Hofukuji Temple in Soja

 

Hofukuji Temple is an historic Zen temple in Soja, Okayama.

It is most well known as being the temple where Sesshu trained as a child.

Sesshu, or Sesshu Toyo, was born around 1420 to a samurai family in what is now Soja City.

He went on to become a zen monk and one of the greatest Japanese painters.

He is also known for his gardens.

The most famous story connected to his time at Hofukuji was the story of Sesshu and the Rat

It is not known exactly when the temple was founded, but was originally of the Tendai Sect.

In 1232 it was converted into a Rinzai Zen temple, one of the first in the area.

It received Imperial patronage and grew powerful with more than 50 sub-temples and 300 branch temples at its peak.

In 1575 almost the whole temple was burned down during the Bitchu War, but the 3-story pagoda survived. It has been reliably dated to 1376 and is an Important Cultural Property and the oldest structure still standing here.

The rest of the temple was restored during the Edo Period. The main hall dates to 1735.

Other treasures include the 15th century temple bell, and several silk paintings.

There are two small gardens, a karesansui raked sand one, and a small pond garden.

Hofukuji is a great spot for autumn foliage.

At this time, the Hojo, the Abbots living quarters, are open to the public and paintings by Sesshu and other items relating to Sesshu's time at the temple are on display.

On this visit I was at the start of my 7th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The previous post in the series was on Shorenji Temple in Takahashi.

Sesshu is one of my favorite garden designers, and over the years I have visited almost all of his gardens that still exist, but have not posted many on this blog.

His biggest garden is in Yamaguchi and I did recently post a lot of photos of it in full autumn foliage.

Saikyoji Temple Pagoda

 

When it was constructed, in 1989, the 3-storey pagoda at Saikyoji Temle on Hirado was probably the biggest 3-storey pagoda in Jaan, although larger ones have been built since then.

It is at the okunoin of the temple, overlooking the sheltered harbour and castle of Hirado, once a very important port for international trade before the country was closed down to most trade in the 17th century.

The okunoin is where Kobo Daishi performed his first Goma ceremony after returning from China in 806.

Hirado was also where he left for China a few years earlier and I would be visiting that site next.

Saikyoji is temple 77 on the Kyushu pilgrimage, and the main temple has lots to see so I will be covering that in the next post.

The pagoda stands 33.5 meters tall. On the first floor is an altar to Fudo Myo, and a Fudo statue also stands in front of the pagoda.

From the top floor there are great views over the town, castle, and harbour.

The previous post in this series on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu was on the Tabira Catholic Church on the mainland just across the bridge from Hirado.

Onsenji Temple

 

Onsenji is the guardian temple of Kinosaki Onsen in Toyooka, Hyogo, and is located halfway up Daishiyama Mountain overlooking the hot spring town.

According to the legend it was founded in 738 by Dochi Shonin who spent 1,000 days in ascetic practise before a spring arose. It was traditional for visitors to visit the temple before heading to the healing baths of Kinosaki.

There are some temple structures at the base of the mountain where the steps up to te main temple begin, and the temple also has its own stop of the ropeway that goes to the mountaintop where the okunoin of the temple ( photo 8) is adjacent to the ropeway station.

The main hall of the temple dates back to the late 14th century and is the oldest wooden building in the former province of Tajima.

The honzon is a "secret buddha" and is only shown to the public once every 33 years. It is a Thousand-Armed Kannon built from a single piece of wood said to be from the same tree as the honzon of the famous Hasedera Temple in Nara.

Set among some giant trees, the temple has a Tahoto, a Shingon-style pagoda, was rebuilt in 1767.

Though the honzon is not shown, the main hall does have some nice statuary and the settings and architecture of Onsenji are quite picturesque. I will cover the main gate and lower buildings in a later post. The previous post in this series on Toyooka was the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway.

Kozanji Temple Tanabe

 

Kozanji is a popular temple complex with large cemetery and grounds in Tanabe, Wakayama.

It is said to have been founded by Kobo Daishi, though another source suggests it was founded much earlier during the time of Shotoku Taishi.

The Tahoto, Shingon-style pagoda, has become the symbol of the temple. It was built in 1816 and is dedicated to Prince Shotoku.

Other buildings include 2 Yakushi-do's, a Daishi-do, a Fudo-do, and a Kannon-do.

During the Warring States Period, in the late 17th century the temple was destroyed during Hideyoshi's invasion of the area, but was rebuilt later and in the Edo Period changed its name to Kozanji.

It was pouring with rain when I visited on my way out of Tanabe heading north along the Kumano Kodo towards Osaka on the 5th day of my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage.

Many people visit Kozanji to pay respect at the grave of Ueshiba Morihei (1883-1969), a locally-born  man who is known as the founder of the martial art called Aikido.

With millions of practitioners in more than 140 countries world-wide, some make the pilgrimage to his grave here.

Another of Tanabe's famous sons buried here is Munakata Kumagusu, an eccentric scientist who is gaining in notoriety and is sometimes referred to as the first environmentalist in Japan.

As well as being the site of his grave, the grounds of the temple were a place he spent a lot of time collecting specimens, and where it is believed his campaign against the government program of shrine closures took form.

The previous post in this series on the Saigoku Pilgrimage was the former residence of Minakata Kumagusu.