Tomonoura Temple Walk Part 1

 

Tomonoura is an historic port on the coast near Fukuyama. In mid August I walked around the town before visiting the Historic Preservation District.

I decided to explore the large number of temples along the hills at the back of the town.

As it was Obon, many of the temples had curtains on the gates and main halls displaying the temple crest.

The first nine photos are from Ankokuji Temple, a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1273.

Originally called Konpo-ji, in 1339 the Ashikaga Shogun designated it an Ankoku Temple, one established in every province. The Ankoku system was an attempt for the samurai class to establish a national temple system for political purposes in a similar way to the establishment of the Kokubunji temple centuries earlier.

The Shakado Hall was originally the main hall of Konpji Temple and is a fine example of the Chinese style Zen architecture of the time. It was extensively repaired in the 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries.

It is a National Important Cultural Property, a;long with the triad of statues inside.

The first photo of this post is a Jizo statue also dating back to the Kamakura Period.

Immediately adjacent to Ankokuji is Shohoji Temple, another Zen temple.

Founded in 1598, it is also a Rinzai temple, a branch of Myoshinji.

In its early days it is said to have had a delightful garden, though it no longer exists. It is also said that Korean Delegations on their way to Kyoto were lodged here.

There is a small dry garden dotted with Jizo statues.

In plan form it is a "circle, triangle, square" garden favored by some zen gardeners and based on a famous piece of calligraphy.

Some of the Jizo statues are old, but some are of the more modern "cute" style.

When I was there the lotus was blooming....

Not far away was Jitokuin, yet another Rinzai Zen temple. Founded in 1601 with a Kannon as honzon, the small hall pictured above contains a Yakushi statue "brought" from Korea. In reality probably looted during Hideyoshis invasion.

Honganji was much larger and more important in earlier times. said to have been founded in the 13th century, it is a Jushu Sect temple, one of the lesser Pure Land Sects.

A lot of the temple town area has narrow lanes with high walls and is quite evocative.

Overseeing the area is Nunakuma Shrine, the main shrine of the town. Originally two shrines, both with ancient origins, the Watatsu Shrine, said to be established by Jingu on her return from her failed invasion of Korea, and a Gion Shrine dating from at least the Nara Period.

On this visit I didn't go in, but I will post about it later. In late Meiji with the shrine consolidation program the two shrines were merged and renamed Nunakuma Shrine.

Daikanji was curious because the gate carried a different crest than the main hall. Founded in the 12th century as a Shingon Temple, it later spent a century as a Pure Land Temple before reverting to Shingon in the 16th century.

However it seems that it was established by merging 5 different temples in 1938., with one of the former temples also used to lodge senior Korean envoys.

The new main hall was built following a fire in 2014.

Myorenji was founded at the start of the 17th century.

It is a Nichiren sect temple and was supported by the local Daimyo of the time, Mizuno Katsutoshi. The main temple structures date back to the mid 18th century.

The previous post in this series on day 10 of my Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the National Treasure,  temple 8 Myoo-in.

Yuga Shrine

 

Yuga Shrine is unique in having a ceramic torii entrance gate made of local Bizen-ware. It is not the only ceramic torii in Japan. Down in Arita in Saga on Kyushu is a torii made of porcelain at Tozan Shrine.

Yuga Shrine is the now Shinto part of the former shugendo complex of Yuga Daigongen, a syncretic establishment forced tp separate in early Meiji. Post 1945 the shrine and temple began operating again as one entity but in the late 90's a dispute arose between them that continues to this day.

Immediately adjacent to the shrine is the okunoin of the temple. Again, the architecture alone is no help in distinguishing between the shinto and Buddhist parts as they are the same.

The okunoin currently houses a Fudo Myo.

The original kami enshrined here was Yuga Daigongen, a buddhist name and considered a manifestation of Amida and Yakushi.

The kami listed now I suspect were added in the Meiji Period and are Hikosachi no Mikoto, Kaminaohi, and Teoshihobo. They are not well known kami at all.

As well as the torii there are a pair of fine ceramic komainu also in Bizen-ware. The komainu date to 1829 and tye torii to 1894.

There are numerous secondary shrines around the grounds, many clustered around a set of Iwakura, large sacred rocks on the hillside said to have been worshipped since ancient times.

There is a Tenmangu, and also the Seven Lucky Gods are here as well as in the parking lot of the temple.

Interestingly there is a Susanoo Shrine, and here he is considered a god of matchmaking. Males will pray to the female ceramic komainu and females pray to the male ceramic komainu, both with a dark glaze so not technically Bizen-ware.

Yuga Shrine is considered an important shrine for disaster prevention and was historically connected to Konpira on Shikoku with both being connected pilgrimage sites.

The main hall, (photo 9), was built in the early Edo Period and is a registered Cultural Property, as are the ceramic torii and the honden (final photo).

There is a largish Inari presence here, though they list the kami as Kurainakatama no mikoto, not a variation I have ever heard of before.

You might notice the "cute" octopus statue......

This is Owatatsumi, a modern creation by the local fishing culture.....

Though somewhat distant from major tourist sites, and not accessible without a car, Mount Yuga, with all the sights of the temple and the shrine, is well worth a visit.

This was my final stop on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and the previous post in the series was on the Buddhist section of Yuga Daigongen, Rendaiji Temple.