A Walk Across Akiyoshidai at Sunrise

 

Day 28 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage began high on the Akiyoshidai Plateau, a karst, treeless landscape dotted with limestone pinnacles.

I needed to reach Hagi today, on the Sea of Japan coast, and being mid-winter the days were short so I headed off before sunrise.

The first part of the walk was across the plateau, mostly on some of the many footpaths that criss-cross the plateau.

It is great to have such a long stretch of walking off-road.

The different junctions on the paths are sometimes confusing and not well signed, but it is not so difficult to match the map to the surroundings....

I did not pass another walker in the several hours it took to reach the edge of the plateau and descend into the more normal landscape....

For more details about Akiyoshidai, please see the previous post...

The previous post was on my brief exploration of part of Akiyoshidai the evening before...

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Nakanokawachi Kokuzodo & Nakanokawachi Butsumokuji Temples 24 & 42 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Day 2 of our walk along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, and we are continuing up into the mountains on the south side of the river, main road, and railway line that bisects the area and the pilgrimage.

Number 24, Nakanokawachi Kokuzodo has a memorial stone to the birthplace of Fujii Tosuke, a man who was influential in finishing the construction of this 88 temple pilgrimage in the mid 19th century after the death of Jinnin, the nun were started the project

Many of these smaller "temples" still have the original stone statues that were the honzon. They are all quite small, simple reliefs, with donors' names inscribed on them. They have all been replaced with larger, more elaborate statues. Obviously the local people have been supporting this pilgrimage route since the beginnings.

Many of the other statues that have been added are quite simple and made fairly quickly, at the lower end of the proffesional scale, but this adds something, to my mind at least.

The numbering system is quite weird..... there is no chance to walk the route sequentially...

After 24, the next was number 42, Nakanokawachi Butsumokuji.

The honzon here is a Dainichi.

It has adopted attributes of the Dainichi at  Shikoku temple 42, Buttsumokuji, and is known for protecting livestock.

As with most of these 88 temples, numerous, diverse statues of Fudo Myoo abound...

The previous post in this series on day 2 of my walk along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the nearby  Ninotaki Temple with its two waterfalls

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Akiyoshidai Plateau

Japan Nature

After exiting Akiyoshi-do cavern via the elevator I made the short walk to the observation deck overlooking the plateau.

Mudo-ji Temple 10 Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

After emerging from the forested mountain I come into what is in essence a suburb of Kobe, albeit in a valley separated from Kobe by Rokko Mountain. I cross the Yamada valley to the northern side and find the entrance to Mudo-ji, the tenth temple on the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

The long approach is lined with statues representing the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage temples.

Mossy steps lead up to the compact temple grounds with a bell tower, an elegant main hall, and an imposing, thatched residence.

The origins of Mudo-ji date back to the end of the 6th century, the very early days of Buddhism in Japan, and to the semi-legendary Prince Shotoku Taishi.

Along with his Soga Clan relatives, Shotoku Taishi was in conflict with the Mononobe Clan, and he asked a sculptor to carve a series of statues of Dainichi Nyorai and other Buddhist deities. Upon the defeat of the Mononobe he ordered the construction of seven halls to house the statues and this became Fukuji Temple.

The temple went through numerous changes and by the mid 18th century was in a dilapidated state. A twenty year fundraising campaign led to it being rebuilt in 1752. The main hall and priests' quarters date to that time.

There was a private ceremony going on when I was there so I was not able to enter the main hall, which is a real shame as I found out later that the Treasure House, entered through the main hall, houses 5 Important Cultural Properties.

The 5 ancient statues are a 3-meter-tall statue of Dainichi, the honzon of the temple, a seated Shaka Nyorai, believed to be the oldest of the statues, a seated Amida, a seated Fudo Myoo, and a standing 11-headed Kannon. They are all believed to have been carved in the mid-Heian Period.

There was a small, seemingly fairly new, Goma Hall in which I found a Fudo....

I wish I had been able to see the one in the Treasure Hall...

Immediately adjacent to the temple, and once its guardian shrine, is Wakaoji Shrine, another Important Cultural Property.

It was established in 1297, the current shrine , within its protective outer structure, dates to 1408.

It enshrined Wakaoji Gongen, the mountain guardian of the temple.

In the late 19th century, when the shrine was separated from the temple, the main kami changed to Izanagi.

Mudo-ji is now a Shingon sect temple.

As well as the Kinki Fudo Myoo, the temple is on several other pilgrimages; it's number 12 on the Kobe 13 Buddhas  Pilgrimage, and number 9 on the Settsu Kannon Pilgrimage.

The previous post in this series on day four of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on Shiogahara Pond in the mountains nearby...

if you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.