Cutting-ties Fudo Myo at Anyoji Temple

 

Akuenkiri Fudo Myoo is for cutting bad ties and relationships and is a statue at Anyoji Temple in the mountains between Kurashiki and Soja in Okayama.

The sword carried by Fudo, Kurikara, is generally considered to be used to sever one from the attachments that prevent enlightenment, but perhaps the most famous "cutting" Fudo is the wave-cutting Fudo that quelled the storm carrying Kobo Daishi to China.

As well as the Akuenkiri Fudo there are numerous other Fudo's around the temple including this one near tye entrance.

This very small and unusual one was inside a thatched Teahouse.....

Previously I have posted on the Dragon Hall and the Seven Lucky Gods at Anyoji. More to come.

Shaka-do & Myo-o-ji Temples 36 & 37 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

My final stop on day three of my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was a pair of temples sharing the same ground.

Number 36, Shaka-do, was part of another temple but was managed by Myooji temple in the Edo period and then moved here in the Meiji period I believe. The main hall is the only nationally registered Important Cultural Property on Shodoshima.

It is three bays wide and 4 deep and was built in the early 16th century. The honzon, a Shaka Nyorai, the "historical" Buddha is said to have been carved by the famous sculptor Unkei.

 Multiple sources say that Shaka-do is in some way the origin of the Shodoshima pilgrimage, but I can not find details.....

Next door is Myo-O-ji temple, established earlier than the Shaka-do, in the late 13th century and was rebuilt in the late 17th century.

The honzon is a Fudo Myo, said to be carved by Kobo Daishi, although some records suggest Gyoki may have brought it to the island earlier.

Photo 4 is of the Bishamondo attached to Myooji....

Unusually, the statue of Binzaru is inside a shelter and not on the verandah as is more common. It is also much darker than most Binzaru statues.

The previous post in the series was on the large Kameyama Shrine.

The Seven Lucky Gods at Anyoji Temple

 

A giant statue of Bishamonten sits atop the gate into Anyoji Temple near Kurashiki where Bishamonten is the honzon of the temple.

Bishamonten is also one of the Shichifukujin, or Seven Lucky Gods of Japan and so Anyoji has statues of all seven in the grounds as a popular attraction.

Bishamonten is one of three of the 7 Lucky Gods with origins in Hinduism. Benzaiten, photo 5 left, and Daikokuten, photo 4 right, being the other two.

Three of the others have their origins in Taoism, Jurojin and Fukurokuju, photo 3, and Hotei, photos 6, 7, and 8.

The only "native" god is Ebisu, photo 4 left.

The exact origin of this grouping of 7 is murky, though by the Edo period they were a very popular group and a visit to shrines for the Shichifukujin at new year is the origin of the Hatsumode tradition nowadays.

Anyoji was part of a major Shinto-Buddhist complex in ancient times, and there is a lot to see here. The previous post in the series was on the Ryujindo in front of the main entrance.

Meteor Plaza

Meteor Plaza

Meteor Plaza is located in the port of Shichirui on the Shimane Peninsuka. Now part ofMihonoseki which itself is now part of nMatsue City.

Its primary function is as a ferry terminal operating car ferries and high-speed ferries to the Oki Islands.

Meteor Plaza was designed by Shimane-born architect Shin Takamatsu and opened in 1995

As well as the ferry terminal the complex also houses a saltwater swimming pool and a museum and performance space, although I am unsure how often the pool opens nowadays.

The museum is devoted to the meteor that struck the earth a few kilometers away in 1992.

The cone of the structure represents the meteor's trajectory, and the weird curved shape is the shape of the meteor itself.

The meteor crashed  through a local house and embedded itself in the earth. The inhabitants, who were home at the time, didn't notice it until next morning as the night was very noisy with a thunderstorm

Inside the big space is a kind of auditorium that puts on a light show and a short movie about the meteor.

When we visited we were the only people there so it was kind of eerie.

The meteor itself is on display inside the cone structure. It weighs 6.8 kilos and is just over 25 cms long.

The architecture appeals to me and I have posted on many other Shin Takamatsu buildings, like his ferry terminal in Nagasaki, his public onsen in Tamatsukuri, a Buddhist Hall on a mountain, and of course, his Sand Museum in his hometown.

The curved interior of the performance space offered me plenty of opportunity for the kind of geometric abstract photos I am partial to...

Goods From Japan

Ryujindo at Anyoji Temple

Anyoji Temple

Anyoji is a large, ancient temple complex in the mountains north of Kurashiki and south of Soja in Okayama.

In front of the temple is a large irrigation pond with a "floating" building that in many other places would be for Benzaiten.

Here it is a Ryujindo, or Dragon Hall enshrining a Ryuzu Kannon.

Ryuzu or Ryuto Kannon is known in English as the Dragon Head Kannon and is one of the traditional 33 forms of kannon in Japan and probably came from China. Ryzuzu Kannon is sometimes depicted riding a dragon, but never depicted with a dragon head, unlike the Horsehead Kannon,Bato Kannon, which is sometimes depicted wearing a horsehead hat,

Anyoji Temple was a big surprise to me and I took a lot of photos so will do several more posts on it ...

The previous post in this series on day 7 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on nearby Karube Shrine, famous for its breast ema.

Goods From Japan

Mishima Shrine Kawakudari

 

Kawakudari is a small settlement on the Gonokawa River between Imbara and Kawamoto. I arrived here  towards the end of my 7th day walking the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage, ready to catch the bus downriver to my home.

The village shrine was established in 1394 by the son of the first Iwami-Ogasawara Clan lord to enshrine Mishima Daimyojin. The main kami is Oyamazumi whose head shrine is on Omishima Island between Honshu and Shikoku, and I believe Mishima shrines derive from the main one in Shizuoka.

The tengai inside indicates that in earlier times kagura would have been performed here, but seems to not be in use nowadays. In the grounds is a small kasuga shrine and an Inari shrine, quite possibly moved here from nearby early in the twentieth century.

The previous post in the series was on Chokoji Temple, the 10th on the pilgrimage.