Kannabiji Temple 11 on the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage

 

Kannabiji is one of the oldest temples in the area I live. It was founded in 746 and it is said that Kobo Daishi later visited and converted it to Shingon.

It was located halfway up a mountain and was supported by the Ogasawara Clan who operated from the nearby Maruyama Castle. In 1872 the area suffered a big earthquake known as the Hamada Earthquake and it caused the spring at the temple to dry up, so the temple was forced to relocate to its current location.

When I visited in early May the azaleas and botanzakura were in full bloom. In the grounds is a very large weeping cherry and by the gate a huge gingko. These last two may have been in the old temple that stood here before Kannabiji was moved here.

I was visiting on day 6 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage, with Kannabiji being number 11. It is also temple 22 on the recently rediscovered Iwami Ginzan Kannon pilgrimage.

The honzon is a Kokuzo Boddhisattva, not a very well-known bodhisattva, but the one that was instrumental in the training of Kobo Daishi..

The Nio are quite cool, and by the side of the main building are a set of rakan statues, (last photo). I cant remember seeing the Kannon statue.

The priest lives nearby in a modern house, but a huge, traditional house sits to the left of the main hall.

The main altar bis quite colourful, with some excellent dragon paintings.

The storehouse is actually a small museum whose prize possession is the remains of a set of samurai armour that dates back to the Heian period and is believed to be the second or third oldest samurai armour in Japan. It is not much to look at but at the art museum in Sakurae Town is a full replica.

On this leg of my walk I walked the route "backwards" from my house upriver. The previous post was on the Zen temple in my village, Hikasaji.

Saihoji Temple Sasebo

 

Saihoji Temple is considered to be the oldest and the most important temple in Sasebo.

It was rebuilt after being destroyed at the end of WWII in a bombing raid. The impressive Niomon was not actually completed until 2001.

Inside the Niomon were a pair of statues of Fujin, the Wind God, and Raijin, the Storm God.

Ostensibly Shinto in origin, being created by Izanami while in Yomi, they are usually found, like here, in Buddhist temples.

According to the temple's website, the Nio were each carved in China from a single piece of wood.

It is a Soto Zen temple with a Shaka Nyorai as honzon.

The original temple was Rinzai and founded in the early 13th century. It fell into disrepair but in the mid 15th century it was moved to its current location by the Akasaki Lord and rebuilt as a Soto temple.

The previous post was on nearby Kameyama Hachimangu Shrine.

Sangenyama Toko-ji Temple 67 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Tokoji, temple 67 on the Kyushu pilgrimage is located in the basin down below Mount Kurokami in the mountains between Arita and Takeo in Saga.

According to the temples history it was founded as a branch temple of number 69, Saikomitsuji, when it was founded by Kobo Daishi in the early 9th century upon his return from China.

It flourished as a shrine-temple complex for mountain ascetics.

It enshrined Kurokami Daigongen, gongen being Buddhist avatars of kami.

It was destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 1547 with a Yakushi Nyorai as honzon.

The temple is number 37 on the Kyushu Yakushi pilgrimage.

The temple received support from the local daimyo.

In 1868 Shugendo was outlawed, the guardian shrine was moved to another site, and the temple fell into disuse and disrepair.

It was revived sometime in the twentieth century.

There are many Mizuko Jizo in the grounds, and in the main hall is a small Kannoin statue said to be worshiped by Hidden Christians during the Edo period.

The previous post was on the nearby Mudo-in temple.

Aizen-ji Temple 32 Shodoshima pilgrimage

 

Aizenji is a substantial temple located near to a Michi no Eki where I stopped for a late  lunch on the third day of my walk along the Shodoshima 88 temple pilgrimage route. 

The temple was founded in the early 8th century by Gyoki. Several other temples on Shodoshima make this claim too, as do a large number of the 88 temples on Shikoku.

About a century later Kobo Daishi is said to have stopped here while waiting out a storm on his way to the capital.

In 1384 a monk named Seichi restored the temple and it has stood ever since.

The honzon is an Aizen Myoo, hence the temple name.

Aizen Myoo has some associations with sex, often nowadays meaning matchmaking. Interestingly in historical times he was invoked in several situations by men seeking gay lovers.

The notion of "matchmaking" deities has always existed in Japan, but nowadays seems to be a growing industry.

There were several statues of "cute" Jizo couples which to me look like a development of the "cute" dosojin statues in the Shinto tradition.

There is a nice rock garden on one steep slope and a nice Chinese Juniper tree.

The most curious thing for me was a kind of onigawara tile which looked like a cross between a tengu and a kappa... (last photo)

The previous post in this series on day three of my Shodoshima pilgrimage was on Shoboji and Seiganji temples.

Mudo-in Temple 68 Kyushu pilgrimage

Mudo-in, temple number 68 on the Kyushu 108 pilgrimage is a small rural temple to the southeast of Mount Kurokami near Takeo in Saga.

It claims some connection with the Shugendo center that was active on that mountain.

The temple was established in 1487.

The honzon is a standing Fudo. In the grounds are another small Fudo, and a Kurokami Eye Fudo, said to cure eye diseases.

It is also temple 26 on the Kyushu Fudo pilgrimage.

Unusually, for this pilgrimage, it was an inhabited temple with someone home.

The old priest showed me a photo of his brother, also a Buddhist priest, taken meeting the pope. According to my recent research, he is no longer the head priest at this temple but has been replaced by a much younger one. I strongly suspect he may be a son of the family.

Though it was late March, a single plum tree was sporting new blossoms. Another thing I noticed were the extremely worn small komainu.

The previous post in this series on day 71 of my Kyushu pilgrimage was the Ono Tenmangu Shrine just across the valley.