Ichibata Yakushi Temple 26 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

I head inland from the coast of the Shimane Peninsula and reach Ichibata Yakushi Temple, number 26 on the pilgrimage.

From the car park and main entrance a road is lined with 108 stone lanterns.

At this level are several large halls, including the Hodo and the Honboshoin.

The temple was founded in 894 and the honzon is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, known as the Medicine Buddha.

A fisherman "caught" the statue in the sea while fishing and took it home with him. After praying to it his mothers eyesight improved and he became a monk.

Several weathered Fudo Myoo stand at the start of a short flight of steps that leads up to the Niomon.

The temple is renowned for the healing of eye problems and is in a sense the Lourdes of Japan for eye ailments.

The temple was originally a Tendai sect temple, but in 1327 converted to Rinzai Zen and changed names to Setokuji.

Unusually, the Nio have lines of small statues of Enma and the other "judges of hell".

In 1653 it was renamed Ichibata-ji.

In 1790 it switched schools within Rinzai to the Myoshinji School.

In 1953, it became the head of its own school and now has 50 branch temples across Japan.

There is a nice set of full-size Rakan statues in front of the main hall, and other sights of interest..

Most of the architecture dates to the 19th and early 20th centuries...

There are some fantastic views looking down on Lake Shinji...

The last 2 photos are of some Fudo statues at the bottom of the stairs. There are 640 steps in all, but many are actually only a few cms high so its not a bad climb.

The railway line that stops at the bottom of the valley near Lake Shinji is called the Ichibata Railway and was built to bring pilgrims from Matsue and Izumo.

An irregular small, local bus runs up to the temple's car park.

For me, the most intriguing sight at the temple is the 84,000 Yakushi statues....... that will be the next post...

The previous post was on nearby Koizu Port and its two shrines.

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Motoyamaji Temple 70 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Temple 70, Motoyamaji, was a very pleasant surprise. Large, with lots to see, but not overcrowded...

The blue walls surrounding much of the compound was interesting and quite striking.

The 5-storey pagoda was started in the late 19th century and not finished until 1910.

The temple was founded by Kobo Daishi in 807. It is said he carved the honzon, a Bato Kannon, Horse-Head Kannon, the only Bato Kannon as honzon on the whole pilgrimage.

The Bato Kannon has two attendants, an Amida and a Yakushi.

It was a powerful temple in the middle ages with 24 branch temples and a territory of 2,000 koku.

The current main hall was built in 1300 and is very elegant. Not surprisingly, considering its age, it is a National Treasure

It survived the ravages of Chosokabe when most other temples did not. The clan that controlled the temple had a pact with Chosokabe, and that may be the reason, but there is a legend that explains the temple's survival.

Chosokabe's soldiers did attack the temple and cut down the head priest. However, when they opened the inner shrine in the main hall, the Amida statue was bleeding, so the samurai fled in fear.

The bell tower and Niomon also survived from that time.

Most of the current buildings date to the early to mid 18th century.

The Niomon is an Important Cultural Property.

These three photos show the temple's guardian shrine. Built in 1547, it has a bark-and-reed roof and is my second-favorite building after the main hall.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Kannonji, Temple 69. It occupies the same site as Temple 68, Jinneiin.

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Gakuen-ji Temple 25 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Gakuenji has always been one of my favourite temples. Located in fairly remote mountains, it takes some effort to visit.

Unfortunately, even in the twenty or so years I have known it the temple has lost several large structures. As well as being number 25 on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, it is also number 3 on the Izumo Kannon Pilgrimage. Some shots from that visit can be seen here.

The temple is very, very old, being founded in the last decade of the 6th century. A monk prayed at the waterfall here and Empress Suiko's eye problem was healed and so she ordered a temple built.

It was a major shugendo centre and later became a Tendai sect temple.

Legend has it that Benkei trained here and carried a bell here from Mount Daisen, an obvious mirror of the famous story of him taking a bell up to Mount Hiei.

The current main hall was built while the Mori controlled much of Chugoku in the late 16th century.

Between its original founding and the current site, the temple was destroyed and moved several times, including having two separate precincts.

Because of this is has two honzons, a Kannon and a Yakushi, both secret.

These are just about the only statues you can see inside the very dark interior...

About twenty years ago the treasure hall was broken into and thieves made off with numerous treasures... an indication of how remote it is.

The grounds become packed with visitors during the autumn colours season.....

Next to the main hall is the Matarajin Shrine. This used to be located at Izumo Taisha and was disassembled and carried up the mountain when Izumo Taisha removed all Buddhist elements in the 16th century. Matarajin is a fairly obscure deity, mostly seen at Tendai temples. Curiously, Matarajin is equated with Susano, and it was Gakuenji that stated that Susano was the primary deity of Izumo Taisha until the 16th century, a fact that is now recognized by historians but ignored by everyone else.

One of the few structures still left at Gakuenji is the magnificent priests quarters and library.

It has an Imperial Gate only used by imperial messengers, and in fact the current Emperor visited here when he was Crown Prince.

The previous post was on the walk over the mountain to get here.

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