Kashima Shrine Minabe

 

I came into Minabe at the end of a rainy fifth day of my walk. I was on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, claimed to be the oldest of the major pilgrimage circuits of Japan. For this first week, the route also followed the Kumano Kodo, though in reverse. This was the Kiiji section which runs from Tanabe up to Osaka and Kyoto.

The main shrine was a Kashima Shrine, with numerous secondary shrines and a small Inari shrine at the entrance.

According to te shrine history it is a branch of the famous Kashima Shrine up country, brought here in the early Nara Period.

However, it was located on a tiny uninhabited island just offshore and was known as Kashima Myojin.

During the Meiji Period, possibly 1909, the kami was transferred to the land and the shrine built, which explains the somewhat "meiji" feel of the shrine.

The main kami is Takemikazuchi, although Amaterasu and Susano are also listed. That may be a Meiji addition.

In the grounds are a Tenjin, Ebisu, another Inari, and a couple of other shrines.

The previous post in this series was Kozanji Temple in Tanabe.

Mimasaka Soja Shrine

 

Soja shrines were often established close to government headquarters in ancient Japan as one of the governor's duties was to offer prayers at all the shrines in his district.

For convenience, all the kami from the outlying shrines were gathered together in one place hence making the officials jobs much easier. Such was the case of this shrine in Tsuyama.

According to the shrine history, it was established first further to the west and enshrined Okuninushi. A year later when the Kokufu was established the shrine was moved here and the kami from all 65 village shrines in Mimasaka were brought here.

After the Kokufu became replaced by warrior rule the local warlords continued to support the shrine with grants of land.

The current main building was built by Motonari Mori in 1562 and it was extensively repaired in the mid 17th century.

The shrine is built in the Nakayama-zukuri style, unique to this area. In the early 20th century it was made a National Treasure but has since been downgraded to an Important Cultural Property.

The previous post in this series on the fifth day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the nearby Nakayama Shrine, the ichinomiya of the province.

Giant Torii of Ryugu Sumiyoshi Shrine

 

Walking up Route 206, the main road up the western side of Omura Bay in Nagasaki, in the town of Seihi there is a giant vermillion torii straddling a side road.

The road leads to  Ryugu Sumiyoshi Shrine which is part of the Head Temple of Seicho No Ie, a "new" religion founded in 1930. The shrine and temple was established in 1978.

Said to combine elements of Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and various philosophies and psychologies, it claims to be a  monotheistic religion. The founder, Masaharu Taniguchi, claims to have had guidance from Sumiyoshi Okami, hence Ryugu Sumiyoshi shrines are associated with Seicho No Ie properties.

I did not venture up to the shrine on this trip though I had visited it on a road trip earlier. I can find no info on the dimensions of the torii.

The previous post in this series on day 65 of my Kyushu Pilgrimage was on sunrise a little earlier that morning.

From Orekiji Temple to Kakaji

 

Mount Shiritsuki, 587 meters, is clearly visible as I leave Oreki Temple and carry on up the road.

For a couple of hours, the road is forest and mountain with no habitations of any kind.

I'm on the second day of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Pilgrimage, which for this first part also follows the old yamabushi Kunisaki pilgrimage now followable along the Kunisaki Hanto Minemichi Long Trail.

Every now and then the view opens up to the typical Kunisaki Peninsula landscape of cliffs and spires of rock, the kind of place that attracted yamabushi.

Eventually the road lead down past some mountain farms and eventually reached the main road running along the Takeda River. The next temple is not far upstream but that will be where I start on the next leg as I am heading home now.

The road runs north towards the coast where I will take the ferry across to Honshu.

Along the way I stop in briefly at some local shrines, a Wakamiya Shrine, a Yasaka Shrine, and a Hie Shrine, none with any interesting attributes, and none part of the syncretic shinto-buddhist Rokumanzan culture that is so intriguing in this area.

The largest settlement on the coast is Kakaji and there is a big shrine here for me to explore, but that will be the next post.

The previous post in this series was Oreki Temple.

It is the first week of  May and so the carp streamers are up......

Shrines along the way on Day 64

 

Early March, 2014, and on day 64 of my walk around Kyushu I walked from Nagasaki, up the coast of Omura Bay, to Nagaura, stopping in, as usual, to as many shrines as I passed.

In Togitsu I stopped in at a branch shrine of Yutoku Inari, and  not too long after I spied the succession of red torii on a hillside that led to a small roadside Inari Shrine.

A little further, still in Togitsu, I visited a branch of  Kumano Shrine. Enshrining Susano, Hayatamano, and Kotoshironushi.

There was not anything particularly interesting or unusual, though I did notice a sumo ring.

Further on I climbed up the steps to a branch of Katori Shrine. The shrine history has it being established in 1637, but at that time it was dedicated to Bishamonten, one of the Shitenno, four heavenly kings, of Buddhism. It became a Katori shrine in 1868.

Katori shrines enshrine Futsunushi, mythical ancestor of the Mononobe clan and linked to swords and warriors. Bishamonten was also lonked to warriors and so tye switch was kind of easy.

It also featured a small sumo ring in the grounds. I have noticed that only a few areas of Japan tend to have sumo rings in their grounds.

My final stop is marked as a shrine on the maps, has a torii and shimenawa, but enshrines Yakushi, the Medicine Buddha, and also has a statue of Amida in the grounds. Called Rurikoden, not sure why its identity is so confused, though that is not as unusual as many think. Whether something is a shrine or a temple is a somewhat arbitrary distinction made by politicians.

The previous post in the series was on Nagaura, the small fishing harbour where I spent the night.

Togitsu Yutoku Inari Shrine

 

Not far from the Honjin I discovered in Togitsu I encountered a small Inari Shrine.

Apparently, it is a branch of the famous Yutoku Inari Shrine not far away in southern Saga and not a branch of the head Inari shrine Fushimi Inari near Tokyo.

As with almost all Inari shrines, there were fox guardian statues. Though Inari is often mistakenly referred to as a "fox god", the foxes are messengers of Inari, not representations of Inari

There were multiple vermillion torii, though no actual "tunnel" as at many Inari shrines.

Surprisingly all the ema depicted horses, as this was spring 2014, a "Horse Year".

There were multiple Inari shrines in the grounds. Inari is well known for being a "peronalized" kami that exists in thousands of thousands of different forms.

The Chinses style guardian lion was unusual, though not too surprising as this was Nagasaki.

Thet two main representations of Inari are either as an old man carrying rice, or, as seen here, as a young maiden on the back of a white fox.

This representation has connections with the primarily Buddhist identity of Inari as Dakiniten.

Inari is sometimes connected to Benzaiten, another goddess with heavy Buddhist-shinto cross-over, and that may be behind the small figurine of the white snakes wrapped around the jewel of wisdom.

The previous post in this series on day 64 of my walk around Kyushu was on Togitsu.