Nomiyama Kannonji Temple 16 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Nomiyama Kannonji is one of the biggest and also one of the highest of the 88 temples on the Sasaguri pilgrimage in Fukuoka. The temples are scattered in the mountains on either side of the valley through which runs the main road, Route 201, and the JR Fukuhokuyutaka Line.

The biggest temple is probably Nanzoin, home of the largest reclining Buddha, and the highest temple is the okunoin on top of Mount Wakasugi. Nomiyama Kannoji is at about 450 meters above sea level, but is the temple furthest away from the bottom of the valley.

It has several sub-temples and is served by a massive car park, so obviously many people venture up here with the temple website claiming about a million visitors a year.

The honzon is, not surprisingly considering the temple name, a Senju Kannon, a "thousand-armed" Kannon. It is hidden from view except for one day a year, on October 3rd, one of three major festivals held every year. photo number 2 above is a Senju Kannon in the Hundred Kannon Hall.

There is also an Amida Hall, pictured above.

There are several shrines within the grounds, an Inari, pictured above, and a Tenjin and an Awashima.

As well as within the different halls, there are numerous statues of many different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas scattered around the grounds. In fact, one of the main features of the pilgrimage is the sheer number of statues on display. We arrived here in the early afternoon of our first day walking the pilgrimage, and we had seen hundreds and hundreds of very diverse statues.

The previous post in the series is Mizuko Temple Monju-in. Next, I will post pics of the Fudo Myo statues from Kannonji.

Mizuko Temple Monju-in

Mizuko Temple Monju-in

Monju-in is one of a cluster of mountain-top temples at about 450 meters above sea level in the mountains overlooking Sasaguri in Fukuoka. A couple of the temples are part of the Sasaguri pilgrimage, but Monju-in isn't.

The temple was founded in 1981 and is a branch of the Omuro Shingon sect whose head temple is Ninna-ji in Kyoto. The honzon is a Jizo, but the temple is most well-known for Mizuko Jizo.

Jizo is an incredibly popular deity in Japan, technically a bodhisattva, like Kannon, and there are an untold number of Jizo's, each known for particular benefits.

Jizo statues are often found alongside roads and so have a reputation as a protector;r of travelers. In many instances, Jizo statues replaced dosojin, stones representing the kami protecting boundaries. When I first started walking the back roads of Japan I noticed every pass would have a Jizo.

However, it is as protector of children that Jizo is most well-known, and Mizuko Jizo, a modern, specifically Japanese, Jizo, looks after the souls of the unborn, aborted, miscarried, and still-born babies. Mizuko Jizo has become very widely known nowadays and has even made inroads in some western societies.

The six realms of suffering in Buddhism leads to groupings of 6 Jizo, as in 5th photo, notice how each Jizo is carrying different objects and performing different mudras with his hands. Not sure of the meaning of the three differently colored Jizo in the above photo.

Jizo nowadays very often appears with child-like features, though many manifestations have nothing to do with children, Fukuyose Jizo, photo 2, is for general good luck, and there are Jizo for success in business as well as a "victory" Jizo enshrined here at Monju-in

Koyasu Jizo is a protector of  motherhood and of all children, not just those who have died young.

Jizo's origins are in India, though China and Korea were responsible for many of the texts connected to Jizo in Japan. Also, curiously, like the other very popular bodhisattva in Japan, Kannon, Jizo seems to have changed sex in China, Korea, and Japan, from female to male, the opposite to Kannon who went from male to female.

Buy Goods From Japan

Kichijoji, Tokoin, Jishoin, & Sanboin

 

Kichijoji, Tokoin, Jishoin, and Sanboin, are a cluster of small temples/chapels along a narrow mountain lane above Sasaguri near Fukuoka.

I stopped in after carrying on up the road after visiting Raionji, Hagio yakushido, and Hagio Amidado, a small cluster of three temples in the mountain hamlet of Hagio. All three were temples on the Sasaguri 88 temple pilgrimage.

This new cluster of 4 temples was not officially part of the pilgrimage.

5 and a half hours into walking the pilgrimage and we had already visited 15 temples that were officially part of the 88 and had seen hundreds and hundreds of amazing statues.....

These three temples were no different, each with many statues, a lot being Fudo Myo.

I would hesitate a guess that this small pilgrimage of only 50 kilometers meandering around the mountains near Sasaguri has the highest density of Fudo Myo statues of anywhere in the world....

Of all the pilgrimages I have walked in Japan, my guess is that the Sasaguri one is the one that has the highest percentage of pilgrims walking rather than driving....

Even so, I'm not sure how many stop in at these non-official temples.....

Japan Goods

Raion-ji Hagio Yakushi-do, Temles 49 & 76 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

Raion-ji Hagio Yakushi-do

After leaving Kannonzaka Kannondo, temple 66 on the Sasaguri pilgrimage, the route heads up the mountain valley for about 3 kilometers before reaching the next temple, actually a cluster of three, in the mountain settlement of Hagio.

What is remarkable about that is that the first three kilometers of the pilgrimage, as far as Kanninzaka, included a full 12 temples.

The route sometimes followed the narrow mountain road, and sometimes a trail through the forest including some decent bamboo groves.

Around Hagio, none of the three temples were large. There was temple 49, Raionji, temple 76, Hagio Yakushido, and temple 47, Hagio Amidado.

There were, however, just like the other small temples so far, a lot of statues, especially of Fudo Myo.

Raionji was the largest, and this is the main statue, a Shaka Nyorai, the "historical Buddha".

Raionji also has this nice thousand-armed Kannon,....

... and several nice Fudo....

The Yakushi-do obviously enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha...

And the Amida-do's main statue is an Amida....

The Sasaguri pilgrimage is an excellent opportunity to both get a taster of what walking a pilgrimage is like, and also an excellent series of mountain walks close to the big city of Fukuoka.

Ema Votive Plaques

Kannonzaka Kannondo Temple 66 on the Sasaguri Pilgrimge

Kannonzaka Kannondo Temple

After leaving Myo-on-ji Temple and it's amazing collection of statues, we headed on along the Sasaguri pilgrimage and arrived at temple 66, literally a short walk uphill.

This unusual, modern, hexagonal building was on the hill just above Kannoinzaka Kannondo temple, but I don't think it is connected to it.

There were gret views looking down on Sasaguri and to the outskirts of Fukuoka beyond.

The temple is , like the vast majority of temples on this pilgrimage, small and unmanned, with just a small "mainhall" and a Daishido.

The honzon is a Kannon, and there are also other Kannon statues around as well as numerous versions of Fudo Myo.

From here the route mostly follows a trail through the forest, and the distance to the next temple is the longest so far on this first day of walking. It is also quite high up in the mountains.

Goods from Japan delivered to your home or business

Yet More Deities at Myo-on-ji Temple

 

This is the 4th and final post on Myo-on-ji temple. It is not a famous temple, nor particularly ancient or large. However, it does have a large number of statues in numerous small shrines, due to the fact that it is a pilgrimage temple on the Sasaguri 88 temple pilgrimage in Fukuoka.

Myo-on-ji was the 11th temple we had visited since starting to walk the pilgrimage. It had raken just under 2 hours since starting at Sasaguri Station, and by now I had come to realize that there were going to be a lot of very diverse statuary tp be seen over the next 4 days.

I started out by posting some photos of Fudo Myo, one of my favorite deities, and a figure that is very common on this pilgrimage. So much so that my second post was a much larger selection of Fudo statues at Myo-on-ji, with one of my wordiest posts where I try to explain the complexity and diversity of Japanese deity identities. The third post was on a variety of statues of Kannon, another very popular deity, technically a bodhisattva.

This time I show another group of statues, mostly multi-armed, multi-headed, fierce deities that originated in India. The top photo is Aizen Myo, among other things associated with sex and love. The next three might be various Myo..... or not..... If I was to dig into it I might be able to say with some certainty the names and classifications of these deities, but I don't have the time. Probably some readers would know.

Statues of snakes, often with offerings of coins, are commonly associated with Benzaiten, the complex Buddhist-Shinto deity that among other things is often associated with water and many times is conflated with Suijin, the water god. I have also seen these snake statues at altars to Kojin the land god in Izumo.

Thgis final photo is another deity I cannot immediately identify. though for some reason I seem to think it might actually be a Bato kannon......

From Myo-on-ji the pilgrimage route heads up into the mountains and the temples ar further apart, but some are much bigger than any yet visited...