Saidoji Rokkakudo

 

Seemingly floating in Esaki Bay, Saidoji Temple has a distinctive hexagonal hall.

The origin dates back to the early part of the 15th Century and a wealthy family by the name of Nabeyama who had an ony daughter named Okiku. They had hoped to marry her off but she fell in love with a servant named Shichigoro.

When she became pregnant by him, her parents drove him away, and in her sorrow, she threw herself into the sea.

Her parents searched for her for three days and three nights, to no avail, however they did pull up in a et from the sea a Jizo statue holding a child. They took this to be a reincarnation of their daughter and enshrined it on the tiny island.

Seven years later, Shichigoro returned in the guise of a monk and converted the shrine into a temple.

In the 17th Century when the Mori had control of the area they rebuilt the temple with a hexagonal hall. This was to protect the building against the powerful stormy winds. At the same time, they planted a Black Pine, which still grows today.

I have seen other hexagonal buildings in temples around Japan, but the signboard here claims that this one os one of only two in existence, so I suspect they are talking about some aspect of its construction.

The dragon carving was quite nice....

A Boke Fuji Kannon for protection against senility..... an increasingly common Kannon statue in Japan....

The previous post was on the walk to Esaki from Susa.

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Kisshoin Tamonji Temple

 

This temple in the mountains north of downtown Kobe was a real revelation.

The sign at the entrance to Tamonji Temple told me about something I had never heard of .... that for half a year the capital of Japan was not Kyoto, but Fukuharakyo, in what is now Kobe.

Taira Kiyomori moved the child emperor Antoku and set up court in Fukuharakyo in 1180. It was also Kiyomori's retirement palace.

At that time Tamonji was located at the bottom of Mount Rokko, across the valley from its current location. The okunoin of the temple is still on top of Rokko.

Kiyomori chose Tamonji to be the protector temple of the new capital from the dangerous spiritualforces of the NE, a so-called Kimon.

To support the temple, he settled people from the north of Kyoto; Yase, Ohara, etc around the temple.

Interestingly, the temple is said to have been founded in the mid 7th century by an Indian monk, Hodo Sennen, who is associated with many places and legends around Japan.

It fell into disrepair, or was abandoned, until being rebuilt as a Shingon temple in 858.

An unusual tiger statue. The honzon of Tamonji is Bishamonten, and in Japan, he is associated with tigers. For the story see this post from a temple in Kyushu...

 

A few of the simple, "cute" rakan statues...... a whole post on them coming up next post....

During the rebellion against the Taira, an army allied with Yoshitsune Minamoto burned down the temple as they would not assist in their approach to fight the Taira.

In 1428 a bright light was seen emanating from the spot where Tamonji currently stands, and taken as an omen, Tamonji was moved here and rebuilt.

The current main hall dates to 1690.

The Mizuko Jizo seem to have been made by the same people who made many of the rakan here.

The honzons at Tamonji are the Bishamonten, a Kichijoten, and a standing Jizo. They are all secret buddhas, but it is possible that once a year they can be viewed.

One source says that in 1868 2 other temples in the area were combined with Tamonji.

Theer are several shrines within the grounds including an Atago Daigongen, a Hachiman, and an Aizen Inari.

In the structure pictured below used to be a sacred spring of some kind, though it is now dry.

Behind it a Fudo Myoo...

Since moving to this site thetemple seems to have been associated with shugendo, with the head family of the area said to have moved here from the Yoshino area.

Located just a few minutes from Shintetsurokko Station, the temple is not well known but well worth a visit, especially for the rakan which I will post on next....

I was also taken with the unique Onigawara featured in the last photos of this post.

I visited at the start of day 5 of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage. The previous post in the series was on the delightful Mudoji Temple, not too far away, that I visited the day before.

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Toshi Daimyojin & Ryosho Daigongen Shrine

 

Heading south from Futagoji Temple I stopped in at a shrine that seems to have been closely connected to the temple.

Toshi Daimyoji Ryosho Daigingen Shrine is the old name for the shrine, the name written on the torii, but in Meiji when the kami and Buddhas were seperated it became simply Toshi Shrine.

The Toshi refers to Otoshi, one of the sons of Susanoo, a kami associated with agriculture, and also connected to "immigrant" groups.

The Ryosho Daigongen are much more fascinating. According to the legend, Ninmon, the legendary founder of the Rokugo Manzan temples on Kunisaki, established this shrine in 717. Next year he established the temples, including Futagoji.

According to the legend, he was practising austerities in the area and was bothered by a pair of kami who he "tamed" and convinced to become the guardian kami of Futagoji. They are enshrined in the okunoin as Ryosho Daigongen.

The pair are said to be a brother and sister,  twin children of Hachiman, the powerful kami whose head shrine is not far from Kunisaki. Interestingly, this was long before Hachiman became equated with Emperor Ojin.

Other than Futagoji Temple and this shrine, there seems to be little mention of Ryosho Daigongen other than a statue held in the treasure house of Usa Hachimangu.

Nowadays, the official kami listed are Otoshi and Izanagi and Izanami

Until Meiji, the rituals and ceremonies performed at the shrine were done by priests from the Futagoji complex.

Like many shrines on the Kunisaki Peninsula, Buddhist Nio guardians of stone can be found. The ones here are said to be unusual in that their eyes are made of copper plate.

The previous post in this series on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the Okunoin of Futagoji Temple.

If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.