Showing posts with label tosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tosa. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2025

From Kiyotakiji to Shoryuji

 


I spent the night in the tsuyado, the free room offered by some temples for walking pilgrims, at temple number 35 Kiyotakiji, so was up before sunrise and on my way on day 18 of my walk along the Shikoku Pilgrimage.


The route towards temple 36, Shoryuji, was pretty much directly south towards the coast and about 15k away. First I had to cross the Hage River, a tributary of the Niyodo River.


To reach the coast the road passes over a line of hills. Just before the pass, at around 100 meters above sea level, is a small park. As well as toilets it has a nice seated shelter..... exactly the kind of place that a walking henro keeps their eyes open for....


Dropping down into a town called Usa. I knew of the Usa in Oita on Kyushu, home to the head Hachiman shrine, but hadn't heard of this one before.


As usual, I pass by numerous small, local shrines, and one has a most unusual torii.


It is made of steel, seemingly stainless, yet dark. I have seen bronze torii, torii sheathed in copper, and some large steel torii, but none like this...


I reach the Pacific coast and pass by the fishing harbour with expansive views back along the Kochi coastline.


Shoryuji is on the Yokonami Peninsula a long narrow peninsula across a long narrow inlet. Before the 640 meter long Usaohashi bridge was built in 1973 pilgrims would have had to cross by ferry, one of the many sections on the pilgrimage route that ferries were needed.


The beaches on the tip of the peninsula seemed to be a popular holiday spot.


The previous post in this series was on temple 35, Kiyotakiji.


Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Omirokusama Shrine

 


Popular shrines will often have large numbers of objects left or donated by worshippers who either are praying for something, or giving thanks for something. Votive tablets, known as ema in Japanese, or even simple wooden torii gates like those found at many Inari shrines are common, as is leaving miniature statues.


At Omiroikusama Shrine in Tosa, Kochi you will find lots of ema, lots of torii, and literally thousands and thousands of miniature frogs.


Frog statues and figurines can be seen at quite a few temples. The word for frog, kaeru, also means "return" and so is often used a symbol meaning safe return. Such homophones are quite common in Japan as the Japanese language is composed of relatively few sounds.


However the frogs here have nothing to do with returning, rather the frogs skin reminds people of warts, and at Omiroku Shrine the tradition is that you pray here for relief from warts, and if successful then you come back and leave a small frog.


The fame of Omirokusama Shrine has spread and people from all over Japan make the journey to Shikoku to pray at the shrine and nowadays a new twist has been added as the idea that cancer is a form of internal warts has taken hold.


The origin of the shrine lies in 1899 when a local farmer dug up a sacred object of some kind. Most sources say a"shrine", but it is not clear exactly what that means.


He took it home and placed it in his storehouse. Later he and his family became plagued with warts and other skin ailments. He consulted a Shinto priest who told him the kami was upset at being moved and the man should return the "shrine" to its original spot.


This he did, and so the shrine began. The rest, as they say, is history. Incidentally, Miroku is the Japanese name for Maitreya, a Buddhist bodhisattva known as the Future Buddha.


Though tiny, this is a fascinating site to visit. Very much a creation of "folk" and having nothing to do with imperial shinto, the influence of Buddhism is also very "folk".


When walking from Tanemaji Temple, number 34 on the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage, to Kiyotakiji Temple, number 35, Omirokusama Shrine is located on the riverbank immediately after crossing the Niyodo River on Route 56. The previous post in this series exploring the sights found along the routes between the temples was on the walk to Tanemaji Temple from Wakamiya Hachimangu.