Togakuji Temple Revisited

 

Togakuji is a Soto Zen temple that predates Matsue Castle a little, but was moved to the Okudani area of Matsue when the castle was built.

After visiting the garden at Manjuji Temple,  I stopped in here on my way back towards downtown.

I had hoped to view the garden behind the main hall, but once again the priest was busy with guests, so will have to try again next time....

The short approach to the temple is flanked by small but effective raked sand gardens with pine trees and a couple of small Jizo statues....

The rakan hall contains statues of the 500 rakan or arhats.....

For the history of the temple, please refer to my earlier post. with some photos of the same things, but different day, different light, different camera, different mood.....

The previous post in this series on the gardens and other sights of Matsue and Izumo was on the garden of Manjuji Temple.

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Unpenji Temple 66 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

I spent the night at a minshuku at the base of Mount Unpenji. Overnight, there had been a heavy snowfall. 

I set off at first light, before the sun, as I had about 650 meters to climb to reach the temple. The trail was virgin. Not a single footstep had been made in the 6 to 12 inches of powdery snow.

After about an hour of climbing I was overtaken by a couple of younger guys who had been eating breakfast when I left the minshuku. Not only younger, but they were only carrying small day packs, so I watched them hurtle up the mountain and sat and had a cigarette break.

Unpenji Temple, the 66th of the pilgrimage is the highest of the temples at about 900 meters altitude.

Thye Niomon is very new, but not the Nio, although I can't find a date for them.

The temples origins begin with Kobo Daishi who climbed the mountain as a you man. He came back later and established the temple.

On his third visit he carved the honzen statue.

It became a well-supported temple with many branch temples on the mountain and became known as the Koya of Shikoku.

However, in the 11th century a fire completely destroyed the temple.

The temple was restored later and the new honzon, a seated 1000-armed Kannon, and a Bishamonten statue were carved.

The great warlord Motochika Chosokabe visited the temple and spoke with the priest about his plan to rule over all of Shikoku. I am guessing that therefore, Unpenji was one of the few temples in Shikoku he didn't destroy.

Most of the buildings seem to be fairly new.

I wish I had had more time to explore, as there are some fine statues inside.

The temple became much more accessible in 1989 when the Unpenji Ropeway was built.

There is actually quite a lot to see at the temple and it has extensive grounds. It is well known for Autumn colours, but for me at least, the most impressive feature was the 500 life-size statues of the Rakan, or Arhats. I gave them their own post here.

Shrine to Gosha Daigongen, the protective kami of the temple.

The previous temple I stopped at was the Bangai Temple Tsubaki-do, down below. Temple 65, Sankakuji was the previous main temple, and the previous post was on the awesome Rakan statues here at Unpenji

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The 500 Rakan at Unpenji Temple

 

A combination of snow and the low, golden sunlight made these pics of Rakan a little special.

Unpenji Temple straddles the border of Tokushima and Kagawa Prefectures on Shikoku.

Sitting atop Mount Unpenji, it is temple 66 of the famous 88 temple pilgrimage of Shikoku.

At 900 meters altitude, it is the highest of all the 88 temples.

The rakan statues are life-size, and spread over quite a wide area. I do not know for sure if they have the full 500.

I wish I had spent more time exploring and photographing them, but I was bushed from the climb.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was the 14th Bangai temple Tsubaki-do, down at the base of the mountain.

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