Giant Juniper Tree & Temples 51, 52, & 54 on Shodoshima

 

This huge Juniper tree is well deserving of its ranking as a National Natural Monument. It is in the grounds of Hoshoin Temple, number 54 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage.

It is almost 17 meters tall, with a circumference of more than 20 meters at the base and 17 meters at chest height. It is believed to be about 1600 years old and legend has that it was planted by Emperor Ojin. Using the mythical dates of the Kojiki and Nihongi as historical dates, which many continue to do, made the tree 2,000 years old and therefore the oldest in the world, but no reliable sources do that anymore.

There are two other "temples" of the pilgrimage within the grounds of Hoshoin.

The one closest to the Juniper tree is number 52, officially called Former Hachiman Shrine. It was moved here in 1868 with the separation of Buddhas and Kami, from the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine to the south.

Tomioka Hachiman is a huge hilltop shrine, so what I suspect ths small hall enshrines is what was, before 1868, the goshintai of the shrine. In this case a statue of Amida.

Many shrines had Buddhist statues as shintai, and Hachiman shrines in particular have always been quite Buddhist. Some years ago I was told by a fervent Shintoist that Hachiman was not truly shinto, but Buddhist.

The large temple is Hoshoin, number 54.

It is a Koyasan Shingon sect temple, and the honzon is a Jizo.

The third pilgrimage temple at the site is number 51, Hodobo.

Hodobo was the main temple at Tomioka Hachiman, so it was destroyed in 1868 and the honzon, an 11-faced Kannon, was moved here.

The previous post in this series on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was on the two previous temples, 49 & 50.

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Komo Shrine Revisited

Komo Shrine.

Komo Shrine is quite a large, impressive shrine in the countryside near Nakatsu.

Tada-ji Temple 22 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Temple 24 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

I begin day 36 of my Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage walk at Tada-ji Temple on the mountain top overlooking Shimoko. It is temple 22 of the pilgrimage.

It has been 7 days since the last temple of the pilgrimage, the Tamae Kannon-in down in Hagi.

Tada-ji is also the 24th temple of the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage which I have been concurrently walking along since yesterday.

The Nio of Tada-ji are truly impressive....

Each is carved from a single piece of camphorwood. I am unable to find a date but they seem quite recent.

The name Tada is unique among Japanese temples, apparently.

It was founded in 806 by a monk who had travelled to China with Kobo Daishi to study.

He returned two years earlier than Kobo Daishi, and while passing through this area had an experience which caused him to establish a temple here around a tiny statue he brought back from China.

The honzon of the temple is a 11-faced Kannon. It is a secret Buddha revealed once a year at the Hatsuumasai Festival.

That takes place on the Day of the Horse, on the second month of the lunar calendar, the festival day of Dakini Ten, a deity on the head of the Kannon statue.

Dakiniten later became equated with Inari, but was originally a set of female demons/goddesses connected with death.

This is one of the three major festivals of Iwami, and unfortunately, I have yet to attend.

At the small Inari Shrine (was it Dakiniten before Shinbutsununri?) there is a viewpoint looking out at the Japan Sea.

Around the Kobo Daishi statue at the base ( top photo of the post) is a miniature 88 temple pilgrimage about ten meters long.

There are two huge, ancient trees in the grounds, a camphor tree said to be over 1,000 years old, and a Cypress said to be over 1100 years old.

There is a Kumano Shrine in the grounds connected to another experience by Ryusei Shonin, the founder.

Tada-ji is believed to be the oldest extant temple in Hamada.

Perhaps the most intriguing sights at Tadaji are to be found inside the main hall, and that I will cover in the next post in the series...

The previous post was on the walk over from Hamada.

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Daikoji Temple 67 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

Daikoji Temple 67

Daikoji, temple 67 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, is located in a fairly out-of-the-way rural area at the bottom of the mountains, with no big towns nearby.

It was established, about 1 kilometer from its current location, in 742 as a branch of Todaiji temple.

The Nio Gate was built in 1318 but rebuit at its current location in 1796.

The Nio are dated to the mid Kamakura Period, around the mid 13th century.

They were repainted in 1790 and are the biggest wooden nio in Shikoku.

Kobo Daishi visited in 792, and thirty years later came back and rebuilt much of the temple.

Two huge trees flanking the approach are said to have been planted by Kobo Daishi himself.

Daikoji was unusual in that it was partly Tendai and partly Shingon, with a Tendai hall still remaining today.

At one point there were 24 Shingon halls and 12 Tendai halls....

A major fire detroyed most of the temple, possibly caused by Chosokabe Motochika, possibly not.

When I visited in 2012 they were already flying banners to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the Pilgrimage in 2014...

The temple moved to its current location and was rebuilt in 1597. The current main hall dates to 1741.

The honzon is a Yakushi Nyorai, commonly known as the Medicine Buddha. It is a secret Buddha unveiled to the public every 60 years.

Known as Sanko (triangle) Pine...

Kumano Sansho Gongen Shrine was seperated from the temple after shinbutsu bunri...

The previous post was on Unpenji, temple 66....

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