Sakagawa Shrine to Itoga Inari Shrine Over The Itoga Toge Pass

 

After leaving Yuasa I continued north on the Kumano Kodo Kiiji Trail, first up river and then into the mountains.

First stop was Sakagawa Shrine, site of the Sakagawa Oji.

The main kami enshrined here are Izanami, Susano, and Hayatama. 

Versions of the three kami of Kumano,...... not surprising

From here a small, narrow road that later becomes a track, then a trail, heads up towards Itoga Pass.

I am heading into "orange" country. While oranges are grown in many places in Japan, in the mountains in this area the crop dominates....

Beacuse so much of the natural forest has been cut down to make way for the orange orchards, there are more views over the surrounding area....

The path is not so steep

I believe that nowadays a few more people are walking this section of the Kumano Kodo, but back in 2016 when I walked it, I didn't pass a single other walker/pilgrim.

Orange farmers tend to work on very steep slopes, so the preferred method of carrying things is small, motorized monorails. Construction workers also use such things when working on steep slopes.

Itoga Pass, 190 meters above sea level, used to have a couple of teahouses servicing the multitudes of pilgrims who passed this way in the Edo Period.

The way down to the Arida River is steep.

This was the end of March, so the colours are not of approaching Autumn but the pink and red of cherry blossoms forming.....

I very much enjoyed this section of the Kumano Kodo..... I found the most popular section, the nakahechi, a little bit too over-touristed, somewhat pretentious, and too much of it covered in sugi tree farms.....

Coming into Itoga on the south bank of the Arida River, I spied Itoga Inari Shrine, so headed over to investigate. The previous post in this series on my walk along the oldest pilgrimage route in Japan, the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, was on the birthplace of soy sauce, Yuasa.

Mitakidera Temple 13 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage Part 1 Down Below

 

Mitakidera is a real hidden gem in Hiroshima. Tucked away in a narrow, steep, valley, it is only a few kilometers from the epicenter of the atom bomb blast, but was mostly unscathed.

There are many things to see in the steep climb up to the main hall, the first being theTahoto-style pagoda.

This was not here until 1951 when it was donated to the temple as a memorial to the bomb victims.

Until then, it was located at Hiro Hachiman Shrine near Yuasa in Wakayama.

It was built in the 1520's and has many colourful carvings that are worth checking out.

Mitakidera is said to have been founded in 809 by Kobo Daishi.

The honzon of Mitakidera is a Kannon, but also an unusual triple deity Sanki Daigongen, more of which in the next post.

Mitaki means three waterfalls, named after the three small waterfalls within the grounds.

Interestingly each is from a different souirce.

One of the many tsukubai, water basins, within the temple.

Mitakidera is known for its autumn foliage. I was here in early November, so they were just starting.

The Soshin Kannon Hall, built in the Edo Period and renovated in early Meiji.

Theer are so many things to see, and I took so many photos, that I have split this post into two parts...

Founders Garden..... not sure if this refers to only the major founders of this temple, or Shingon Buddhism in general. Obviously, Kobo Daishi is here..... Is it four variations of Kobo? Four monks or abbots connected to Mitakidera,... or 4 Shingon Patriarchs?

Behind the group of statues is Komaga Falls, the lowest of the three...

Incidentally, water from the three falls is used in the Peace Ceremony every year at the Peace Park and Museum.

From here the path leads up to the Bell Tower, which did suffer damage during the bomb blast.

There are many, many statues along the path. Quite a few are Kannons.

I think these are some of the Rakan.

Next you pass a small thatched teahouse and garden.

This is the Fudaraku Garden and Teahouse.

Unfortunately, it only opens during the fall foliage season.

The garden was built in the 1950's by the famous garden designer Mirei Shigemori.

Behind it is Bon no Falls, the second of the three.

Next I will post on the upper part of the temple. The previous post was on the Brush Museum in Kumano.

The second part on Mitakidera, with 30 more photos is here.

Jodoji & Jizoji Temples 43 & 45 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Temples 43 and 45 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage occupy the same site.

Jizoji, number 45, was a small temple not far away that because of a decreasing amount of parishioners decided to merge with Jodoji, and is now the Jizo Hall at that temple.

Jodoji has a delightful thatched Shoin that dates from the early Edo Period that was restored in the 1970's

Th3 main hall of Jodo-ji is made of concrete but is surprisingly elegant, with the concrete surfaces left untreated 

The honzon of Jodoji is an Amida Buddha.

The honzon of Jizo-ji is, not surprisingly, a Jizo. It is noted for being a Jizo for protection against fire.

I was unable to find out the identity of the small shrine in the grounds.

As well as the thatched Shoin, the other interesting thing for me were the Onigawara ...

There were three distinct designs....

Theprevious post in this series on day 4 of my walk along the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was on temple 42, Nishinotaki

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