Awa Puppet Museum

 

After visiting Myoo-in Temple on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I went into Tokushima to check in to my room. With some of the afternoon remaining, I headed to the riverside Awagin Hall

It is primarily an auditorium and concert venue, but on the second floor is a wonderful free museum on Bunraku puppet theatre.

Puppet theatre was very widespread in some parts of Japan, whereas in other areas  Kabuki dominated.

Bunraku originated in Osaka, but Awaji Island also developed its own major tradition.

Tokushima, formerly Awa, was close enough to Awaji Island that its tradition spread to here.

On the outskirts of Tokushima City is a Bunraku theatre that still puts on performances, but it is a little out of the way so not so well visited.

The exhibition in Awagin Hall consists of several parts. Above, and in the 4th photo,  you can see a  recreation of the backstage area of a rural puppet theatre.

Other exhibits focus on the puppets, which tended to be larger than the puppets of the Osaka tradition.

There are many examples of the puppet heads, some said to have been made by Umanose Komazura, the originator of the Awa puppet tradition.

The greatest author of puppet plays is without a doubt Chikamatsu Monzaemon, odten described as Japans' Shakespeare.

One of the greatest Japanese movies of all time, in my opinion, Chikamatsu Monogatari by Kenji Mizoguchi, was based on one of his stories, and Chushingura, the story of the 47 Ronin, was also based on his original.

The previous post in this series was on Myoo-in Temple.

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Myoo-in Temple 9 Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgimage

 

Fudo has 36 young boy attendants, and is often depicted paired with two named Kongara and Seitaka.

At the 36 temples of the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, each temple has one of the 36 usually, like here, as a small statue.

Myoo-in is located a few kilometers up the Kawata River from the Yoshino River, a little over halfway from Miyoshi to Tokushima City.

I can not find a lot of history or background information. 

The main hall is fairly new, replacing one from the last years of the Edo Period.

There is this group of new Six Jizo, and somewhere here is enshrined an older said to be carved by Kobo Daishi himself.

In the Daishi-do there was a small Aizen-Myoo in front of the Daishi statue.

Up the steps was this unusually two-storeyed structure.

It may be a kind of pagoda.

Built in 1574, some sources say it enshrined a Fudo Myoo and a Bishamonten.

Through a narrow slit I am guessing this is a Bishamonten

For me, the most interesting was in the Enma-do...

Great King Enma is the head of the 13 judges of hell who decide where you go after death, specifically which of the numerous "hells

Statues of the other 12 judges flank him here.

In Chinese Buddhism there are only a total of ten judges.

Enma derives from the Hindu deity Yama.

In Japan he is depicted in the dress of a Tang China government official.

I was here on Christmas Eve 2016, day 6 of my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on the nearby Kawada Hachiman Shrine.

Kawada Hachiman Shrine

 

Kawada Hachiman is the biggest shrine in the Yamakawa district of western Tokushima, but is deserted most of the year outside of the annual festival which draws visitors from across the prefecture.

There is no date for when it was originally founded, but it was rebuilt in 1189. It is said to have been a guardian shrine for the Inbe Clan.

The Inbe, or Imbe, were a powerful clan at court but lost power to the Nakatomi/Fujiwara. They sent a branch of the clan to what is now Tokushima to grow hemp for imperial shinto rituals. Another branch of the clan controlled the production of magatama in what is now the Tamatsukuri area near Matsue.

It is believed that at first the three "Munakata Princesses" were enshrined here, Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime, and Tagorihime. Later Hachiman was added.

Within the grounds is an Atago Shrine, a Kasuga Shrine, and a Shinmei Shrine.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on temple 8, Chozenji, further upstream.

Chozenji Temple 8 Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

Chozenji Temple is number 8 on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

It is located a few kilometers downstream from temple 7, Fukushoji. Each of the 36 temples on the Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage has one of the 36 doji, child-attendants of Fudo. At the foot of the stairs above is Shitara Doji.

Like Fukushoji, Chozenji seems like a pretty unremarkable rural temple.

However, it claims to have been founded by Kobo Daishi himself and if I am reading the history correctly, was a fairly major temple.

The Fudo enshrined here is said to be a Fudo who shows miraculous powers for warding off swellings and rashes and has become known as a Fudo to ward off cancer.

From the main hall further steps lead further up the mountainside through a "tunnel" of red torii.

This leads to Mogami Inari Shrine, a branch of Saijo Inari, a Buddhist temple in Okayama.

I can find no information on when the shrine was established or anything about it.

The main building seems to be fairly recent and has some nice ceiling paintings.

It has a pair of Tengu masks hanging on tye front of the building and a pair of what looks like Nio masks but could be other characters...

The steps continue on up to the temple Okunoin, a man made cave with a large painting of Fudo and water streaming from a hole in the ceiling.

The stairs leading up are lined with Fudo statues on the right side and another figure on te left. This may be Kukuzo, the honzon of the temple.

The temple burned down in 1586 and was rebuilt in 1588. In 1598 it was name Ekiji.

It is said to have consisted of seven structures, including a pagoda. It burned down again in 1864 and was rebuilt in 1890.

As part of the Spring Fudo Myoo Festival, firewalking by Yamabushi takes place in front of the Okunoin.

A couple of paintings from the temple are National Important Cultural Properties and are held by museums in Kyoto and Nara.

The previous post in the series was on the previous temple, Fukushoji, number 7.