Unjuji Temple 27 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Unjuji is a very large Rinzai Zen temple dating to 1322.

The plaque bearing the name on the large, 2-storey main gate is said to be written by Emperor Go-Daigo.

After passing through the first gate, the Important Cultural Property Four Legged Gate, a long lantern-lined path then turns 90 degrees, and then the Main Gate, Buddha Hall, and Abbots Quarters all align in what is known as Zen style. This is common in Kyoto, but quite rare for a rural temple.

The two-storey main gate is quite impressive. On the second floor are rakan statues. The gate was built in the Edo Period but is in Kakamura Period style.

So many of the statues and buildings are covered in ofuda left by pilgrims

Further in are more statues covered in moss and ofuda, including a Sake Abstaining Jizo.

On the left is the Hojo Pond with its Yakushi-do

The lilies in the pond bloom from early to mid summer.

On the right is the small Kannon Hall.

It houses a Kannon noted for fertility and child rearing alongside a Jizo and a Manjushri. This is the hall that all the pilgrimas primarily come for.

By the side of the Kannon Hall is a curious statue I dont remember seeing anywhere else. It appears to be a Kannon holding a child that is sitting on the shoulders of another Buddha....

Next, one comes to the main hall.

Unusually, it has a stone floor and can be entered without removing shoes.

The honzon is a Nenge Misho Shakyamuni. This translates as "smiling and twirling a flower Buddha, and is a Zen thing referring to the wordless transmission of the dharma....

There is a delightful ceiling dragon painting.

The Imperial Messenger Gate leads into the huge Abbots quarters and the Founders Hall with a big garden behind.

Since this visit, a new Head Priest has taken over, and he has now created a raked gravel garden in the area seen below.

The previous post was on the walk across the Nogi Plain to get here.

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Ruriji Temple & the Cheerful Hunter

 

This section of the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage is very exciting for me as it is through country that I have never been before, even though it is not too far from my home.

Ruriji is  temple 14 on the pilgrimage, and I reached it at the end of my 8th day.

It is a Soto sect Zen temple with a Shaka Nyorai as its honzon.

With a bell tower gate, small treasure hall, and plentiful fresh offerings at the Mizuko Jizo, it is obviously an active temple, but I can find absolutely nothing about its history.

The sun was getting low, but my accommodations for the night were just a short walk away.

In the middle of nowhere is a noodle restaurant. The name has changed since I was there. It is now called Countryside Cafe Cheerful Hunter.

At the time, my wife was working for an NPO related to rural revitalization, and so had networked with other similar NPO's in the region, and so had been here.

Takahashi Imada and his wife are  the proprietors. He is a hunter and so wild boar features heavily on the menu, along with other wild, mountain delicacies.

He gave me a plate of wild boar meat, a cup of amazake made by his wife, and a bed in an empty house on the property for the grand price of 2,000 yen. Their noodle restaurant is usually full, and he also offers hunting trips and minpaku-style accommodations nowadays, and yes! he was cheerful.

The previous post was on the afternoon leg of my walk.

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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.

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Ryufukuji Temple in Autumn

 

Ryufukuji is a Zen temple in Yamaguchi City. Originally it was Rinzai sect but was later converted to Soto sect.

It is one of the best places in the city to view autumn colours as the approach to the temple gate is lined with maple trees.

Once you pass through the gate all turns yellow from a huge Gingko tree...

Like so many temples, it has been rebuilt many times and moved to different locations.

Its current location is within the grounds of what used to be the Ouchi Clan mansion.

The Ouchi were an ancient clan, claiming descent from Korean immigrants. They are also believed to have introduced the cult of Myoken into Japan.

During the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), when Kyoto was devastated by war, the Ouchi established Yamaguchi as an alternative to Kyoto with many aspects of elite culture.

They were eventually defeated by the Mori Clan who went on to rule most of the Chugoku region.

The main hall with its cypress bark roof dates to 1479 and is an Important Cultural Property.

A small building in the grounds is a museum with artitacts relating to the Ouchi Clan.

The original temple, before renaming and relocating several times, dates to the first decade of the 13th century.

The honzon is a Shaka Nyorai, the Japanese name for Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha.

The previous post in this series on my walk on day 23 of the Chugoku Pilgrimage was also another autumn colours extravaganza, the Sesshu garden at Jyoei-ji Temple.

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