Tsurugake Kannon Saifukuji Temple 76 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Saifukuji Temple, number 76 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage, is located on a mountainside overlooking the Sasa River north of Sasebo, Nagasaki.

The road up to the temple was a long gentle slope, for which I was grateful. The biggest building was a very large, modern house, I'm guessing the priest's residence.

A small main hall had a statue of Kobo Daishi standing outside it.

There were rows of Mizuko Jizo lining the approach.

The most interesting thing was the okunoin of the temple, a cave in the cliff behind the main hall.

It is said that the cave had been used by yamabushi, mountain ascetics, since the Heian Period.

It is actually not really a cave anymore as the ceiling has collapsed, leaving a stone bridge, or arch.

There were many small altars within the okunoin, and, not surprisingly,  a predominance of Fudo statues.

The temple itself is actually not so old, being founded in the late Meiji Period, but its origins go back a bit further.

At the end of the 16th century was the Warring States Period was coming to a close, a battle took place here between two rival clans.

In the late 18th century the Hirado Lord laced 5 statues on the mountain, including a Kannon, as a prayer memorial to the samurai who had died. Over time the statues were forgotten and buried by landslides.

In 1894, a local man, a devout worshipper of Kannon, became mortally ill and had a vision showing where the statues were buried. His family dug in the spot and found the statues, including the Eleven-Faced Kannon which is the honzon of Saifukuji. The man was miraculously healed and the Kannon has become famous ever since.

The previous post was on the Sechibaru Coal Mine Museum at the foot of the mountain.

Worldly Benefits at Tsubakido Temple

 

There is a cluster of three related temples called Tsubakido in a small side valley in the mountains of the Kunisaki Peninsula, and they are very popular for the practice of a fundamental aspect of Japanese religious activity called genze riyaku, which translates as praying for benefits in this world rather than for any future world, paradise, heaven etc.

Benefits would include all kinds of success, in health, business, school, sports, love, childbirth, etc etc, as well as protection from disasters and misfortune like disease, traffic safety, fire, angry ghosts and demons, etc.

Many temples, and shrines, specialize in particular benefits, and some have a wide range of deities, altars, statues, etc dedicated to many different benefits. Tsubakido is one such temple.

According to the temple's origin story, Kobo Daishi himself visited this spot after returning from China. He struck the ground inside the small cave that now constitutes the okunoin of the temple, with his staff made of camelia wood and the sacred spring burst forth.

The water is considered healing water and bottles of it can be purchased and taken away. Piles of canes, casts, splints, braces, etc. attest to the miraculous healings that have taken place. Most curious are collections of black hair, said to be more than a thousand, that have been left by people healed by the waters.

There are numerous Kannons enshrined here, including a cancer-cutting Kannon, a Kannon for "mercy to all creatures", pictured at the bottom of this post, a kind of Japanese-Buddhist St, Francis, as well as Kannons for matchmaking, safe childbirth, and so on.

Outside, next to the bell tower is a newer Kannon, one that slows down the effects of senility..... a Kannon that is becoming more widespread as Japan ages rapidly.

As well as Kannon, the other very, very popular bodhisattva in Japan is Jizo, of which Tsubakido has many examples including the modern Mizuko Jizo, and an Osasuri Jizo that you rub on the part of the statues that you desire healing for your own body.

There is a branch of Fushimi Inari Shrine which is for prayers for business success. There are a couple of historical examples of onigawara roof tiles that are used to protect the temple buildings from evil.

Shamoji, the flat wooden spoons or rice scoops are used, like ema, to write prayers upon. This seems to have derived from an early 20th-century practice of praying for military victory.

The temple (s) are part of several pilgrimages, though not part of the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage that I was on my second day of. I was also following the Minemichi Long Trail which roughly follows the old yamabushi pilgrimage route around the peninsula.

Worldly benefits temples like Tsubakido are usually very festive and colourful and often offer a staggering number of statues to experience. I suspect they are not hard up for money.

The previous post in the series on my walk around Kyushu on the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was devoted to the many statues of Fudo Myo found here at Tsubakido.

Around Gokurakuojoin at Nomiyama Kannonji

Nomiyama Kannonji

Nomiyama Kannonji is a large complex of temples and shrines high in the mountains above Sasaguri, Fukuoka, that is very popular in its own right but is also on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. Down below the main site of Kannonji are several large car parks and numerous cafes and restaurants, a clear indication of how popular this remote location is. Across from the car parks are two more areas of sub-temples and shrines, Tennoin, which I will cover later, and Gokurakuojoin the subject of todays post. One structure is the Aizen-do which enshrines Aizen Myo, in the photo above.

Six Jizo Pond actual has 7 statues in it.

Behind the pond, Three Thousand Jizos. One source says these are Mizuko Jizo. Nearby is a whole temple devoted to Mizuko Jizo, Mizuko Temple Monjuin.

The main deity enshrined in Gokurakuojoin is Enma. so-called "King of Hell".

Also pictured here, a small Fudo Myo and a small Thousand-Armed Kannon, also in Gokurakuojoin.

We explored Gokurakuojoin in the afternoon of our first day on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, and this was the highest point of the walk. From here the route descends down a different road. The previous post in the series was of the Fudo Myo statues at the main area of Kannonji.

Mizuko Jizo at Fumyozan Koyaji Temple.

 

Though the adjective "unique" is extremely over-used when connected to anything Japanese, in one case it is actually apt. Small Buddhist statues of a child-like figure clad in a red bib and cap are found everywhere.

The red bib and cap can actually be found on many different types of statues, but the most common is Jizo, the bodhisattva known for the protection of children.

However, in the case of one specific type of Jizo, the Mizuko Jizo, the bibs and caps can become far more individualized.

Mizuko literally means "water baby" and referred historically to children stillborn, miscarried, or dying while still a baby. Mizuko Jizo and related ceremonies became very widespread in the mid 20th century when abortion became very common

Mizuko Jizo has spread beyond the borders of Japan, and within Japan some temples, like Mizuko Temle Monjuin in Sasaguri, have been established specifically for the practice.

All these were seen at temple 61 of the Kyushu pilgrimage near Takeo Onsen in Saga.

The previous post in the series was Saga to Takeo Onsen.

Mizuko Temple Monju-in

Mizuko Temple Monju-in

Monju-in is one of a cluster of mountain-top temples at about 450 meters above sea level in the mountains overlooking Sasaguri in Fukuoka. A couple of the temples are part of the Sasaguri pilgrimage, but Monju-in isn't.

The temple was founded in 1981 and is a branch of the Omuro Shingon sect whose head temple is Ninna-ji in Kyoto. The honzon is a Jizo, but the temple is most well-known for Mizuko Jizo.

Jizo is an incredibly popular deity in Japan, technically a bodhisattva, like Kannon, and there are an untold number of Jizo's, each known for particular benefits.

Jizo statues are often found alongside roads and so have a reputation as a protector;r of travelers. In many instances, Jizo statues replaced dosojin, stones representing the kami protecting boundaries. When I first started walking the back roads of Japan I noticed every pass would have a Jizo.

However, it is as protector of children that Jizo is most well-known, and Mizuko Jizo, a modern, specifically Japanese, Jizo, looks after the souls of the unborn, aborted, miscarried, and still-born babies. Mizuko Jizo has become very widely known nowadays and has even made inroads in some western societies.

The six realms of suffering in Buddhism leads to groupings of 6 Jizo, as in 5th photo, notice how each Jizo is carrying different objects and performing different mudras with his hands. Not sure of the meaning of the three differently colored Jizo in the above photo.

Jizo nowadays very often appears with child-like features, though many manifestations have nothing to do with children, Fukuyose Jizo, photo 2, is for general good luck, and there are Jizo for success in business as well as a "victory" Jizo enshrined here at Monju-in

Koyasu Jizo is a protector of  motherhood and of all children, not just those who have died young.

Jizo's origins are in India, though China and Korea were responsible for many of the texts connected to Jizo in Japan. Also, curiously, like the other very popular bodhisattva in Japan, Kannon, Jizo seems to have changed sex in China, Korea, and Japan, from female to male, the opposite to Kannon who went from male to female.

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