Autumn in Omori

 

After leaving Chokoji Temple it was just half an hours drive u to Omori In Iwami Ginzan. On arrival we were treated to a classic Autimn scene,.... harvested rice in front of a thatched farmhouse.

Omori is the most visited of the haf dozen sites that make u the Iwami Ginzan UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is the settlement below the mine where the merchants, samurai, and bureaucrats lived.

Omori is primarily a long, single street alongside a small stream. We started at the top of the village and walked down to the bottom where the most important people lived.

There are a couple of side lanes that usually lead to temples, and its here that you find a kittle autumn color.

However, at the bottom of the village is the main shrine, and here we found an abundance of Autumn colr, so that will be next up.....

Tenryuji Sogenchi Garden in Autumn

 

Though I usually try to post about less familiar sights in Japan, sometimes I go to the very popular places, especia;y when I have overseas visitors who want to see cliche Japan.

Sp here are some photos from one of the most photographed sites in Japan, the garden at Tenryuji Temple in Arashiyama, Kyoto.

If you like your zen moment to be shared with thousands of like-minded people, then Kyoto is the place to go;;;;

Tenryiji Temple is one of the World heritage sites in Kyoto.

The Sogenchi Garden is apparenty little changed from when it was created in the mid 14th cetury by Muso Soseki, the monk who founded the temple.

There are numerous gardens within the temples grounds, but the Sogenchi garden is the biggest and most well known.

Based around a large pond, the garden uses the "borrowed scenery" of the mountains behind.

Kurume Naritasan Mahabodhi Temple

 

Readers of my recent post on the Giant Kannon Statue in Kurume will have noticed the appearance of a distinctly Indian-looking building. 

This is a representation of the Mahabodhi Temple in India, built on the site of where the historical Buddha reached enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Often claimed to be a copy or replica of the original, it is in fact a stylized representation of the original. It stands 38 meters tall, whereas the original is much taller, and the architectural details are somewhat different..

There are numerous similar representations of the original tower in other countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, etc and these copies have also altered the appearance to fit in with their own architectural heritage.

Hosshinmon Oji

 

Day three of my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and I leave Hongu and start to head west towards the coast. It was very misty. The first week or so of the Saigoku pilgrimage follows the same route as the Kumano Kodo, though in the opposite direction.

The next section of the route is by far the most popular of the various Kumano Kodo routes, and I expect to pass lots more people heading in the opposite direction to me.

A few kilometers outside of Hongu and I arrive at Hosshinmon Oji. The 99  shrines along the route are called oji, and on the first few days I passed very few, but the next few days there should be dozens.

Hosshinmon Oji is considered to be one of the gates into the sacred area of Hongu, though for me it signifies i am leaving Hongu. It was known as "the gate of  awakening of the aspiration to enlightenment" and formerly pilgrims would change their staffs at this point. All very Buddhist on what is nowadays touted as a shinto pilgrimage.

Kumano Hongu Taisha

 

Kumano Hongu Taisha is one of the three shrines that form the Kumano Sanzan, the focus of the famous Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage routes that are now a World Heritage Site.

Though now a purely "shinto" site the Kumano region was home to the Shugendo cult which incorporated daoist and Buddhist elements with mountain worship and kami. 

I was here as the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, probably the oldest pilgrimage route in Japan, now follows the same route s the Kumano Kodo in this section.

Hongu Taisha was moved to its current location on a hill overlooking the river in 1891 following a major flood 2 years previously that destroyed much of the shrine as it was located on a sandbank.

The original site of the shrine nearby is now marked by the tallest torii in the world.

Kumano Hongu Heritage Center

Hongu is kind of the central site of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes and shrines. I arrived there late on the second day of my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, ostensibky the oldest pilgrimage in Japan, and which follows parts of the Kumano Kodo for the first week.

Hongu is part of the World Heritage Sites, and so a brand new center has been constructed that offers all kind of information for visitors.

It was made out of local timber and for me was actually more interesting than all the historical and visitor information.

After here I headed to Hoingu Taishi for a quick visit before finding my lodgings for the night.

Okidomari World Heritage Site

Okidomari, near Yunotsu, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage site connected to the Iwami Ginzan silver mine. It is one of two harbors that serviced the mines at the end of the 16th Century when the Mori Clan had control.

When the Tokugawa central government took over control of the mines in the early 17th Century they shipped most of the silver overland to Onomichi on the Inland Sea coast but Okiomari was still used a little.

The small settlement at the port is still in existence though many of the houses are now empty. At the head of the little valley is a grove of bamboo through which a path still passes.

This is the start of the Ginzan Kaido, the "road" that leads inland to the mines. It is about 12k long and is also one of the World Heritage sites. It is a very pleasant walk and I recommend it anyone who wants to get off the beaten track.

At the mouth of the harbor is a small island that once was topped with  fortifications guarding the harbor entrance. The Mori used the harbor as a kind of naval base long before the mines were discovered, and it is said it was earlier the hideout of pirates, though the distinction between pirates and navy at that time was flexible.

Mansion for Foreign Engineers in Kagoshima

Mansion for Foreign Engineers in Kagoshima

Ijinkan Foreign Engineers Residence in Kagoshima

Built in 1866 to house British engineers that were constructing a modern spinning mill as part of Satsuma Domains importation of Western technology, the Kyu Kagoshima Bosekisho Gishikan is usually known simply as Ijinkan. Since 2015 it has been a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Meiji Industrialization.

Ijinkan Foreigners mansion in Kagoshima

In 1862 an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, had been cut down by Satsuma samurai for blocking the advance of their lords procession. Known as the Namamugi Incident after the village where the act occurred, the English demanded reparations and apologies, which they got from the Japanese government but which Satsuma absolutely refused. Consequently in 1863 a squadron of Royal Navy ships entered Kagoshima waters and bombarded the town. The town had been evacuated but there was plenty of material damage and a few Japanese were killed. More English were killed by the return fire, and both sides claimed victory.

The front porch of the Ijinkan in Kagoshima

The Satsuma, however, must have been impressed with the British because they very soon sent a group of students to England to study, even though this was illegal under Japanese law. They also sent samurai to purchase machinery and hire engineers to install the machinery and teach its use. It was for these engineers that the mansion was built.

Main hallway inside the Ijinkan Foreign Engineers mansion in Kagoshima

Built in what would now be called "colonial" style, an English engineer oversaw construction, but it was built by Japanese carpenters and so includes elements of both cultures architectural elements. The inside has many displays and artifacts about this industrialisation process and the engineers and machinery. nearby is the Shuseikan, one of the stone built factories containing some of the machinery and more displays about the time. There are also a few other wooden, western-style houses in the vicinity like the former head office of the Serigano Gold Mine Comopany.

Former Office of the Serigano Gold Mine in Kagoshima

Koinobori

Fudarakusan-ji Temple,,, dying to get to heaven

Fudarakusan is a Tendai temple located on the coast in Nachi at the southern end of Wakayama. According to legend is was founded by an Indian monk in the 4th century, hundreds of years before the official introduction of Buddhism into Japan.

It is one of two temples that are part of the Kumano Kodo World heritage Sites and is most famous for Fudaraku Tokai..... journeying to Paradise. Fudaraku is the Japanese version of Mount Potalaka, the Pure land of Kannon that lay off the southern tip of India.

Monks would be sealed within rudderless and oarless boats and set adrift with food and water for 30 days on their journey to reach paradise. They were not always sealed in as there are reports of monks jumping overboard and drowning after being towed out to sea and released. Another favorite tactic seems to have been pulling a plug in the hull so the boats quickly sank.

It seems obvious that the vast majority would have died, though there is a case of one monk who managed to drift and come ashore in what is now Okinawa to continue with his life. The tourist literature states that in later times the monks would be set adrift once they had passed away naturally.

Sefa Utaki

Sefa Utaki is a World heritage Site on the southern coast of the main Okinawan Island. It was the most important sacred site for the royal family of the Ryukyus.

There are a series of shrines but no buildings are left. The path up the hillside passes through the verdant sub-tropical forest and by limestone cliffs.

At the highest point is Sanguii, a narrow cleft in the rock that leads to the most important altar. From here you can look down on Kudaka Island, the site where myth says the gods landed bringing grain and where the Okinawan people were created.

It's possible to get to Sefa Utaki by bus, though they are not frequent. It is worth it if only to get out into nature.

Ishigaki Sea Salt