Komyoji Temple 102 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

Not too long after leaving temple 61, Koyaji, I came to the second pilgrimage temple of the day, Komyoji.

Quite a small temple, and no one home. It was founded in the Edo period but destroyed in the ant-Buddhist movement of early Meiji, then re-established in 1893.

The honzon is a seated Yakushi, and other than the small Inari shrine on the grounds I know nothing about it,

Takeo Onsen, where I had a room booked, was less than an hour away.....

Mudo-ji Temple 6 Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

Mudo-ji Temple

The Fudo Myo statue at Mudoji Temple on the Western slope of the Kunisaki peninsula is calmer and much less fierce than most, and this is said to be indicative of the style of the Heian period when it was carved.

Mudo-ji is temple number 6 on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo pilgrimage but was the first of the pilgrimage temples I visited even though I was well into day 2 of my walk.

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In its heyday it was a large and powerful temple of the Rokugo Manzan shugendo system in the Usa-Kunisaki area and had between 50 and 100 monks as well as controlling numerous temples in the vicinity. It is said to have been founded in the early 8th century by Ninmon, the legendary founder of the Rokugo Manzan.

Nowadays the temple is most known for its collection of 16 Heian period statues including the Fudo as well as the largest wooden statue in the area, a Yakushi, pictured above.

There is also a statue of Dainichi Nyorai, the Great Sun Buddha, the central figure is the esoteric sects of Tendai and Shingon. There is also a statue of Maitreya, the Future Buddha who will appear at some point in the far future.

I had arrived at Mudoji after coming down from the ridge that separated this river valley from that of Tennenji and the Fudo cliff carving there.

Nanrinji Temple #6 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage

Nanrinji Temple

I reached Nanrinji, temple number 6 on the 108 temple Shingon pilgrimage around Kyushu, in the afternoon of my 54th day walking.

Walking along the rural road a few kilometers from the temple a car stopped and it was the priest of the temple and his wife. They asked if I needed a stamp for my nokyo. I said no. temple stamps usually cost 300 yen a pop, and if you multiply that by 108 then the money spent on stamps is equivalent to a week's worth of cheap lodgings, a more sensible use of my very limited budget.

So when I got to the temple it was all locked up, but because I knew no-one was home I sneaked a peek at the garden behind.

As well as the Shingon pilgrimage focused on Kobo Daishi, Nanrinji is also on the Kyushu Yakushi pilgrimage. The honzon of the temple is a Yakushi Nyorai statue supposedly carved by Kobo Daishi himself in 809.

According to the story, while Kobo daishi was on his way to China he encountered a storm and vowed that if he was spared he would then carve 7 Yakushi statues on his return to Japan , this being one of them.

The statue was in a temple much closer to the Chikugo River and was in constant danger of being flooded  so was moved a few kilometers to the current location, not far from where Empress Saimei died in 661.

This temple burned down several times and there seems to have been some sort of a scheme to spread water around the forested slopes around the temple. The year after I visited their was major storms and landslides here and the temple was closed for a while but seems to be open again now, though with concreted slopes all around.

Ramune

Raion-ji Hagio Yakushi-do, Temles 49 & 76 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

Raion-ji Hagio Yakushi-do

After leaving Kannonzaka Kannondo, temple 66 on the Sasaguri pilgrimage, the route heads up the mountain valley for about 3 kilometers before reaching the next temple, actually a cluster of three, in the mountain settlement of Hagio.

What is remarkable about that is that the first three kilometers of the pilgrimage, as far as Kanninzaka, included a full 12 temples.

The route sometimes followed the narrow mountain road, and sometimes a trail through the forest including some decent bamboo groves.

Around Hagio, none of the three temples were large. There was temple 49, Raionji, temple 76, Hagio Yakushido, and temple 47, Hagio Amidado.

There were, however, just like the other small temples so far, a lot of statues, especially of Fudo Myo.

Raionji was the largest, and this is the main statue, a Shaka Nyorai, the "historical Buddha".

Raionji also has this nice thousand-armed Kannon,....

... and several nice Fudo....

The Yakushi-do obviously enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha...

And the Amida-do's main statue is an Amida....

The Sasaguri pilgrimage is an excellent opportunity to both get a taster of what walking a pilgrimage is like, and also an excellent series of mountain walks close to the big city of Fukuoka.

Ema Votive Plaques

Jyokoji Temple 8 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

I reached Jokoji, number 8 temple on the 88 temple Shodoshima Pilgrimage, after coming down from the mountains visible in this first photo where I had visited the amazing mountain cave temples of Dounzan and Goishizan high up in the mountains.

The large, walled compound and belfry gate was quite a contrast, and I think this was the biggest temple I had visited on my first day walking the Shodoshima Pilgrimage.

The temple was founded in the mid 8th century by Gyoki, though it was located furter up the side of the mountain. It was destroyed in the 16th century when a Christian daimyo held sway over the island and destroyed many temples.

The temple was rebuilt in the mid to late 17th century. The small Yakushi-do in the precincts dates to 1665 The main hall was rebuilt in 1986. The honzon is a Yakushi Nyorai and the temple belongs to the Shingon sect.

Flanking the Yakushi statue is a statue of Fudo and one of Kobo Daishi. The ceiling is covered in paintings done by members of the temple. They seem to be mostly fruit, vegetable, and flowers..

It seems it was once a very rich and poerful temple. In the mid 19th century a Christian believer was found in the parish and the temple was punished by having the tax-free status of its lands rescinded. In the Meiji Period with Shinbutsu Bunri, it lost control of several shrines, and in the postwar land reforms, most of its properties were confiscated.

Anrakuji Revisited

 

Anrakuji is temple number 6 on the famous Shikoku pilgrimage known as Ohenro. I had visited many years previously while walking that pilgrimage, but this time it was the second day of my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myo-O pilgrimage.

It is not a part of that pilgrimage, but the first day and half of the Fuso pilgrimage folows roughy the same route as the Ohenro so I took the opportunity to revisit any temples and shrines I passed. For some pilgrims the main focus is on visiting the @ilgrimage temples, but for me the space between temples was just as important and I visited every shrine and temple I passed. In fact on the Ohenro I visited many times more shrines than temples.

It was very early in the morning and no-one was about. The honzon, pictured in the first photo, is a Yuakushi Nyorai, supposedly carved by Kukai himself. The temple is also known for the shrine and pond dedicated to Benzaiten, and there is also a nice pagoda.

Later on this second day the Ohenro route heads south and crosses the river, but the Fudo pilgrimage route continues to head upriver for a few more days.

Io-ji Temple 54 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage

Io-ji

Io-ji temple is not very large and is located not too far from the ruins of Yatsushiro Castle in Yatsushiro. The temple was patronized by the Matsui Clan who rued the area from the mid 17th Century. The chunky stone Nio guarding the temple are very much in Kyushu style.

The honzon of the temple is Yakushi Nyorai, housed in a seperate Yakushi-do. There are several Kanno statues in the grounds and a couple of Fudo Myo.

There is a shrine to Ashite Kojin, and many ema in the shape of legs and hands were left there.

There was a statue and a painting of some deity riding a white horse, but I have no idea who it is.

Kanjizaiji Temple 40 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage

 

On December 26th, 2011, my 25th day of walking teh famous Shikoku Pilgrimage, I crossed the border into Ehime and reached temple number 40, Kanjizaiji.

According to the founding legend, Kobo Daishi visited here and carved three statues, one of them of Yakushi Nyori, the temples Honzon. It is a "hidden buddha" and only shown to the public every 50 years, the next time being 2034.

The buildings are all fairly modern reconstructions, though the nio guardians are obviously much older.

Techncally this is the temple that is furthest from Ryozenji Temple, the starting point for most pilgrims, and depending on the route you take it is a little past the halfway point, in distance, of the whole pilgrimage.

The temple has a tsuyado, a small room offering free lodgings for pilgrims and this is where I stayed.