Takuhi Shrine in the Oki Islands

 

Takuhi Shrine is possibly the most famous of all the shrines on the Oki Islands, considering that during the Edo Period both Hakusai and Hiroshige, two of the most pre-eminent artist of the times, did prints of the shrine and its founding legend.

Situated high on 452 meter high Mount Takuhi which is the central peak of the submerged caldera that has formed the Dozen group of islands, the shrine has expansive views over the surrounding seas and islands.

Getting there involves a hike up a mountain trail which passes several smaller shrines on the way.

Known as the "Burning Lights" shrine, the legend is that three fireballs arose from the sea and flew into the cave where the shrine now stands.

Another story has it that when Emperor Gotoba was on his way here to exile his ship was lost and a light from the shrine saved him.

The origin stories most likely relate to the practice of signal fires and temple and shrine  lanterns being used by sailors to navigate at night. Takuhi Shrine became well known as a shrine offering protection on sea journeys.

The honden of the shrine is built into a small cave and is said to be the oldest building on the Oki Islnds.

It was built in 1732, prefabricated in Osaka and then shipped here and carried up the mountain to be reassembled.

It, along with the main hall are registered Important Cultural Properties.

The ornate carvings only appear on the front and one side of the structure, with the two unseen sides remaining plain.

By the 14th century it had become a Shugendo site and Unjoji Temple was set up with a Jizo as honzon.

The combined site became known as Takuhi Gongen until the early Meiji Period when most traces of Buddhism were removed.

The kami enshrined here is now listed as Ohirumenomuch, more commonly known as Amaterasu the Sun Goddess. Originally the mountain itself was considered the kami. For most of its history the primary deity was a Jizo.

There are numerous smaller shrines dotted around mountainside.

On one visit I was accompanied by the head priest whose family were originally Buddhist priests serving the complex.

The former priests house not far from the shrine is now used as the shrine office. It is a fine example of a traditional large house .

While chatting with the priest he showed me this painting of a Tengu. According to our chat he said that the highest shrine on the mountain was a Sanjin Shrine dedicated to Tengu. However, upon some research it turns out that the sanjin concept was created by Hirata Atsutane in the 19th century.... He also showed me a print of Izuna Daigongen which at the time I described as Tengu Dakiniten Fudo Myoo.

The previous post in this series on the Oki Islands was on the kagura performed in the area.

Goryu Sonryuin Temple

 

Heading south towards Rendaiji Temple and Yuga Shrine I was surprised by this big torii and major approach to what was called Kumano Shrine, however the right hand side of the approach was filled with a variety of temple buildings that stretched about 400 meters.

There was an area with many Mizuko Jizo, very much a postwar thing, but apparently there were originally five temples here.

It was very much a shugendo site that included the Kumano Shrine and of the five, Sonyuin seems to have been the main temple.

According to the story, when En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo, was exiled to Izu by the government, 5 of his disciples wandered around various areas carrying the divided spirits of the Kumano Sanzan shrines and in 701 after divine revelations set up the shrine here.

Each of the five founded a temple but Sonryuin became the main temple. Later in the 8th century the emperor gave all the land in the surrounding district to the shrine complex and around this time Yuga Shrine and Rendaiji Temple to the south were established so the area became a "new" Kumano Sanzan.

Fortunes deteriorated after the Heian Period but one of the sons of Emperor Gotoba, who had been exiled to the Oki Islands, was exiled here and revived the temples until they again fell into disrepair in the 14th century, all except Sonryuin.

In the 15th century during the Onin War the whole shrine temple complex was almost completely destroyed but revived during the Edo Period.

The three-storey pagoda was built in 1820 and now is within the grounds of the Kumano Shrine.

In 1868 when the Buddhas and Kami were separated the shrine and temple separated, and a few years later when Shugendo was outlawed the temple joined the Tendai sect. In 1945 it once again reverted to Shugendo, with a connection to Tendai Shugendo.

The previous post was on the Susanoo Shrine  few kilometers north.

Washio Atago Shrine

 

Washio Atago Shrine sits atop a 68 meter  tall hill overlooking Fukuoka City.

It is considered one of the top 3 of the 900 Atago shrines in Japan, with the other two being the head shrine overlooking Kyoto and the one in Tokyo

Originally called Mount Washio, according to legend a shrine, Washio Shrine, was established here in 72 AD enshrining Izanagi and Amenoshihomimi, the oldest of Amaterasu's five sons. These are the two main kami of Hikosan, the major Shugendo site in northern Kyushu, and one theory is that the kami were moved to Hikosan from here.

Since the 10th century the shrine was under the jurisdiction of a shugendo Tendai temple, Torin-ji, and in fact for a while after a period of warfare only the temple building remained.

In 1634 the new daimyo of the domain established Atago Daigongen at the site and a Shingon temple. He had successfully prayed at the shugendo site atop Mount Atago in Kyoto and brought the kami Izanami and Homusubi from there.

In 1901 the Washio Shrine and Atago Shrine were merged and the temples removed. The Buddhist statue shintai, a Shogun Jizo, was moved to what is now Kannonji Temple a little lower down the hillside.

Within the grounds is an Uga Shrine enshrining Susano, Yamato Takeru, and Ugatama, and as well as the Kannonji Temple there is also a Jizoson shrine.

There is an Inari shrine and I will cover that in the next post.

It is a very popular shrine especially during cherry blossom season when I visited as it has 2,000 cherry trees.

It also has great views over Fukuoka City.

The previous post was on the Kannonji Temple just below.

Kurokamizan Saikomitsu Temple 69 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Mount Kurokami is a more than 450-meter high mountain between Takeo and Arita in Saga that has been a site of mountain worship since ancient times.

Just below the peak is Saikomitsu Temple, and from it steps lead up to Kurokami Shrine connected to the defeat of a giant serpent.

The temple is very small now and normally unmanned but the day I visited was the day before a ceremony was to be held and so a cleaner was busy preparing.

Before Kobo Daishi left from nearby Hirado on his journey to China he climbed the mountain and prayed for a safe journey. On his return in 806 he came back to the mountain and carved a small Fudo Myo statue and established the temple.

The temple became very important and in its heyday had 80 temples under its control and was a major Shugendo site.

However, in 1878 a major fire burned down almost all the structures and it was decided to move the temple to Sasebo.

The Kobo Daishi Fudo statue, said to be carved using his fingernails, is now the honzon of .Daishi-in Temple in Sasebo. which I had visited a few days earlier.

The honzon of the current Saikomitsu temple is a Yakushi, an Amida, and a Kannon, all hidden.

There are numerous statues around the small building including several Fudo's. They all had plenty of fresh-cut flowers obviously getting ready for the next day.

However, the best was yet to come as a little further down the mountain was another small statue and an enormous Fudo Myo carved into the cliff face......

The previous post in this series on my first Kyushu pilgrimage was a .Brief Guide to Arita.