Shodoshima Temple 55 & 56, and Into Tonosho

 

After leaving the giant Juniper tree at Hoshoinji, I pass a small Inari shrine on the way to the next little temple. Number 55, Kannon-do.

The way is slightly on the hillside so views of Tonosho and the sea and islands beyond are plentiful.

Kannon-do was a small building and enshrined Bato Kannon, the Horse-head Kannon. It is the only pilgrimage temple to do so.

In earlier times, people would come here to pray for their livestock.

Temple 56 is close by, and slightly higher on the hillside, so the views become wider..

Temple 56, Gyoja-do, has En no Gyoja as its honzon, the only pilgrimage temple here to do so.

It seems that for most pilgrims this is the final temple, the finishing point. Most people arrive in Tonosho, by far the biggest town on the island, and then head clockwise around the island.

I chose to start in the SE of the island and so pretty much followed the traditional numbering system.

Other than a busride from the port on my first day, this was the first time I was seeing Tonosho.

The legendary origin of the Gyojado lies in the huge boulder behind the temple.

According to the legend Kobo Daishi was walking here with a group of pilgrimas and a huge boulder came rolling down the hillside. Everyone panicked but Kobo Daishikept walking and praying and the rock came to an abrupt stop. The pilgrims decided to establish the Gyojado here.

Coming down into Tomosho the vermillion pagoda of Saiko-ji is clearly visible.

The final photo of the post is looking back beyond the last two temples to Tamamitsu Shrine.

The previous post was on the three temples clustered around the ancient Juniper tree.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts

One Thousand Two Hundred Rakan

 

Rakan, or Arhats, usually come in groups of 500.

Said to be the disciples of the Buddha, many temples will have a full 500 statues, but many more will have a much smaller number.

Otagi Nembutsuji, a temple outside the main part of Arashiyama near Kyoto has an amzing 1200 of them.

Even more amazing is that they were only started to be made in 1981, part of something called the Showa Rakan Carving Project.

The head priest was a sculptor, and he encouraged visitors to the temple to carve small, simple, rakan statues.

He encouraged people to freely express themselves in the carving, and so the vast majority of the carvings are quite different from each other.

What is also surprising is how quickly moss and lichen begin to grow on the statues, thanks to Japans wet climate.

Previously I posted on the temple, its history, and the other deities and statues to be seen.

Next I will post some close-up portraits of some of the most distinctive rakan.

If you are using a computer to view this you can simply click on the "rakan" tag at the bottom of the post.

If you are using a phone, tough, because many features like that are not available....

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.

Ryuukoji Temple & Many Fudo Myoo's

 

In Shimizu, there is just one small temple, though it is intriguing for me because of the multiple Fudo Myoo statuettes in the grounds.

I recently learned that it is a temple of a relatively new sect called Nakayama Shingo Shoshu, founded in the early 20th century and with the head temple in NE Saga close to the Fukuoka border.

I believe this is a statue of the founder of the sect, Kakue Shonin, and the story of this temple in Shimizu is that a local man, in 1947, had a series of dreams about Kakue Shonin and so established the temple.

I can't say I understand much about the sect, except that Fudo Myoo is the main object of worship, that asceticism is encouraged, and that so is charity and social engagement, all plusses in my book.

The last photo of the post is a signboard showing a trail up the mountain with numerous small halls and with a Fudo carved into a rock face and a waterfall at the top.

I have yet to find the trail and walk it, but plan to this autumn.

It reminds me of another small temple in my area of a modern sect that also practises asceticism with a small waterfall, Zenkakuji.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Iwami Ginzan Kaido while on day 38 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the little settlement of Shimizu where this temple is located.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts