Showing posts with label tenmangu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tenmangu. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2026

Dark & Stormy Kuroshio Coast

 


December 2nd, 2011, and day 21 of my walk around Shikoku on the Ohenro Pilgrimage begins under a cloudy sky, though the rain of yesterday has abated.


Kuroshio is the name of a north Pacific current that passes along the Pacific Coast of Japan.


Here at the southern extreme of Shikoku, where the current passes, there is also a town called Kuroshio, where I will mostly be today.


As usual I tried to stop in at every shrine I passed, but this one was too far off the main road so gave it a miss.


On this section of coast the sea was much calmer than yesterday evening when I reached the coast.


Passing through Ida Port I did visit the next shrine.


It is a Tenmangu enshrining the ancient courtier, Sugawara Michizane.


Often used by students praying for exam success, Tenmangu shrines increased somewhat in the late 19th century as a preferred "national" shrine....


There was no signboard so have no info on the history.


Nearby was Kannonji, a very small temple.


There was a tsuyado here, free lodgings for walking pilgrims, and I had thought about staying here but it got dark too quickly yesterday so instead of chancing it I stayed in a henro hut.


Next up a small Ebisu shrine. As kami for fishermen, Ebisu is very common on the coast.


While it is not actually raining, the air is more than damp.


The way ahead looks like darker , windier weather....


It costs a lot to have old cars disposed of in Japan, which is why in the countryside you can often see abandoned cars slowly begining to decompose...... very slowly....






This small shrine is a Yaku Shrine..... no details....



The Sunahama Museum is a little free museum on the beach.


The skeleton of a Minke whale was impressive....


Across the Minato River....


And then across the bigger Fukigami River...


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 It will not be published and made public.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


Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Iwanaga Hachimangu

 


A little further along the road to Akiyoshidai after visiting the Hirohata Hachiman Shrine, yet another large hachiman shrine appeared.


Iwanaga Hachimangu had a very long approach with numerous torii....


It is claimed to be the oldest shrine in the area, being founded in 715.


The curious thing is they say it was enshrined from Hyuga, now Miyazaki. All the other Hachiman shrines in western Honshu at around that time are enshrined from Usa. Usa was the original Hachiman shrine and as the cult spread to Honshu due to the association of Hachiman with the founding of the Great Buddha at Nara, it gradually became a national cult.


However, before it spread to Honshu, it had spread somewhat around Kyushu. I came across a couple of Hachiman shrines in southern Fukuoka that had been established very early on. However, I had not found one in Miyazaki. The head priestess of Usa Hachiman had led an army earlier to suppress "revolt" in the southern part of Kyushu, so maybe that explains it.


Like many shrines, this one has been relocated several times, although the exact dates are unknown. It changed its name to Iwanaga in 1922, but it is unclear what it was called before.


Like other hachiman shrines in the area, the kami selection is Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata princesses.


Within the grounds is a Tenmangu, and an Arajinja enshrining Susanoo.


In the 1980's a small kofun with an unusual stone-lined coffin chamber was excavated nearby. It was relocated the shrine grounds to keep it safe from the expanding limestone mining.


The final photo shows a quite common feature at many shrines..... a naval artillery shell!!...almost certainly dating to just after the Russo-japanese War at the start of the twentieth century.


The previous post was on another nearby hachiman Shrine, Hirohata Hachimangu.


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

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Hirohata Hachimangu

 


An hour or so after setting out from my hotel on my walk from Ine to Akiyoshidai I came across the first shrine of the day.


Yet another Hachiman Shrine.


This one was said to be a branch of the original Hachiman Shrine, Usa Hachiman, in what is now Oita. The date given is 732.


The shrine has been at its current site since 1660. It had moved several times before.


In 1221, following the Jokyu War, a new samurai lord took over the area. Unusually, he chose to make this Hachiman shrine his tutelary shrine, rather than establish a new one, which was normal.


The kami are Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata Princesses. This seems to be the norm for Hachiman shrines in this area.


In 1752 a Tenmangu Shrine was established within the grounds....


The main shrine was rebuilt in 1769, and in 1770 the shrine grounds were expanded and reforested.


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