Umi-Mori Art Museum

 

Many visitors to the World Heritage site of Miyajima are curious about the unusual piece of architecture they can see on the hillside of the mainland opposite Miyajima.

technically it is the Umi-Mori Art Museum, but in reality, it is the headquarters of some kind of "new religion".

The giant golden statues sitting atop the structure seem to be Buddhist, 

Founded in 1954, and called, I believe, Byodo Daieikai, it seems to be based on the Lotus Sutra.

I had read that the organization held quite a large and diverse collection of art, so I stopped in on my way to Miyajima.

I was quite disappointed as the only things on exhibit were the collection of perfume bottles,.... not of much interest to me,.... and some paintings by the early 20th century Nihonga painter Takeuchi Seiho,. which were ok.

I had hoped to see some of their Chinese prints and Ukiyo-e. I have heard that since I visited 11 years ago they have done some renovation work and now there are two floors of exhibition space as well as a restaurant and a balcony with great views of Miyajima, and a changing series of exhibitions.

Also finished since I visited is a promenade that features a wide variety of flowers year round,,,,

When I was there, an upper part, resembling a Chinese garden, was finished and pleasant enough.

The buildings draws a lot of indignation from foreign tourists visiting Miyajima, as it seems to interfere with their idea of what Japan should appear like.

However, to my mind, having such a building visible from Miyajima is very much a reflection of real  Japanese culture....

The previous post was on my walk here down the Ota River from Mitakidera.

Yamate Amida-do & Yamate Yakushi-do Temples 78 & 17 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Yamate is the central area of the narrow valley of Sasaguri through which the Tatara River, Main road, and train line runs.

The Amida Hall, number 78 of the Sasaguri Pilgrimage is sometimes known as Gosho-ji, the name of the 78th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

Obviously the Amida is the honzon of the temple, but there are also several other small halls including a Daishi Hall and a Jizo Hall.

There are also numerous Fudo Myoo statues. The Jizo Hall, the first photo of this post, seems to be more popular than the Amida. It is a Higiri Jizo, said to grant wishes on specific dates.

The next temple I visited, very close by, was across the river and back a little. The route I was taking would not be circular, rather almost a figure eight.

The Yakushido has a rather nice Atago Shogun Jizo, pictured below.

A Daishi statue and Yakushi statue are together in the main hall.

The original honzon, a small stone statue, is between them.

Once again, a multitude of Fudo Myoo's...

I've mentioned it before, but for me, the defining feature of this pilgrimage is the vast number of Fudo statues.....

The previous post in this series on my 4 day walk along the amazing Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the mountain temple Ichinotaki, number 40 of the pilgrimage.

Down the Ota River, Colonel Santa, & Kogoijima Island

 

After descending from Mitakidera I reached the Ota River, one of the main rivers passing through Hiroshima.

Not far from where it enters the sea is Miyajima, site of the next pilgrimage temple, so my route was easy,... along the embankment of the river....

First bridge was the one carrying the JR Kabe Line trains from downtown up to what is now  the northern suburbs.

The left-hand bridge is the Ryuo Bridge for pedestrians and cycles. The Shinryuo Bridge for moter traffic is next to it.

The older bridge on the left carries the JR Sanyo Line, while the newer one is for the shinkansen.

Japanese Pampas Grass, or susuki, is one of the major symbols of Autumn in Japan....

Old-style shopping streets all over Japan are increasingly shuttered as modern Japanese shopping habits change...

I was quite impressed with the architecture of the Hiroden Nishi Hiroshima streetcar station.

Built in 2001, trains from here go to Miyajima-guchi Station. Hiroshima has a very large and well-used tram network.

Though still only early November, Christmas advertising has been underway since Halloween.

Passing under the main expressway bridge...

Though now a little over a kilometer from the sea, this little island was originally just offshore.

Now called Kogoijima Island, the area between here and the current shoreline has been reclamied in the 20th century.

The water around the little island is still seawater though and sea fish can be seen in the pool.

Originally it was paired with a smaller outcropping on the shoreline and they were considered a pair of "married islands" The smaller one disappeared to make way for the main road.

This was originally called Okimi Myojin, hence the floating torii..... 

The previous post was on Mitakidera Temple further up the river in central Hiroshima.

The Mountain Trail to Tairyuji Temple

 

After leaving Venus Bridge, I headed north further into the mountains towards Tairyuji Temple, 

Day 4 of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, and its the first time I have left the urban environment.

The Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage is a fairly modern one, being set up in the late 20th century, therefore there are no long established walking routes, although some individual temple, like Tairyuji, are loicated in the mountains and so have always had mountain path routes to reach them.

It is late December, 2017, and while the snow and really cold weather has yet to arrive, Autumn is over and the trees are bare of leaves.

One of the things this means is that the woodland is light .... I suspect in the summer it is dark and shady...

It seems to be a popular walking and jogging trail as I pass several people...

Shojo Ike, a fairly large pond along the trail.

The trail connects with a small mountain road and there is even a cafe-restaurant along the way.

Mountain paths to temples have many statues along the way....

The path brings me to the flight of steps leading up to the Niomon.

The previous post in this series on day of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the Venus Bridge.