Seisotei the Yunoki Residence & Gardens

 

I discovered the former Yunoki Residence quite by accident as I was walking the streets of Tamashima on my way to Entsu-ji Temple as part of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

I had not heard of the place and was surprised to find entry was free and so went in to explore.

In the mid 17th century Tamashima grew into an important port serving the Bitchu Matsuyama domain on reclaimed land around several small islands.

Some of the historical warehouses and merchant properties still remain and the area has been made a historical preservation area by the prefecture.

It has also become a Japan Heritage site linked to Kurashiki and the Kitamaebune trade.

The oldest part of the house was built in the late 18th century and was named Seisotei by the Confucian scholar Suga Chazan.

It, along with the gate, gardens, and teahouse, are all registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The gardens are particularly fine with some garden experts rating them higher than the garden of the Ohashi House in the Bikan District of Kurashiki.

The Yunoki family were owners of trading ships that operated along the Inland Sea

There are two main gardens, both dry, and a small courtyard garden.

The family operated as magistrates for the daimyo and were the village heads.

Many famous guests have stayed here over the years, including domain officials, though I can not find it defined as a honjin.

When I was there the friendly guide pointed to stains on the ceiling of one room and said it was blood from the time when Kumada Ataka, a local samurai, committed ritual suicide so his followers could get clemency. However, no sources now mention the supposed blood stains.

All in all, a very interesting site made all the more pleasant by the complete absence of tourists and a free entry.

Well worth the detour from the overly-gentrified and crowded Bikan District.

The previous post in this series on day 9 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on Haguro Shrine and its amazing art and decorations.

Haguro Shrine Tamashima

 

Adorning the roof of Haguro Shrine in Tamashima, Okayamama, is a ceramic Karasu Tengu, and it has become the symbol of the shrine and also a mascot for the town.

Tamashima was a cluster of small islands that have now become reclaimed land due to the efforts of the local daimyo Mizutani Katsutaka who started with the area immediately around where the shrine is now and spread out building embankments and reclaiming more land.

The area quickly became a major port on the trading route of the Inland Sea.

Mount Haguro is a sacred mountain in Yamagata in northern Japan with a major shrine called Dewa Shrine.

It is one of three sacred mountains  grouped together as Dewa Sanzan, and is and was a major Shugendo centre, hence the Karasu Tengu.

The shrine in Tamashima became the centre of the land reclamation project and was supported by the growing merchant population.

The current buildings date back to the mid 19th century and have a lot of fine decorations.

Within the grounds are numerous secondary shrines including a Sumiyoshi Shrine, and a Tenmangu Shrine, as well as a Mizutani Shrine, Kumada Shrine, and a Warei Shrine.

The Seven Lucky Gods are also enshrined and very popular.

There is a small pine tree that has had its branches woven together and is therefore known as Musubi no Matsu.

The figures on tye roof are particularly nice with dragons as well as the Karasu Tengu.

Photos 16 and 17 show two other figures which I believe to be Daoist Immortals. One is riding a turtle and the other a crane, both important Daoist symbols and prevalent in Japanese art and culture, especially gardens.

The kami listed as enshrined here are Tamayorihime, Susanoo, Okuninushi, and Kotoshironushi.

A little off the main tourist track, Tamashima is worth a visit, not least for the artwork adorning Haguro Shrine.

I visited at the start of day 9 walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on the shrine at temple 6 of the pilgrimage that I visited the afternoon previous, Yuga Shrine.

Kitasando The Road to Yuga Daigongen

 

The Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage is modelled on one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in Japan, the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, however the Chugoku Pilgrimage is a fairly modern creation, dating back to the 1980's, and therefore its route is based on the modern transportation system and is basically geared towards driving.

However, a few parts of it do coincide with older pilgrimages, and some of these still have sections of footpath, a case in point being this section I am walking on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage. South of Kurashiki is Rendaiji, temple number 6 of the pilgrimage, and it has been a site of pilgrimage in its own right for centuries.

Known as Yuga Daigongen, it was a syncretic site now split into a temple and a shrine, but it was a fairly major pilgrimage destination, and connected to Konpirasan on Shikoku, with both sites often being visited on the same journey.

There were 4 routes to reach Yuga Daigongen, depending on which direction you were coming from, but the most travelled route was known as Kitasando and approached from the north.

After visiting the Kumano Shrine and its associated temples in Hayashi, a few kilometers further south a large torii across a minor road show the way to Yuga Daigongen.

Soon a path leads off the road and heads through a huge grove of bamboo. Whenever I am fortunate enough to pass through a bamboo forest I think of all those poor tourists in Arashiyama, crowded shouder to shoulder, viewing a manicured bamboo forest behind a fence while I have a huge, silent one all to myself.

Along the trail are several small wayside shrines, none visited often and with almost no upkeep.

The trail leads to a narrow mountain road and passes a village shrine, photo 11

The torii says its name is Eki Shrine, but it was renamed Susanoo Shrine in 1943.

Earlier that morning I had stopped in at another Susanoo Shrine that had also previously been called Eki Shrine.

The road then passes a series of vegetable gardens... well protected against wild boar, monkeys, and deer.

and then skirts a village...

before once again becoming a trail....

As we get closer to the shrine-temple complex, more indications of the destination appear...

It was an absolute delight to spend an hour off of asphalt and traffic....

The previous post was on the Kumano Shrine at the base of the mountain to the north.