Deeper into Remote Iwami

 

I started day 10 of my walk along the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage in the mountains of SW Shimane at Akayamatenmangu Shrine. My route will take me roughly south, a little deeper into the mountains. This is an unknown area to me.

For a while, I follow the Masuda River upstream and pass by a small shrine on the hillside.

It's not a big river at this point, so I wondered what the civil engineering was all about...

At first I thought it was tetrapods they were casting, but then I saw they were some kind of tessellate. Not sure what the purpose was, but suspect that down the line even more costly works will have to be done to undo the effect of these works...more profits for concrete and construction companies...

Then a huge rock covered in greenery with numerous little Buddhist statues set inside an overhang.

Nearby a small shrine, and then not far away, a more substantial "hall" with some quite old statues

As usual, I didn't take notes while walking, but now I cannot find such a place on the map...

A clump of banana trees, and then a big surprise: the remains of an industrial installation

Turns out to be a big mine. The Tsumo mining area has been mining copper, zinc, lead, and tungsten since at least 836. During the Edo Period, it was controlled by Iwami Ginzan. One often reads about Japan's "few" natural resources, but they have mined copper, silver, and gold for almost 2,000 years, as well as coal.

During the war, production was increased and Korean slave labour was used. After the war, a huge deposit was discovered, and in the 70s, 200 people were employed here. The mine closed in 1986 as foreign imports were cheaper, the same fate as the coal industry in Japan.

An intriguing sidenote,.... a rare mineral was discovered here with a 1:1 ratio of bismuth atoms to tellurium atoms. This new mineral, Tsumoite, is named after this mine where it was discovered.

Now the area is quiet, and no traffic passed me....

Later, some contemporary mining..... of timber. In the postwar period, the government planted much of Japan with huge tree farms. Foreign-imported wood is much cheaper now, so these huge swaths of monoculture now cause landslides and force bears into the inhabited areas, as well as give a large percentage of the population hay fever. The government is now spending a fortune to try to correct the situation.

I am now getting into the Hikimi area, higher in the mountains and closer to the Hiroshima border.

After climbing over a pass, I am now heading down the Noto River.

The previous post was on Tenei Hachimangu, the last stop yesterday.

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Oki Beach to Iburi to Kubotsu to Kinpei-an

 

Day 23 of my Shikoku Pilgrimage, and from Oki Beach I continued on down the coast of the Ashizuri Peninsula towards the cape and Kongofukuji Temple, the 38th temple of the pilgrimage.

I should easily reach it today, but it has been 3 days since the 37th temple, Iwamotoji.

It is unusual to find a cemetery with a Shinto gate....

With a large torii flanked by komainu, I was expecting a substantial-sized shrine...

But it turned out to be little more than a roadside hokora...

However, in a fishing area, an Ebisu shrine is going to be well maintained and used...

Several renditions of Ebisu statues .....

Plus a Taiko, indicating that rituals are still performed....

A Daikoku and a Buddha statues extend the mix.....

I think this final one must be a Benzaiten... looking like a female riding a dragon...

a small Tenmangu shrine...

Iburi harbour... with a curious tunnel... part natural, part man-made, I think...

Looking back up the coast....

Not sure what species of fish these are...

Another small shrine...

And then an Ichioshi Shrine, right on the waterfront....

... where a new road over the inlet...

Another very small shrine which has been completely rebuilt recently...

And then, on the outskirts of the little fishing village of Tsuro, an establishment with the name of Kinpei-an. It is a Zenkonyado, rudimentary lodgings made available free of charge to walking pilgrims. This one is very well known to walking pilgrims, as the 80 year old man who offers it is very generous, offering the use of the shower and kitchen in his house.

The structure is handmade but has a woodstove made out of an oil drum. The number of ofuda left is a testament to how many people have used his place. There is a move to gentrification on the pilgrimage, with pilgrims who want to camp and sleep out being actively discouraged. One website I know of for pilgrims refuses to carry posts on free accommodation options. It is a real shame as this has always been a pilgrimage for the less well-endowed financially. I know if I had to pay for lodgings every night of the pilgrimage I would not have been able to do it. It was too early in the day for me to stay, but in my opinion it is an example of the genuine spirit of a pilgrimage.

The previous post was on the glorious sunrise of the day...

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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...

The previous post was yesterday's walk over the mountains to reach the Kuroshio Coast.

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.