Okazaki Shrine, Kidani

Standing in front of this small, rural shrine in Kidani, southern Okayama, was an unusual torii. I saw another at the shrine in the middle of the village, and my guess is they were constructed to house lanterns for matsuri.

It is an Okazaki Shrine, and as there were no information boards I presume it is a branch of the famous Okazaki Shrine in Kyoto.

As such it enshrines 3 main kami, Susano, Kushinada, &  Yahashira no Mikagami, the last being eight offspring of Susano.

I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating:- I often hear that Amaterasu is the primary kami in Shinto, but really that is just a hangover from State Shinto that placed here in that position to elevate emperor worship. If you actually check shrines all over the couintry, then shrines to Susano and his lineage far outnumber shrines to Amaterasu and her lineage.

Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temple 3 Shorakuji

Though it is the third temple on the pilgrimage, Shorakuji, by virtue of being the most easterly temple is often where most pilgrims begin their pilgrimage, and I was no exception. Located in the hills of Bizen, it is inland north of Hinase, Okayama.

Known, among other things, for its rather fine gate, constructed in 1801, I was disappointed to find it encased in scaffolding and tarps. However it was possible to watch a skilled artisan at work making repairs to one of the guardian Nio statues.

It is believe a temple stood here since 794, but Shorakuji was established in 1304. It burned down in 1615 and was partially rebuilt by 1704, however it was not until 1801 that the complex regained its earlier size.

There was not a lot of statuary, though there were many diverse onigawara. It has a fine bell tower that instead of containing a bell houses a large drum. It is said this is the style of ancient Korea. It is currently a Shingon temple and the honzon is the 11 faced Kannon.

Hinase Hachimangu

Hinase, the small port town on the coast of Okayama near to the border with Hyogo, is where I began my walk along the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. There are several shrines in the town but I only passed by one, the Hachimangu.

Located on a small hill overlooking the harbor, it is a fairly standard, small Hachiman Shrine

However, being in the former province of Bizen, the Komainu were made of Bizenware ceramic, a very popular style throughout southern Okayama.

There was no signboard and nobody around to ask, so I have no more details other than there was a small secondary shrine, an Inari, though there were no little kitsune statues....

Hinase, Okayama

I started my walk along the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage at the small port town of Hinase as this was the closest train station to the most easterly of the pilgrimage temples, number 3 Shoraku-ji.

As the towns draincover shows, it now includes the cluster of small islands just offshore.

The towns main industry is oyster farming, but obviously shrimp are another locally caught product.

The town is home to an unusual museum on Latin America. Started with the collection of a local man who collected arts and archeological artifacts from his visits to that part of the world, I really wanted to visit it but was there several hours before they opened and as I had a long day ahead could not afford to wait.

My route climbed above the town and headed inland.....

Some More Round Windows

My posts on the round windows of Japan have been popular, so here is a selection of ones I've found recently. This first one has to be one of my favorites. It is in an outbuilding in Henshoin Garden, in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture.

This one is in the Ohashi House, a wealthy merchants home in  Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.

This one is in a shelter in the garden next to Fukuyama Castle in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Korakuen garden in  Okayama.

The Chinese garden Enchoen, on the shore of Togo Lake in Tottori.

Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Day 1

After finishing my walk around Kyushu on the Kyushu Pilgrimage, this summer I started walking the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage which will take me through Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, and Tottori. I think it will end up being over 1500 kilometers. I started at Hinase in the east of Okayama near to Shoraku-ji, the third temple on the pilgrimage.

At Shorakuji the Niomon was undergoing renovation, and so was able to observe one of the craftsmen working on repairs to the Nio.

Instead of heading directly west towards the next temple I took a detour and headed NW to visit the Shizutani School, a school founded in the early Edo Period for common people. Some of the architecture there is listed as a National Treasure.

From there I headed over the hills to reach a tributary of the Yoshii River which I followed down towards the south and the next temple.

Towards the end of the day I stopped in at the Bizen Sword Museum where swords are still made in the traditional way....

Ceramic Torii

Torii, the entrance gates most commonly found at Shinto shrines, are usually made of stone or wood though concrete and steel have been used in the 20th Century. A few are made of bronze, and some even of plastic, but I have never before seen a full-size one made of ceramic like this one at Yuga Shrine, made of the distinctive local Bizenware.

The komaiun flanking the torii were also made of Bizenware, and are unusual in that they sit askew on one of their haunches. Don't remember seeing that before either. Bizenware is known for being very hard due to its high iron content and is unglazed with a distinctive reddish hue. Bizen is an area near the shrine in southern Okayama.

The shrine is part of the shrine-temple complex on Mount Yuga that includes Rendai-ji that I posted on yesterday. There were several other interesting and unusual sculptures within the grounds.

The Biggest Fudo Myo-O

My favorite of all the Buddhist deities in Japan is Fudo Myo-O, and so I had a very pleasant surprise a few days ago when I stumbled upon what is believed to be the biggest wooden  Fudo Myo-O statue in the world!

The sculpture, including the base and the surrounding flames is almost 8 meters tall. Fudo himself is exactly 366 centimeters,... one for each day of the year with an extra one to take you into the next year. It was completed and installed in 2006 at the mountain temple of Rendai-Ji in southern Okayama. The statue was carved by Kyoto sculptor Araki Keiun.

In front of the altar was a big wooden hand with a cord attached to it. The cord was made of five threads in the 5 sacred colors and it was connected to 5 colored ribbons.....

..... held in the left hand of Fudo. Never seen that before....

Rendai-Ji is part of a big shrine-temple complex on Mount Yuga. The site was once an important place of pilgrimage as pilgrims heading across the channel to Konpira-San would stop here first. After the Edo Period its popularity faded, though Konpira's didnt. The temple is now number 6 on the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Nagi Moca: Sun

The third and final section of the unique museum in Nagi is called "Sun" and is basically a huge cylinder set on a north south axis.

 

The artwork contained within is titled "heart" and is by artists Shusuka Arakawa and Madeline Gins. Entry into the cylinder is via a small room underneath. The walls are covered with photographic portraits by local residents of Nagi. A dark, enclosed spiral staircase leads up....

 

The interior of the cylinder is somewhat disorienting and playful, and at first the bright light from the end makes everything a silhouette and not at all clear. As one walks up to the end and look back it all becomes clearer.

 

The room contains a model of the famous zen garden from Ryoan-ji in Kyoto but also includes a reflection of it with radial symmetry, not mirror symmetry. 

The Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art in the mountains of Okayama is a unique experience created through a collaboration of the famous architect Arata Isozaki and several artists. The other two sections are called Earth, and Moon.

Nagi Moca, "Moon"

The Museum of Contemporary Art in the tiny town of Nagi in Okayama is a unique collaboration between architect and artist. The building entitled "Moon" is by architect Arata Isozaki and artist Kazuo Okazaki.

 

The name "Moon" refers to the orientation of the building, a long narrow shape composed of an arc and a straight line. The line points towards the moon at 10pm on the Autumnal Equinox.

 

The artwork is titled "Hisashi that which supplements" and is composed of 2 small sculptures on the flat wall and 2 curved granite benches along the curved wall.

 

It is a large minimal space filled with light. Hisashi is a Japanese word for eaves and refers to the sculptures which are made by pouring plaster so it overhangs an edge, and when dry is then hung on the wall.

 

The other two architectural installations that make up the museum are Earth, and Sun.