Chofuteien Garden

Chofuteien Garden

Strong, early morning Winter sunlight. Not a whisp of a cloud in the sky. Not a slightest breeze to disturb the mirrored surface of the water. Autumn colours in full splendour. What great fortune to encounter all these conditions at the same time when visiting Chofuteien Garden.

Chofu, a former castle town not far from Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, was a base of the Mori Clan and though not so well known or visited is actually a delightful place for a visit.

Chofuteien is a large stroll-type garden that opened to the public in 1993. 

These photos are from a visit I made on November 27th, 2014, on my 24th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

I had been here before in the late spring when everything was green, but the autumn colors were really spectacular.

It is on the site of the former manor of Nishi Yukinaga, the most senior of the Mori vassals

In the middle of the 31,000 sq meter garden is a large pond, with koi, and a couple of bridges over it as well as stepping stones.

There is a small teahouse looking over the pond and a large summer house as well as a couple of white-walled storehouses, one of which hosts exhibitions.

The path heads up into the woods to a waterfall and heads back down to the storehouses through a bamboo grove and areas planted in a variety of seasonal flowers.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on temple 18, Sorinji.

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Inasa Beach & Izumo Myths

 

Up before the sun on the longest day of the year, I left my beach  campsite and started up towards Taisha.

Looking back up the beach towards where I started yesterday, Mount Sanbe is clearly visible in the predawn light.

I have one more small rivermounth to cross, the Hori, before my way up to Inasa Beach is along the debris-strewn, concrete-protected beach....

At Inasa Beach, sunrise illuminates the most famous landmark,... Benten Island.

Until fairly recently it was still a true island, surrounded by water at low tide, but now the beach has built up and the island is accessible at except at very hight tides...

The small shrine on the island was to Benten,.... otherwise known as Benzaiten, a Hindu deity brought to Japan. with esoteric Buddhism and then adopted as a kami as well as a Buddhist deity.

She is the ony female among Japan's Seven Luck Gods, but in early Meiji she was replaced in the shrine by a "purely Shinto" deity, Toyotamahime.

The beach and Bentenjima have become a "powerspot", and later in the day will be crowded with tourists, but at this time I am alone.

The long beach that sweeps from here to the area of coastline below Mount Sanbe is, for most of its length, known as Nagahama... Long Beach. According to the Kunibiki myth, it was a rope used by the kami to hold the land now known as the Shimane Peninsula to the mainland of Izumo after it was "pulled" from several other sites including the Korean Peninsula. It is believed the myth explains a series of migrations into the Izumo area, or the extension of Izumo influence to those areas.

Inasa beach is also where, every November, "all the kami of Japan" arrive for their annual meeting. Actually it is one of many spots where the kami are said to arrive, but the myth has come to simplified.

The beach is also home to the Kuniyuzuri myth, whereby Izumo hands over rule of Japan to the descendants of Amaterasu, the current lieage of Yamato rulers.

Such a major national myth would you think be a major site, but actually it is a small rock, on private property, tucked away behind the beach.

The previous post in this series on my deep exploration of the Sea of Japan coastline was on the solstice sunset the evening before...

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Sorinji Temple 18 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Sorinji Temple is a Rinzai Zen temple on the outskirts of Ube on the south coast of Yamaguchi.

It is temple 18 on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The main hall, top photo, enshrines an Amida.

The second honzon, a Nyoirin Kannon, is enshrined in the Kannon-do, pictured above.

The temple was established in 1670 on the site of a derelict temple, Fusaiji, by Fukuhara Hirotoshi, a vassal of the Mori who ruled the area.

The garden that was attached to the old temple was restored .

The previous post was on the amazing garden at the temple, believed to be the oldest garden in Yamaguchi.

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