Jorinji Temple & an Explanation

 

Jorinji Temple is a very small temple just a few hundred meters from Shotokuji Temple in Sufu. Jorinji is one of the "extra" temples on the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage.

Kannon pilgrimages usually have 33 main temples and 3 or so "extra" temples. The Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage has 33 main temples, but about 17 "extra" temples. I think I have figured out why.

I have seen a map of the original Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage, and a lot of the temples, especially in the western part of the pilgrimage, simply no longer exist, and I wondered how they came up with the current pilgrimage. During the Edo Period Iwami was split into two, with the Gonokawa River being the dividing line.

East of the Gonokawa was Iwami Ginzan, with all the land controlled directly by the Shogunate. West of the river was the Hamada Domain. Because of the wealth of the silver mine, travel into the area was severely curtailed, so pilgrims could no longer do the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage. Both Hamada Domain and Iwami Ginzan set up there own 33 temple Kannon pilgrimages, so Iwami ended up with about 70 different Kannon pilgrimage temples.

After Meiji, when the domains were abolished and Shimane was created, was when many temples disappeared, so I think the reason the contemporary Iwami kannon Pilgrimage has about 50 temples is because they used a combination of the what was left of the two Edo period pilgrimages. This is why it is called the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage.

I visited on day 35 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage which was also day 16 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage. The Iwami Pilgrimage started in Oda and then went inland and followed the mountains all the way down to Tsuwano when it then heads to the coast at Masuda before heading up the coast to finish close to the starting point.

When I arrived in the Sufu area on day 35 of the Chugoku Pilgrimage, I had also gotten to about the same point walking the Iwami Pilgrimage. As the Chugoku Pilgrimage only has one temple in Iwami, rather than hurry on through, I decided to make small detours so I could finish off the Iwami pilgrimage at the same time.

So for the next 3 or so days of the Chugoku Pilgrimage I will be visiting many of the Iwami Pilgrimage temples.

Clear as mud, right?

The previous post was on nearby Shotokuji Temple.

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Shotokuji Temple 22 Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Shotokuji Temple in Sufu, lies at the foot of a hill that was covered by a largish castle and was the family temple of the lords of the castle and area, the Suo Clan The castle is ometimes called Sufu Castle, and sometimes Tobisu Castle

Some sources claim the temple was founded by Shotoku Taishi himself, or that the temple has a statue carved by him. More likely is that it was established around the same time as the castle in 1228.

The castle was one of 18 castles in Iwami to protect against Mongol invasion.  For 300 years the Suo clan ruled the area. When first built, the sea was much closer to the temple and castle, but over time the land was reclaimed and a small castle town existed. The sea is now 1km away.

In the late 16th century the castle fell to the Mori and the Suo became vassals of the Mori. After Sekigahara the Suo followed the Mori to Nagato and the castle was destroyed.

In 1866 the temple was used as a headquarters by a force of  Kishu Domain samurai and was attacked by Choshu forces in the Second Choshu Expedition. The temples pillars still have bullet holes from that engagement.

It is a Soto Zen temple with a Shaka Nyorai, the historical Buddha, as honzon.

The bell tower gate is quite impressive as are the pair of Nio guardians...

I visited at the start of day 35 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, which coincided with day 16 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage. Will explain in the next post.

The previous post was on the afternoon walk on the day before...

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Tanoura Higyokudo Temple 30 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Higyokudo in the Tanoura area of the Sasaguri Pilgrimage is yet another of the tiny, unmanned "temples", but a little different...

Until 1996 there was a pilgrims lodgings here and so there are the remains of a small garden...

As usual, and to my continued delight, there were numerous Fudo's....

The honzon is an Amida, though because there was dispute on Shikoku with two different temples claiming to be the 30th for a while, the temple here has enshrined  Amidas from both of the Shikoku temples...

Also I've noticed that many of these smaller, unmanned sites have an older, smaller stone honzon on the altar next to a newer, gold-plated one.

Many of these small temples did not exist before the establishment of the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, so most of the new temples were simples a small stone honzon in a tiny structure.

Over the years the local people enlarged the little temples building bigger structures, erecting new, more expensive honzons, and adding more and more statues....

This pilgrimage, like the one on Shodoshima, shows a remarkable religious system not maintained by any powerful organizations, but simple by local communities....

The previous post was on the glorious forests of giant bamboo the pligrim trail passed through earlier this day.

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Reikoji Temple Misumi

 

Coming into Misumi after passing the huge power station at Okami, I stopped in at Reikoji Temple.

It is quite a bit more substantial than many local village temples, with some nice greenery, and it is now a Jodo Shinshu sect temple with a statue of Shinran, the founder of the sect.

I suspect it may have been a different sect in the past. It is one of the Hamada Domain Kannon pilgrimage temples, and Jodo Shinshu usually have Amida as honzon, so may have inherited the Kannon when it changed sects.

The carvings of the komainu on the gate were quite special, as was the small hillside landscaping. I can find no other information, unfortunately.

The previous post in this series was on Tsuchida Hachimangu Shrine...

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Torin-an & Yuku-an Temples 49 & 50 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

December 28th, 2015, and I begin day 5 of my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage with a couple of small hermitages close to each other.

Both are located to the NE of Tonosho, the biggest town and main port of the island. Most pilgrims start in Tonosho and go around the island clockwise. I, however, started in the SE of the island and roughly started at temple 1 and went clockwise, so I am approaching Tonosho for the first time.

I ended up taking 8 days to do the pilgrimage, and as this is thye start of day 5 I have technically passed the halfway point.

Number 49, Torin-an, was in the past a fully-fledged temple called Manganji, but now is downgraded to a hermitage. It's primary statue is a wooden Jizo. As with all these tiny, community supported establishments, there was a well kept undercover seating area for pilgrims.

Very close by in number 50, Yuku-an, with a large lotus pond in front, though at this time of the year no sign of the lotus plants.

Yuku-an is a little more substantial than Torin-an. Its main statues is a Yakushi Nyorai, though it has several other statues inside and a large stone Jizo outside...

The Jizo is probably a Kosodate Jizo.

Flanking the Nyorai, which is a "hidden Buddha", is a statue of En no Gyoja, photo 11, the legendary founder of Shugendo.

With so many mountain cave temples on the pilgrimage, this points to its origins with shugenja and yamabushi.

The final photo shows the remains of last year's lotus plants....

The previous post in this series was on the final two temples of yesterday, Tamonji and Enmanji

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Sanmei-in Temple 8 Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

The 2nd of March, 2018, and I begin day 6 of my walk around Kyushu on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage in the rural suburbs of Nakatsu. The first 5 days were spent in the Kunisaki Peninsula.

Sanmei-in is temple number 8 on the pilgrimage, and the Fudo is enshrined within the Goma Hall. I had visited this temple some years ago as it is also temple 20 on the Kyushu 108 Pilgrimage. That post can be viewed here.

It is a pretty new temple, founded after the experience of the priest performing austerities for 50 days on a sacred mountain.

each time I have visited the main hall, the elevated hexagonal building was closed.

It houses an eleven-faced, thousand-armed Kannon.

The Fudo in the Goma Hall is a "stand-in" as the original statue split in half during a ritual for the healing of the priest's father.

It is a Shingon temple and has a miniature Shikoku Pilgrimage in the grounds.

The previous post was on Miyahata Shrine, my last stop on day 5.

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