Ichinotaki-ji Temple 40 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Ichinotaki Temple in the mountains of Sasaguri is said to have more than 500 statues, including a set of rakan.

Temple number 40 on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, it is fairly high up a narrow valley.

Several shrines and altars line the approach path including the Tamamitsu Inari Shrine, pictured above, and the Shokankiten Hall next door to it.

The temple was established, by local donations, in 1892.

The honzon is a Yakushi Nyorai.

There are actually two waterfalls, the larger considered male, and the smaller, female.

With the waterfall comes many Fudo Myoo's, and I previously posted photos of 18 of them...

There is quite a large Bato Kannon, sometimes called Horsehead Kannon

Theer are alo numerous, but not 500, expressive statues of rakan, first photo of the post and the next couple of photos...

There is supposed to be one clutching a bunch of banknotes but I couldnt find it...

The statue below was very unusual, at least in this area. It is a Ta no kami, a god of the rice paddy.

When viewed from the rear it is unambiguously a phallus.

En no Gyoga, often found at waterfalls as the legendary founder of Shugendo.

The Seven Luck Gods.... only one of which is Japanese....

Looking down on Ichinotaki Temple

The smaller "female" falls....

The previous post was on the Fudo Myoo statues of Ichinotaki....

500 Rakan at Buttsuji Temple

 

The statues of the 500 Rakan at Buttsuji Temple are all made of stone and seem to be fairly recent in origin.

Not sure how many there are, certainly not close to 500, but there is space for more to be added and a couple seem to be almost new.

What I had not seen before is that each figure was named.

Also, to the left of the name was the name of the person who had donated the statue....

Nothing more to add, so please peruse the photos....

The previous post was on the gardens here at Buttsuji.....

Next I will look at the temple itself......

500 Rakan of Mount Shirataki

 

The top of 226-meter-high Mount Shirataki on Innoshima Island in the Inland Sea between Hiroshima and Shikoku is covered with 700 Buddhist statues.

500 of them are of the rakan, or arhats, said to be disciples of the historical Buddha.

With its rocky outcroppings, Mount Shirataki is believed to have been a site favored by Yamabushi, the shugendo ascetics who practised their austerities in the mountains.

Later, the Murakami Clan established a Kannon Hall on the mountaintop and is used it as a lookout over the surrounding waters.

The rakan, however, along with most of the other statues, were put here in the early 19th century.

A man named Hashiwabara Denroku founded a new religion based on elements of Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, and Christianity.

Betwen 1827 and 1830 he and a discile together with stonemasons from Onomichi carved 500 rakan statues.

The vast majority were not complete statues, rather relief carvings.

They were also fairly crude and lacking the refinement of many rakan.

Therefore the idea that you will be able to recognize the face of someone you know within the 500 figures is a little harder to realize.

There are about 200 other statues on the mountaintop and I will cover them in the next post, and also a little more detail on the unusual cult and its founder.

The previous post was on the 360 degree views from the viewpoint above the statuary.

Some posts on 500 rakan at other sites include Sennyoji Temple in Kyushu, and at RakanjiTemple at Iwami Ginzan.

Monjusenji Temple 4 Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

Monjusenji is temple number 4 on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

Located high in the remote mountains of the Kunisaki Peninsula, it lies to the NE of the highest point, Mount Futago.

It is part of the ancient Shugendo cultic system known as Rokugo Manzan, a mix of Usa Hachiman and Tendai Buddhism. Monjusenji is number 25 on the ancient Kunisaki Shugendo Pilgrimage.

However, whereas most of the temples associated with Rokugo Manzan claim their origin in the early 8th century with a monk named Ninmon, Monjusenji is older and claims to have been founded in the mid 7th century by the legendary En no Gyoja.

This makes it the oldest of what are now known as the Rokugo Manzan temples.

Halfway up the steps is the first group of buildings, and here can be found the Fudo statue that is part of the Kyushu Fudo Pilgrimage.

There are several other statues and altars in this small group of buildings and in fron is a very tall, stone stupa, aboiut 8 meters high and possibly the tallest in all Japan.

Further up the steps is the main hall, the Monju-do, enshrining Monju Bosatsu. Monjusenji is considered one of the top 3 Monju temples in Japan.

Known as the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Monju is often prayed to for academic success.

Monju is often depicted riding a shishi or lion.

A sacred spring flows from the cave behind the main hall and the area around thetemple is filled with huge, ancient trees and towering rock formations.

6 Jizo statues.

A group of ema votive plaques, many asking for academic success. The second photo below an ema of Monju Bosatsu.

In a cave two statues of En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of the temple, is srrounded by numerous Fudo Myo statues.

Below is a statue of Gensan Daishi, a name of Ryogen the great Tendai priest of the 10th century. Also referred to as Tsuno Daishi and Oni Daishi, his likeness is commonly found on ofuda from temples to protect against misfortune.

Below is a statue of Monju Bosatsu, but this is not the honzon. The honzon is a "secret Buddha" and only opened every 12 years, in the Year of the Rabbit.

Below are examples of the unique style of masks found in the Kunisaki area.

Below is a goma ceremony being performed. Usually done on the 25th of each month, I was visiting on January 3rd, so I suspect special goma are performed for the new year.

Below a few of the rakan statues in the rock face near the main hall.

The previous post was on the Fudo cliff temple a little to the north, Itsutsuji Fudo.