Bukkokusan Temple 41 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

Bukkokusan Temple

Bukkokusan, temple number 41 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, is actually the okunoin of temple 40, Hoanji, and if you are walking then a footpath leads up the mountain from there.

The foot path reaches a small mountain road that leads to the entrance to the temple.

A pair of newish stone Nio guardians flank the road, and either side is lined with stone lanterns. Just before reaching the simple gate a bronze statue of Kobo Daishi, the focus of the 88 temple pilgrimage, looks down on approaching pilgrims. The temple itself is quite small, with just a stylized temple entrance facade to the cave front. A few statues are out in front of the temple which has great views to the south and east.  

One statue stands out as it is not any of the usual Buddhas, but rather a pair of Oni, demons or ogres, the male painted red and the female painted blue. There are two stories relating to the origin of the statue.

  

The first is that in ancient times a demon inhabited this mountain and continuously attacked local people who ventured into the mountains. This is a very common story found all over Japan. The demon was eventually pacified and stopped attacking people when he became a disciple of Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha. Buddhism pacifying demons is also a very common story.

The second legend is set much later in the time that intermarriage between classes was forbidden. This is also a very common story all over, and more often than not ends up with a love suicide. In this local story a pair of young lovers from across the class divide chose to run away together and finding themselves at the cave as night was falling chose to spend the night in the cave whereupon they consummated their relationship. Unable to return home the story is vague about what happened to them although the two stories became linked together and the demon became a kind of protective deity of the mountain and the cave became known as a place to pray for a successful marriage, children, and easy birth.

The interior of the cave is quite magical with many candles, some in niches carved in the rock walls, providing the only illumination.

  

There is a very unusual painted statue of the aforementioned Yakushi Nyorai with distinctly female facial features. This is the honzon, the main deity, of the temple.

  

There are another couple of statues and in the deepest recess of the cave a small stone Fudo Myo in front of which Goma fire rituals are held.

  

Numerous bunches of Senbazuru, the folded paper cranes in multicolors, many of which have become blackened by years of soot.

The cave is about 400 meters above sea level.

It is said Kobo Daishi himself performed rituals inside the cave.

The water that seeps out through the cave walls is collected into small plastic bottles and taken away as healing water.

The views from the temple are amazing.

By road it is a couple of kilometers to the next temple,but just 400 meters on the footpath.

The previous post in this series was temple 40, Hoanji.

Goods From Japan

Hoanji Temple 40 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Day 4 of my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage started at temple 40, Hoanji.

It is located in Kamo village, about halfway between Ikeda and Tonosho on the coast in the southwest of the island.

It is situated at the top of a valley overlooking the village .

Photos 3, 4, and 5 are from the small "chapel" at the bottom of the stairs.

It is said that the temple was founded originally in the early 9th century, and then re-founded in the 14th century.

The honzon is an Eleven-Faced Kannon, said to be carved by Gyoki, but there is no information on its provenance.

While many of the temples on this pilgrimage are unmanned, this one is not, and the priests wife was helpful in showing me the foot path that heads up the mountain to the next two temples, both cave temples, one of which is the okunoin of this temple.

The temple is home to an unusual healing ceremony, said to have been brought by Kobo Daishi himself, in which amulets are inserted into cucumbers and then buried in the temple grounds. As the cucumbers decompose, ailments heal. Petitioners from all over Japan take part.

Statues of the Reclining Buddha are not unknown in Japan but are not so common.

The previous post was on the last two temples of day 3, number 36 and 37.

Kameyama Hachimangu Shrine Ikeda

 

Kameyama Hachimangu shrine in Ikeda Port on Shodoshima is the town's main shrine and one of the major shrines on the island.

I can find no date for its founding, but neighbouring Choshoji Temple now houses three statues that were the shintai for Kameyama Hachimangu until 1868.

These statues depicting Hachiman in Buddhist form are dated to the late Heian Period, which suggests that the shrine is at least that old and  it is also registered in the Engi Shiki of the early 10th century

Down below I earlier visited the Ikeda Saijiki, a kind of seated area area where the shrines annual festival takes place.

Taking place in mid October, the festival features a parade and the main attraction of giant drum floats from each of the villages that make up the town.

However, it used to be a much bigger affair. A painting dated to 1812 showed boat races, kagura or kabuki performances, and horseback archery as well as the drum floats.

Being a Hachiman shrine, the main deity is Homuda Wake, otherwise known as Emperor Ojin, his mother, Okinagahime, otherwise known as Jingu, and Nakatsuhime, his wife/consort.

There didn't seem to be many secondary shrines in the grounds, though there is a small Gokoku Shrine. The priest was very kind and helpful. He brought me some tourist literature in English and offered to give me a ride back to my room, but on this third day of walking the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, I still had a few more temples to visit.

The previous post was on Choshoji Temple next door.

Ikeda Saijiki

 

Coming into the outskirts of Ikeda on day three of my walk around Shodoshima I saw a curious stone structure up ahead.

At first I thought it might be some kind of fortification, and then as I got closer maybe some terracing for rice paddies

Turns out it is a kind of terrace of seating to view the local festival parade and is called a saijiki.

80 meters long, and 18 meters high with 5 or 6 levels. A painting dated 1812 shows it so it was built at some point earlier than that. It is still used every year for the townsfolk to watch the mikoshi parade and collection of floats and drum floats at the annual Kameyama Hachiman Shrine Festival.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was Aizenji Temple.

Down the Mito Peninsula

 

The Mito Peninsula extends out to the south of Shodoshima Island towards Shikoku.

In fact, the southern tip of the peninsula is, I believe, the closest point to Shikoku.

On Boxing Day (December 26th) 2015 I walked most of the way down the East coast of the peninsula.

Earlier that morning I had visited 6 temples of the Shodoshima Pilgrimage that all lay close to each other. Now I had a 2-hour walk to the next one.

Shikoku was clearly visible and one of the many car ferries passed by

Perhaps the strangest sight was a line of about 20 TV antennas along the side of the road. I suspect it was the only way to get a signal in the fishing village down below.

Across the Uchinomi Bay I can see the smaller peninsula I walked along 2 days ago on my first day when I visited the famous "24 Eyes" movie location and the theme park where a later remake was made.

The weather was glorious......

The previous post was on the cluster of temples I visited earlier.