Ankokuji Temple 25 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Ankokuji is not far from Tadaji, temple 24, and even closer to Komyoji, temple 26, and is located in Kamiko, a little upstream from Shimoko.

I was surprised by how substantial a temple it was, and then I learned that it has the tombs of several generations of the Masuda Clan, who ruled the area. They were descendants of the Fujiwara governor Kunikane, who changed their names. They later moved from this area, where the national government offices were located, to the area where the city of Masuda is now located.

It was originally called Fukuenji and was said to have been founded in the early 8th century. It fell into disrepair but was revived in the early 12th century as a Tendai Temple and flourished under the patronage of the governor Fujiwara no Kunikane.

It again fell into disrepair after a big fire but was revived as a Rinzai Zen temple in the early 14th century by the wife of Masuda Kanenaga to pray for her deceased father.

In 1348 the temple was chosen to be the Ankoku Temple for Iwami Province.

In 741, the emperor ordered the building of a Buddhist monastery called Kokubunji in each province. It was an attempt to impose central control over the country. These Kokubunji were usually built at the site of the government offices of each province. The Iwami Kokubunji and government offices were located in this area of Shimoko.

In 1348 Ashikaga made Ankoku Temples in each province of the country for similar reasons. Whereas the traditional Buddhist sects were dominated by the Imperial court and their related families, when the warriors took over the country they usually chose Zen temples as they were new sects not yet under the control of the old guard.

There is a fine pair of ceramic komainu.

The hillside behind the main hall is planted with azalea bushes.....

Mu guess is that the red shrine in the pond is a Benzaiten shrine...

There is also a small karesansui garden in the front...

Shachi and other roof ornaments from earlier versions of the temple....

The previous post was on the interior sights of nearby Tada-ji Temple.

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Manju-ji Temple Gardens

 

Manju-ji Temple in Matsue has a delightful pond garden behind the main hall, and an extensive, well-manicured karesansui garden in the front.

It is a large Rinzai Zen temple at the top of the narrow Okutani valley to the north of the castle.

Entry to the temple and garden is free, but the temple remains off the tourist radar.

The temple was established in a different location in 1600, some years before the castle was built.

Its original name was Chojuin.

In 1644 it was moved to its current location after being given the site by Naomasa Matsudaira, the new daimyo of the castle.

At that time it was renamed Shobuyama Chojuji.

Later the name was changed to Manju-ji, though a big fire in 1848 destroyed all records, so the date is unknown.

When I visited in June, the azaleas were in bloom, which added to the visit.

One curious feature, seen in photo 4, is an Imperial Messenger Gate in front of the main hall.

To the right of the main hall is a Kannon Hall, and above it is a Myoken Shrine which enshrines Marishiten, Benzaiten, Daikokuten, and Aizen Myoo. From the shrine you can look down on the pond garden.

The front garden is quite sparse, but subtle.

One nice touch was the small turtle at the centre of the concentric circle of ridges.... exactly how it would appear when a turtle surfaces in a pond.

I can find no date or creator for the rear garden, but it appears to be fairly standard.

There is a small one-room teahouse.

And a few koi in the pond.

The previous post in this series on Matsue and Izumo was on Kanden-an, the remarkable samurai teahouse, villa, and gardens not too far from Monjuji Temple.

Matsue has an unusually large number of quality gardens, in large part due to the legacy of the great Tea Master, Fumai Matsudaira, the daimyo of Matsue Castle.

Some recent garden posts from Matsue I recommend would be Fumon-in temple, garden and Teahouse, the gardens at Lafcadio Heans House, and the garden at Gesshoji Temple.

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Tamae Kannon-in Temple 21 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

The 21st temple of the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Kannon-in, is just a couple of kilometers from the 20th temple, Daisho-in.

Located in Tamae, a fishing village that overlooks the Hashimoto River and the castle town of Hagi on the opposite bank.

A temple stood here in the early 9th century but fell into disuse and disrepair.

In the mid 16th century it was revived and made a Rinzai Zen temple. 

The honzon is a Shaka Nyorai and the Kannon Hall enshrines an 11-faced Kannon, siad to have been found in the nets of local fishermen. Consequently, the temple has been favoured by fishermen for protection at sea.

The temple has burned down several times, but each time the statues survived.

The main hall and Kannon Hall date to the mid 19th century.

The previous post was on the garden at Daisho-in, a few kilometers away.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.