Three New Masks

Finally got around to finishing some more masks. This first one is a small Hannya. Made quite a few but the large Hannya are more popular.

This is an Akaoni, a red demon or ogre. This is also very popular with non-Japanese, probably because the Devil is usually red....

This last one is a Tajikarao, the "strongman" who opens the cave in which Amaterasu has been hiding herself.....

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Sakurahachiman Shrine, Kunisaki

Late afternoon on Sunday 25th of November, 2012, I arrived in the small port town of Kunisaki on the East coast of the Kunisaki Peninsula. Yesterday I started my walk at Usa Hachimangu on the West side of the peninsula. Usa hachimangu s the origin of the Hachiman cult and head shrine of all Hachiman Shrines in Japan, by one count the most common shrines.

Before heading to my room for the night I visited the Sakurahachiman shrine in the town. Like many Hachiman shrines in north Kyushu it was painted red and white. Not the vermillion of Inari shrines and shrines with an imperial connection, but a darker red. It was founded in 720,  when the Hachiman cult was a north Kyushu phenomenon and a few decades before it spread to the capital in Nara and from there throughout Japan.

The shrine was founded by the head priestess of the Usa shrine to pray for success in the battle for control of southern Kyushu between the government forces led by the Yamato against the Hayato. Believed to be an Austronesian speaking people, the Hayato, and the Kumaso people, had long resisted Yamato attempts to control them and outnumbered the Yamato immigrants in south Kyushu.

The war was decisive and the Hayato were forced to settle in what is now the Kyoto area, along with other immigrant clans, and Yamato control now covered all of Kyushu.

Amakusa Dolphin Watching

For the last few days I have  been walking across the Amakusa Islands in Kumamoto. Today I joined a dolphin watching boat tour.

Several hundred Bottlenosed dolphins live in the straits of the Ariake Sea between the Shimabara Peninsula and the Amakusa Islands. There are a whole bunch of companies operating tours and as they 99 percent guarantee sightings I shelled out....

There was a chilly breeze and the water was choppy but we did get to spend about 20 minutes in the area where they were breaking the surface. I imagine on a calmer day they are more visible....

Hyuga Ichinomiya Tsuno Shrine

On the afternoon of my 20th day walking the Kyushu Pilgrimage  I passed under a large torii that straddled the road, and soon came into Tsuno Shrine, the Ichinomiya, that is to say, the highest ranked shrine in the former Hyuga Province, now Miyazaki Prefecture.

It was a very large shrine with extensive grounds, woods, and a koi and lily pond as well as numerous secondary shrines. What was surprising was the main kami enshrined here,.. Okuninushi. Being Hyuga one might have expected Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu sent from the High Plain of heaven to rule Japan, or his descendant Jimmu, the mythical first Emperor, but these kami only really became elevated in the Meiji period when they became an obsession with the nationalists trying to create a state-based "shinto".

I never did find out why Okuninushi, an Izumo kami, was the main one. There was a small shrine to Daikoku, one of the imported 7 Lucky Gods, who because his name is the same characters as Okuninushi are often equated together.

There were also plenty of heart-shaped ema because Okuninushiis now considered the god of enmusubi, especially finding a lover.

Uzume Mask

Uzume Mask

It has been a very long time since I finished any masks, but the last few weeks I have been hard at it. Most of my older blog posts that featured my masks no longer have photos as they were stored on a site I no longer use, so overthe next weeks I will be posting photos of my new masks.

This one is one of the smallest and is the kami Uzume, the female whose dance in front of the cave was instrumental in luring Amaterasu out. The dance is credited with being the mythological origin of kagura.

Our Hina Matsuri

Tomorrow, 3rd of March is Hina Matsuri and Yoko has set up her collection. She got them from her mother who got them from her mother, so they are about 100 years old.

The craftsmanship is unbelievable. even the drawers, about 1cm by .5cm, open and some contain even tinier objects. In one of the wooden container on the top shelf are wooden teacups 0.3 cms wide.

Late Afternoon View of Tatara Bridge

Alate afternnon shot of Tatara Bridge which connects Omishima Island with Ikuchijima Island along the Shimanami Kaido that connects Shikoku with Honshu.

The 4th longest span of a cable stayed bridge in the world, it opened in 1999.

Happy New Year of the Boar

Happy New year to you all. In the Chinese system adopted by the Japanese this is the year of the boar, and this is my favorite view of our local wild boar which cause so much destruction in my garden that I work so hard in. Yum. Apologies to vegan friends and relatives.

Chichi Sugi... the Boob Cedar

Chichi Sugi, which translates as Boob Cedar is an 800 year old tree on the slopes of Mount Daimanji on Dogo, the biggest of the Oki Islands.

It is an Urasugi, a species that grows on the Japan Sea coast where heavy snowfall causes the trees to produce stronger lateral branches. The rounded protuberances growing down from the branches... which is the origin of its nickname "boob", are believed to help absorb moisture from the air.

Cold air rising from the gaps between the big rocks that form the slope meet warm air from the sea and mean that the area is often misty.

It is one of several sacred trees on the island that are well worth seeking out.

Tsunomaki Shrine

On the 20th day of my walk around Kyushu I was attracted to splashes of color on a hillside. This was Tsunomaki Shrine, and the hillside had been denued of trees and replaced with Azalea bushes which, along with some cherry trees, were blooming.

The shrine has been here for a long time as it is listed in the Engi Shiki, a tenth Century document that listed shrines receiving offerings from the central government.. The kami now enshrined here include Amenominakanushi, Takamimusubi, and Kamimusubi, all kami that the Kojiki lists as creators of the universe, but which only became enshrined in shrines in the late 19th Century when the government removed all traces of Buddhism as well as local deities.

The shrine is known for protection of livestock and includes a memorial to the cows that were slaughtered during a recent outbreak of Foot & Mouth Disease