Renge-ji Temple 44 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

At around 250 meters above sea level on Mount Yufune, temple 44, Renge-ji, looks down on the Nakayama Rice Terraces.....

Set in a forest of huge trees and with a sacred spring that feeds the terraces, Renge-ji is quite a small temple.

The temple bell, donated in 1669, is said to be the second oldest on the island.

It is said the temple was founded in the 14th century.

The honzon is a Thousand-armed Kannon.

The tem@le was abandoned in the Meiji Period but revived later.

The small mixed forest around the temple has some huge trees and is a Prefectural Natural Monument.

The spring is one of Japan's Top 100 waters.

The shrine below is a Kumano Gongen Shrine, said to be the only shrine on the island to Kumano Gongen.

The previous post in this series on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was on the Nakayama Rice Terraces.

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Nakayama Terraced Rice Paddies Shodoshima

 

Deep in the interior of Shodoshima Island is an area of terraced rice paddies.

There are said to be about 800 terraces.

They were constructed by clearing the forest and using stone retaining walls.

It was done during the 14th century,

It is in the top 100 rice terraces in Japan.

The paddies are fed by spring water originating in the grounds of the next temple I will visit on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, temple 44, Yufuneyama Renge Temple.

The spring is listed in the Top 100 waters of Japan,

The Japanese do seem to have a fascination with rice paddy terraces and do offer tours to them, but for the rest of us they can be seen while walking the pilgimage. If you visit in May and June when they are recently flooded and planted then they are a bit more impressive. I was here mid winter so not so attractive.

The previous post in this series was on the nearby temples 43 & 45.

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Jodoji & Jizoji Temples 43 & 45 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Temples 43 and 45 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage occupy the same site.

Jizoji, number 45, was a small temple not far away that because of a decreasing amount of parishioners decided to merge with Jodoji, and is now the Jizo Hall at that temple.

Jodoji has a delightful thatched Shoin that dates from the early Edo Period that was restored in the 1970's

Th3 main hall of Jodo-ji is made of concrete but is surprisingly elegant, with the concrete surfaces left untreated 

The honzon of Jodoji is an Amida Buddha.

The honzon of Jizo-ji is, not surprisingly, a Jizo. It is noted for being a Jizo for protection against fire.

I was unable to find out the identity of the small shrine in the grounds.

As well as the thatched Shoin, the other interesting thing for me were the Onigawara ...

There were three distinct designs....

Theprevious post in this series on day 4 of my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was on temple 42, Nishinotaki

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Nishinotaki Ryusui Temple 42 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

I arrived at Nishinotaki Temple via the mountain footpath that ran from temple 41, Bukkokusan, so I didn't see the quite dramatic entry approach until I left.

Nishinotaki epitomizes all that is so great about the Shodoshima Pilgrimage:- a cave, fantastic views, and lots of Fudo Myoo....

The entrance to the small cave is beside main hall.

Inside is a sacred spring, and according to the various legends  it concerns a dragon that attacked a local village and was pacified and confined in the cave resulting in the sacred spring today.

The honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

A forest fire in 1970 destroyed all the buildings.

The Goma-do is a vermillion, concrete structure with the best views... photo 17 below

A little further up the mountain is a Fudo statues with attendants... photo 14 below.

There are several other Fudo statues including the one on the altar in the goma-do photo 11 below

For those who come by car there is a long staircase lined with lanterns

Nishinotaki is the okunoin of temple 33, Choshoji, which I visited the day before. It had a lovely karensansui grounds.

The previous post was on temple 41 Bukkokusan.