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.

Hofukuji Temple in Soja

 

Hofukuji Temple is an historic Zen temple in Soja, Okayama.

It is most well known as being the temple where Sesshu trained as a child.

Sesshu, or Sesshu Toyo, was born around 1420 to a samurai family in what is now Soja City.

He went on to become a zen monk and one of the greatest Japanese painters.

He is also known for his gardens.

The most famous story connected to his time at Hofukuji was the story of Sesshu and the Rat

It is not known exactly when the temple was founded, but was originally of the Tendai Sect.

In 1232 it was converted into a Rinzai Zen temple, one of the first in the area.

It received Imperial patronage and grew powerful with more than 50 sub-temples and 300 branch temples at its peak.

In 1575 almost the whole temple was burned down during the Bitchu War, but the 3-story pagoda survived. It has been reliably dated to 1376 and is an Important Cultural Property and the oldest structure still standing here.

The rest of the temple was restored during the Edo Period. The main hall dates to 1735.

Other treasures include the 15th century temple bell, and several silk paintings.

There are two small gardens, a karesansui raked sand one, and a small pond garden.

Hofukuji is a great spot for autumn foliage.

At this time, the Hojo, the Abbots living quarters, are open to the public and paintings by Sesshu and other items relating to Sesshu's time at the temple are on display.

On this visit I was at the start of my 7th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The previous post in the series was on Shorenji Temple in Takahashi.

Sesshu is one of my favorite garden designers, and over the years I have visited almost all of his gardens that still exist, but have not posted many on this blog.

His biggest garden is in Yamaguchi and I did recently post a lot of photos of it in full autumn foliage.

Itsutsuji Fudo

 

Mount Fudo is only 350 meters high but has some of the best views in the whole of the Kunisaki area.

It is a rocky outcropping like many in the area and is fairly typical of the kind of spot that yamabushi are attracted to.

The main hall enshrines Fudo Myoo, and is also fairly typical of the Kunisaki area in that it is built into a cave.

There is a smaller hall built into another small cave and other statues scattered around the not easily accessible cliff faces .

I can find very little information about it except that it is considered part of the Kyu Sentoji Temple complex lower down the slope, so may date back as far as the 9th century. However, the buildings are in good condition and must have been reconstructed fairly recently.

It is, of course, part of the old Rokugo Manzan Yamabushi Pilgrimage route that is now closely followed by the Kunisakihanto Minemichi Long Trail that I am following on this first section of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage.

Just below is the statue Another Time by Antony Gormley that I posted about last time.

Bring a little higher than the statue the views are slightly more expansive.

As well as Himejima Island just off the coast, on a clear day Yamaguchi on Honshu is visible.

Shorenji Temple Takahashi

 

When I first came to Japan I was quite intrigued by temples and even large houses that had walls that reminded me of Japanese castles. I later learned that surrounding some castles some buildings would have been incorporated into a defensive system, and that some temples were actually armed institutions, but mostly it was due to steep slopes requiring retaining walls.

However, Shorenji Temple in Takahashi was built as a defensive structure but masqueraded as a temple because of the laws at the time.

During the Edo Period the Tokugawa Shogunate decreed that each domain could only have one castle and that all samurai must reside in the castle town built around the castle.

Also the decrees governing repairs to castle were very strict and in most cases severely limited the daimyo in what they could do.

Shorenji Temple was re-constructed on this sitein 1657 as a defensive structure to protect the southern approach to Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, but as it was a temple they seem to have gotten away with it. It was originally founded in 815 and was located in a different area. The Kannon Hall has a ceiling and door that came from a boat used by the Lord of Okayama Castle in the invasion of Korea in 1592.

The previous post in this series was on Tairyuji Yakushi Temple next door.