Koryuji Bangai Temple 10 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Nishiyama Koryuji Temple, number 10 of the "extra" temples known as Bangai or Bekkaku, is located a short detour from the main pilgrimage route between temple 59, Kokubunji, and temple 60, Yokomineji.

After climbing a gentle slope there are great views looking down and over Saijo City.

The road then enters the forest and starts to climb more steeply and you then cross the Miyuryu Bridge.

Arriving at the Niomon gate with its fine pair of guardians.

Whereas many temples claim Kobo Daishi as their founder, many more claim to have been founded by Gyoki, around a century before Kobo Daishi's time.

Koryuji claims to predate Gyoki, which I'm sure makes it one of the oldest temples on the pilgrimage.

It is said to have been founded in 642 and was later visited by both Gyoki and Kobo Daishi.

The honzon is a Thousand-Armed Kannon

The Daishi-do is a much more modern, concrete structure.

The current main hall was built at the end of the 14th century. It is an Important Cultural Property.

Jibo Kannon-do

A trail leads up to a small shrine enshrining Ishizuchi Gongen, Ishizuchi being the highest mountain on Shikoku and home to a large and important Shugendo centre.

I visited late in winter, but the temple is famous as an Autumn Viewing spot as it has 300 maple trees in the grounds.

The three-storey Pagoda dates to 1836.

The previous temple was number 59, the Iyo Kokubunji Temple.

Tomonoura Temple Walk Part 2

 

During the Obon period of mid-August, most of the temples in Tomonoura have curtains and lanterns displaying the temple crest.

Hosenji was quite a large temple, founded in 1358 by Daikaku Daisoji, a high-ranking priest of the Nichiren sect.

He was supported by Emperor Go-Kogon.

There remains a huge stump of a pine tree that was a National Natural Monument until it died in 1991. It is said to have been planted by Daikaku himself and was therefore more than 630 years old when it died.

Hosenji was yet another Tomnoura temple that was used as lodgings for Korean envoys.

Heading south the next temple was Nanzenbo, distinguished by its impressive bell tower gate.

Nanzenbo was established in 1573 and moved to its current location in the mid Edo Period. It is a True Pure Land sect temple.

The tower gate and main hall are both Tangible Culturl Properties. It is believed the gate was built in preparation for the 12th Korean delegation.

Next was Amidaji, but its gates were closed and it wasn't wearing decorations so I didn't go in, which is a shame as it is home to the "Great Buddha of Tomo" said to be a particularly fine and large statues of Amida.

Amidaji is a Pure Land sect temple founded in 1565. Apparently the cemetery contains some gravestones that are unique to Tomonoura.

Next up was Myoenji, originally founded as a Tendai temple in the coutryside outside Tomonoura in the 13th century and later converted to True Pure Land.

In the mid 15th century it moved to its current location after being pressured by the warlord of its area to convert to the Nichiren sect. Along with neighbouring Amidaji, it has an Edo-period bell.

Narrow lanes lead further up the hillside to the biggest and highest temple of the area, Ioji.

The biggest building is not the main hall, but rather the Mikagedo, otherwise known as the Founders Hall.

It is a Shingon temple said to have been founded  by Kobo Daishi himself in 826.

The main hall, pictured below, dates to 1685, although the bell tower is about 40 years older.

The honzon is a standing Yakushi Nyorai.

Ioji Temple is a well-known spot for getting a great view looking down on Tomonoura and especially for watching sunrise.

However, a path with about 600 steps leads much further up the hillside to the Taishiden.

From here the views are much more expansive and reach to Shikoku on clear days.

For me, however, the highlight of Ioji were the Nio guardians.

Unfortunately I can find no information on them or their age, but they are obviously quite old and therefore that eerie quality that comes with deterioration..... kind of like how I'm feeling nowadays...

The previous post was Part One of my Tomonoura Temple Walk.

Tomonoura Temple Walk Part 1

 

Tomonoura is an historic port on the coast near Fukuyama. In mid August I walked around the town before visiting the Historic Preservation District.

I decided to explore the large number of temples along the hills at the back of the town.

As it was Obon, many of the temples had curtains on the gates and main halls displaying the temple crest.

The first nine photos are from Ankokuji Temple, a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1273.

Originally called Konpo-ji, in 1339 the Ashikaga Shogun designated it an Ankoku Temple, one established in every province. The Ankoku system was an attempt for the samurai class to establish a national temple system for political purposes in a similar way to the establishment of the Kokubunji temple centuries earlier.

The Shakado Hall was originally the main hall of Konpji Temple and is a fine example of the Chinese style Zen architecture of the time. It was extensively repaired in the 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries.

It is a National Important Cultural Property, a;long with the triad of statues inside.

The first photo of this post is a Jizo statue also dating back to the Kamakura Period.

Immediately adjacent to Ankokuji is Shohoji Temple, another Zen temple.

Founded in 1598, it is also a Rinzai temple, a branch of Myoshinji.

In its early days it is said to have had a delightful garden, though it no longer exists. It is also said that Korean Delegations on their way to Kyoto were lodged here.

There is a small dry garden dotted with Jizo statues.

In plan form it is a "circle, triangle, square" garden favored by some zen gardeners and based on a famous piece of calligraphy.

Some of the Jizo statues are old, but some are of the more modern "cute" style.

When I was there the lotus was blooming....

Not far away was Jitokuin, yet another Rinzai Zen temple. Founded in 1601 with a Kannon as honzon, the small hall pictured above contains a Yakushi statue "brought" from Korea. In reality probably looted during Hideyoshis invasion.

Honganji was much larger and more important in earlier times. said to have been founded in the 13th century, it is a Jushu Sect temple, one of the lesser Pure Land Sects.

A lot of the temple town area has narrow lanes with high walls and is quite evocative.

Overseeing the area is Nunakuma Shrine, the main shrine of the town. Originally two shrines, both with ancient origins, the Watatsu Shrine, said to be established by Jingu on her return from her failed invasion of Korea, and a Gion Shrine dating from at least the Nara Period.

On this visit I didn't go in, but I will post about it later. In late Meiji with the shrine consolidation program the two shrines were merged and renamed Nunakuma Shrine.

Daikanji was curious because the gate carried a different crest than the main hall. Founded in the 12th century as a Shingon Temple, it later spent a century as a Pure Land Temple before reverting to Shingon in the 16th century.

However it seems that it was established by merging 5 different temples in 1938., with one of the former temples also used to lodge senior Korean envoys.

The new main hall was built following a fire in 2014.

Myorenji was founded at the start of the 17th century.

It is a Nichiren sect temple and was supported by the local Daimyo of the time, Mizuno Katsutoshi. The main temple structures date back to the mid 18th century.

The previous post in this series on day 10 of my Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the National Treasure,  temple 8 Myoo-in.