fire Festival

Shujo Onie Fire Festival

February 10th was the Lunar New Year and on the 16th the Shujo Onie Festival was held to mark the occasion. It was held at 2 temples on the Kunisaki Peninsular and I was lucky enough to visit the one at Iwato-Ji. The action began after dark when to the accompaniment of ringing bells and blown conch shells pairs of accolytes ran down the hillside to where the mountain stream had carved a deep pool of water into which the men jumped.

later 4 huge firebrands, 4 to 5 meters in length, were carried down from the temple to a waiting fire where they were lit. Officially this is a buddhist festival at a Tendai temple, but historically its roots are in the unique form of Shugendo in this area.



Then the burning firebrands were carried through the torii and up the steps to the inner shrine area where ther e are caves where the shugenja practised shugyo and other buddhist halls where further ceremonies will take place..

The burning wood was followed by a procession of priests and musicians.

Later there would be much more..... demons (priests in masks) will be brought to life, perform some dances, and then beat all the onlookers with burning sticks. I believe this is to drive away demons and bring good luck for the new year. later still the demons visit all the houses in the community. Unfortunately it was getting late and I was finding the crowds too much so we left.....

Nio of Kunisaki: Final post

A final look at some of the intriguing Nio to be found at shrines and temples on the Kunisaki Peninsula in northern Kyushu. This first one is not a real nio but a sculpture used as a comment/message box at Maki Odo temple.

In the temples treasure house/museum there were a pair of old wooden nio that once stood on guard there.

At Taizoji, the small temple at the foot of the steps that lead up to the giant Kumano Magaibutsu, a smallish pair of stone nio.

This final pair of big, wooden Nio were in the museum of  Usa Hachimangu museum.
before the separation of buddhas and kami they would have stood guard at the shrines entrance.

Usa Hachimangu had long been a syncretic site incorporating buddhism with kami worship, but whereas many of the shrines in Kunisaki seem to have escaped the rigid separation of buddhas and kami, Usa because of its imperial connection did not/

Yet More Nio of Kunisaki

Continuing with my cataloging of the Nio found in the Kunisaki Peninsular of northern Kyushu. Nio, temple guardians, ar nowadays found only at temples whereas before the separation of buddhas and kami, shinbutsu bunri, of early Meiji they could be found at many shrines as well. The Nio of Kunisaki are unusual in two ways, one they are made of stone rather than the usual wood, and second that they are still found guarding shrines.

These first two are at Hie Shrine, a branch of the shrine complex below Mt Hie and Enraykuji. The kunisaki area is home to a version of shugendo that was based on tendai buddhism from Enryakuji so its not surprising to find a Hie Shrine here.

When we came upon these next two Yoko remarked that they looked like they were talking on cellphones and now I cant get that image out of my head.........

They are standing guard at Tawara Wakamiya Shrine. We chatted with an old gentleman who was tidying the shrine grounds and he very kindly unlocked the shrines office/meeting room and showed us the shrines "treasures", a great collection of old masks....

There was also this pair of small wooden nio in a style quite unlike anything Ive seen before.....

The shrine was home to an old buddhist painting but it has been removed to a museum.

This final Nio is on the steps to Shirahige Tahara Shrine, a branch of the main Shirahige Shrine located on the shore of Lake Biwa not far from Hie. It enshrines a Korean "king" who settled the area around Mt. Hie and lake Biwa.

Nio of Kunisaki part2

Nio, the guardian statues flanking the entrance to many temples are also known as Kongorikishi, though the gates they are often found inside are called Niomon. Most Nio are made of wood, but on the Kunisaki peninsular in north Kyushu they are made of stone. This first one is one of a pair at the start of the steps leading up to Futagoji roughly in the center of the conical peninsular.

Another pair can be found within Futagoji's grounds at the bottom of the steps leading up to inner halls higher up the mountain. One of the pair always has an open mouth, Misshaku Kongo, and Naraen Kongo with his mouth closed.

Originally from India, many historians believe there is a connection between them and Greek statues of  Heracles (Hercules) that may have been transmitted along the Silk Road 2,000 years ago. This Nio is at Fukiji, believed to be the oldest wooden building in Kyushu.

This modern one stands in front of a shrine, not a temple. Kunisaki was home to a unique type of Shugendo that mixed Tendai Buddhism with the "shinto" of nearby Usa Hachiman. Known as Rokugomanzan, stone was  the dominant material for statues and the area is home to the biggest cliff-carvings in Japan.

This final one (for now) is at Sempukuji. Kunisaki is one of my favorite areas. many more posts on the area can be found here. Nio are also a favorite topic of mine, and lots more can be seen here

Nio of Kunisaki

If you have been following my posts on the Kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu then you will probably have realized by now that stone is predominant in the sacred art. Nio, the temple guardians, are almost always wooden, but it should not be surprising that in Kunisaki they are carved in stone.

Something else unusual is that whereas in the rest of Japan the Nio were removed from shrines during Shinbutsu Bunri, the seperation of Buddhas and Kamis, and were usually replaced with zuijin, but in Kunisaki they still remain at shrines as well as temples. These first two are at Kibe Shrine on the north coast.

These next couple are at Iwato-Ji, to my mind the most atmospheric of the many mountain temples dotted over the slopes of the conical peninsular. Notice the torii. The distinction between Buddhism and "Shinto" is blurred here, as it was everywhere in the pre-modern days.

These last two Nio were at the entrance to Monjusen-Ji, a little higher up in the mountains.

Magaibutsu of Kunisaki

magaibutsu are buddhist carvings carved directly into cliff faces or rock outcroppings or cave walls rather than carved out of a piece of stone. Magaibutsu never became as poular in japan as they were on the Asian mainland, but they can be found all over Japan. Most however are found in the Kunisaki peninsular of northern Kysushu. This first one is of Dainichi Nyorai and is 6 meters tall.

Right next to it is this 8 meter tall carving of Fudo Myo o, and together they are known as the Kumano Magaibutsu. they are believed to be the oldest and biggest magaibutsu in japan.

Another large one is this one of Fudo Myo with two attendants on a river. Its 3.2 meters high.

There are many many more smaller ones scattered all over the peninsulat

Buddhas, Jizo, and other statues of Kunisaki 3

The kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu is home to a huge number of stone buddhist statues.

many are created by craftsmen and many are "folk".

I can usually recognize Jizo, Kannon, Fudo Myoo, and rakan, but others are still beyond my knowledge.

Not all of them are old.... these are Kannon, I believe, and were at a temple known as a "womans" temple.

Not sure who this guy is, but he is my kind of buddha!!

Gradually I am learning more about the huge diversity of gods and buddhas that populate Japanese buddhism.

These are the last I will post for now., next will be magaibutsu... carvings directly into cliffs and rocks. Kunisaki has more of these than any other area of japan.