Adachi Museum of Art Gardens

 

The gardens at the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, Shimane are very well known and have been classed as the top garden in Japan for many consecutive years by an American magazine on Japanese gardens.

With a total of six gardens, they cover a very large area, however, they are not stroll gardens in the traditional sense.

The gardens are viewed from within the buildings and from the connecting corridors and covered walkways between the buildings.

The museum, which opened in 1970, houses a huge collection of Nihonga paintings and also ceramics.

The works of Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) a major influence on the Nihonga style,  are especially featured.

In fact, some of the gardens and their features were directly influenced by some of his paintings.

One of the features is the "living paintings", where windows of the museum frame classic views of the garden. Photo 2 is the most well-known example.

While not stroll gardens, it is possible for private tour groups to be taken into some sections of the garden and have things explained by the gardeners.

Like many traditional gardens, shakkei, or borrowed scenery is also in evidence in the main gardens.

As with many of the best gardens, the scenery changes with the seasons. This visit was at the end of April.

The designer is Kinsaku Nakane (1917-1995) who created many gardens outside of Japan but is perhaps most well known as the restorer of the garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto.

I have posted earlier on some of his other gardens in Japan, with the one at the Yoko Museum near Takeo Onsen in Saga, known as Keishu-en, being somewhat similar to his Adachi designs, though much smaller.

More traditional are the gardens at Ohori Park in Fukuoka which I posted on in Spring and in Autumn.

Of course, the other major influence on the design of the grdens was Zenko Adachi (1899-1990) the founder of the museum.

As a young man he sold coal from a cart but went on to make a fortune in real estate, textiles, and rice-trading. He seriously began collecting art in 1959 and his collection formed the basis of the museum.

His ideas were influential on the design of the gardens, especially the notion of "living paintings".

Recently someone commented to me that they found the gardens here a little soul-less.

Not sure I agree with that, but I stand by my intial reaction when I first visited 20 years ago, and that they made me think of a manga version of Japanese gardens....

The museum continues to expand with the newest wing being a gallery devoted to Kitaoji Rosanjin.

Somewhat off the beaten track, the museum still runs free shuttle buses from JR Yasugi station.

Another Time XX by Antony Gormley

Another Time XX is a cast-iron sculpture by British artist Antony Gormley situated on a remote mountaintop in the Kunisaki Peninsula in northern Kyushu.

Installed originally as part of a 2014 arts festival, the statue can only be seen by hiking a mountain trail after driving a very narrow mountain road.

Made from a cast from the artists body, it is one of a 100 similar statues placed in unusual locations around the globe. Made of iron, the statue is already showing signs of deterioration and will eventually disappear.

The statue weighs more than 600 kilos, and it turned out that using a helicopter was not possible so it was moved   to its location by manpower. Down below the statue is the Fudo Chaya, a renovated teahouse that has displays of how the statue was moved into position.

I have read that there is some opposition to the statue, but the head priest is supportive. My guess is any opposition is fed by narrow-mindedness and has no basis in history or culture.

I visited after passing through the Kyu Sentoji Temple area down below and just before visiting the Fudo Hall just above the statue. The views are fantastic, over the north side of the Kunisaki Peninsula and to Himeshima Island just offshore. The statue is facing East.

Miyajidake Shrine

 

Like Kashii Shrine which I had visited a few hours earlier, Miyajidake Shrine is yet another major shrine in Fukuoka connected to the mythical Empress Jingu.

The long approach road runs from the shrine to the sea and is known as the Path of Light as twice a year it aligns with the setting sun.

According to the myth, Jingu prayed at the top of the mountain for success in her upcoming invasion of Korea, so she is the primary Kami enshrined here along with Katsumura no Okami and Katsuyori no Okami, said to be two brothers of the powerful ruling family of the area.

The shrine is famous for Japan's Best Three, the three being a giant taiko drum, a giant copper lantern, and the huge shimenawa.

Many sources claim this to be the biggest shimenawa in Japan, but by every metric I can figure the one at Izumo Taisha is bigger.

Behind the main shrine is the Inner Shrine area which has a group of eight other shrines.

The most interesting is the Fudo Shrine, not least because Fudo Myoo is a Buddhist deity with Hindu roots.

It is located within the stone burial chamber of an ancient kofun. While the mound itself is not particularly large, the stone burial chamber was claimed to be the biggest in Japan, though nowadays "among" the biggest is more common.

Dated to the end of the 6th or start of the 7th century, many grave goods have been found nd now registered as National Treasures.

It is not known for sure who was buried here but some historians suggest it was a notable of the Munakata Clan who is said to have ruled the area.

The Munakata were involved in trade with mainland Asia and the Munakata Shrines were links to the mainland by sea. Incidentally the Munakata Ptncesses, the name given to the three female kami of the Munakata Shrines, were "daughters" of Susanoo which has led some historians to suggest that Northern Kyushu was within the control of the Izumo polity.

Mitajidake Shrine has many festivals throughout the year, but one of the most popular is the Tsuitachi Mairi, held every month. Previously held on the new moon, since switching to the solar calendar it has shifted to the first day of each month.

The previous post was on Kaishinji Temple a short distance away on the Path of Light.

Eifukuji Temple 57 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Temple 56 is quite a small temple with Amida as its honzon. As well as the Daishi-do there is also a Konpira-do and a Yakushi-do.

Eifukuji is the 4th of a cluster of 6 pilgrimage temples in the area of Imabari, Ehime.

It is located at the base of a small mountain to the south of the city, though it used to be located on top of the mountain with views over the city.

The most noticeable thing for me when I visited at the start of my 35th day walking the pilgrimage was the Enbutsu-do, a strikingly modern building that towers over the temple compound.

Designed by architect Zai Shirakawa, it features very thick walls with angled window openings that allow for some privacy but also allow plenty of light to enter.

It is said that Kobo Daishi performed a ritual on the mountaintop in the early 9th century for peace at sea and afterwards Amida appeared and so he built a temple.

In 859 another monk was travelling from Kyushu to Kyoto with the divided spirit of Hachiman to found Iwashimizu Hachimangu. He thought the mountain here looked like the one where Iwashimizu was to be built and so founded a Hachiman Shrine alongside the temple. Both functioned as the same site.

Until 1868, that is,  when the government separated Buddhas and Kami and the temple was relocated to its current location at the foot of the hill. The shrine still stands on top.

There are some fine carvings, and I was surprised to see a Ta no Kami statue (below). The cart in the first photo was left by a 15 year-old crippled pilgrim whose leg was healed at the temple.

The previous temple was temple 56 Taisanji.

Kaishinji Temple 86 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Kaishinji Temple located on the "Path of Light", a dead straight road that runs almost 1.5 kilometers from Miyajidake Shrine to the sea and which aligns with the sunset twice a year.

The temple was founded in 1923 and enshrined a statue of Kobo Daishi as the honzon.

However, in the 1950's the new head priest enshrined a statue of Bishamonten and built a Bishamonten Hall and this is now considered yje honzon.

It is quite rare to have a Bishamnoten as a hinzon, and as one of the Sebven Lucky Gods, the temple is on the Chikuzen Shichifukujin Pilgrimage.

It is also on the Kyushu Kannon Pilgrimage.

There were numerous tigers around the Bishamnin-do and as far as I can make out it is because of the legend that when Shotoku Taishi successfully fought against the Mononobe Clan, ostensibly over the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, the prayers were answered by Bishamonten at the Hour of the Tiger, on the Day of the Tiger, in the Month of the Tiger, and...... guess what? ....the Year of the Tiger.

I Didn't go into the hall that enshrines the Kobo Daishi statue, but I wish I had done as it seems there are a fine pair of statues flanking the Kobo Daishi.

This was on the last day of my walk along the Kyushu Pilgrimage, and the previous post was on the large Kashii Shrine.