Kumano Shrine & Kochi Shrine on the Sanyo-do

 

The first shrine I stopped in at on my walk along the Sanyo-do in Yamaguchi was a Kumano Shrine in Ezaki.

In the back of the grounds was a corner of Autumn colours....

and a pair of small, weathered zuijin....

but other than that, not much to report as there was no signboard and can find no information online...

Further along the way I stopped in at a Kochi Shrine in the Sayama district.

Under the red metal are the original thatched roofs, which give the buildings' proportions an elegance...

Three female kami are listed. Amenomikumari, Mitsuhanome, and Kuninomikumari. Not sure that I have ever encountered these before.

Amenomikumari and Kuninomikumari are obviously a pair, the 5th and 6th kami born of a brother-and-sister pair of water-estuary kami created by Izanami and Izanagi.

Mitsuhanome was born from Izanami's urine after she was burnt given birth to the kami of fire. All three kami seem to be connected to water and are not found outside of Yamato except in Yamaguchi.

Somewhat to the rear of the shrine is a Tsuka, or Zuka. Usually translated as burial mound, they are not graves but where things are buried , like sutras, or needles that have become too old to use. Ths one seems to get offerings still, but I can not find out what is buries here.

The previous post was on my walk along the Sanyo-do, where I found these shrines...

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Along the Sanyo-do

 

26th November, 2014, and I set off before sunrise on day 24 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

I stayed the night near Shin Yamaguchi Station, formerly known as Ogori. My route is SW towards the next temple near Ube.

Instead of taking the main road I take the old Sanyo-do, the imperial highway from ancient times that ran from Yamato down to Shimonoseki along the southern coast of Honshu. This roughly corresponds to todays National Highway 2

Looking back to the built-up area around Ogori.

The old road retains some of its historical charm with plenty of examples of older-style architecture...

There are numerous roadside Buddhist altars...

As is usual for me, I stop in at most of the shrines that I pass. I will cover some of them in the next post...

The only Autumn Colour I encountered was at one shrine....

At times, my route parallels the Shinkansen Line.

It is most pleasant to be away from all the traffic and commercial establishments on the newer Route 2  not far away.

From one shrine that is on higher ground, I catch a glimpse of the Inland Sea...

Economically, the Sanyo region is doing really well compared to my region, the San-in, but there are still some empty and decaying houses, though a tiny number compared to my area.

A heron proved not so skittish...

After passing Hon Yura  Station I pass a newly rebuilt Buddhist "chapel", Mikage-do, part of Bodaiji Temple.

The previous post was on the last temple I visited yesterday, the amazing Ryuzoji.

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