Nishinotaki Ryusui Temple 42 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

I arrived at Nishinotaki Temple via the mountain footpath that ran from temple 41, Bukkokusan, so I didn't see the quite dramatic entry approach until I left.

Nishinotaki epitomizes all that is so great about the Shodoshima Pilgrimage:- a cave, fantastic views, and lots of Fudo Myoo....

The entrance to the small cave is beside main hall.

Inside is a sacred spring, and according to the various legends  it concerns a dragon that attacked a local village and was pacified and confined in the cave resulting in the sacred spring today.

The honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

A forest fire in 1970 destroyed all the buildings.

The Goma-do is a vermillion, concrete structure with the best views... photo 17 below

A little further up the mountain is a Fudo statues with attendants... photo 14 below.

There are several other Fudo statues including the one on the altar in the goma-do photo 11 below

For those who come by car there is a long staircase lined with lanterns

Nishinotaki is the okunoin of temple 33, Choshoji, which I visited the day before. It had a lovely karensansui grounds.

The previous post was on temple 41 Bukkokusan.

500 Rakan at Buttsuji Temple

 

The statues of the 500 Rakan at Buttsuji Temple are all made of stone and seem to be fairly recent in origin.

Not sure how many there are, certainly not close to 500, but there is space for more to be added and a couple seem to be almost new.

What I had not seen before is that each figure was named.

Also, to the left of the name was the name of the person who had donated the statue....

Nothing more to add, so please peruse the photos....

The previous post was on the gardens here at Buttsuji.....

Next I will look at the temple itself......

Fukuoka City Museum

The Fukuoka City Museum is located in the Momochi district, an area of land reclaimed from the sea in western Fukuoka City.

The wide and spacious approach has two large areas of shallow water, which makes for great reflections.

The smallest pond had some trees around it and so offered another striking scene.

It was opened in 1990 and was designed by the AXS Satow Company.

There is a large, stand-alone arch which is purely decorative, but lines up with a similar arch at the entrance to the museum.

This makes for a very grand and monumental approach.

The main structure has a central reception hall with two main exhibition halls on either side.

These two halls are completely glazed on the exterior, and so also make for great photos.

The museum has permanent displays that showcase the history and culture of the region as well as changing special exhibitions.

Probably the most famous object on display is the gold seal given by the Chinese Emperor to the "King of Na"

I didn't go in, but reports speak very highly of the exhibits, especially considering the low entry fee of only 200 yen.

Fukuoka has a lot of interesting and innovative modern architecture, so I will be posting a lot from there for a while.