Motoyamaji Temple 70 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Temple 70, Motoyamaji, was a very pleasant surprise. Large, with lots to see, but not overcrowded...

The blue walls surrounding much of the compound was interesting and quite striking.

The 5-storey pagoda was started in the late 19th century and not finished until 1910.

The temple was founded by Kobo Daishi in 807. It is said he carved the honzon, a Bato Kannon, Horse-Head Kannon, the only Bato Kannon as honzon on the whole pilgrimage.

The Bato Kannon has two attendants, an Amida and a Yakushi.

It was a powerful temple in the middle ages with 24 branch temples and a territory of 2,000 koku.

The current main hall was built in 1300 and is very elegant. Not surprisingly, considering its age, it is a National Treasure

It survived the ravages of Chosokabe when most other temples did not. The clan that controlled the temple had a pact with Chosokabe, and that may be the reason, but there is a legend that explains the temple's survival.

Chosokabe's soldiers did attack the temple and cut down the head priest. However, when they opened the inner shrine in the main hall, the Amida statue was bleeding, so the samurai fled in fear.

The bell tower and Niomon also survived from that time.

Most of the current buildings date to the early to mid 18th century.

The Niomon is an Important Cultural Property.

These three photos show the temple's guardian shrine. Built in 1547, it has a bark-and-reed roof and is my second-favorite building after the main hall.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Kannonji, Temple 69. It occupies the same site as Temple 68, Jinneiin.

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Cape Uppurui Sunset

Cape Uppurui Sunset

After climbing up on the other side of Uppuriui Bay I came to the Uppurui Windmill Park on Uppurui Peninsula.

Upper Saga Toriimoto Historic Preservation District

 

Saga Toriimoto is a small district at the very edge of Kyoto, up a narrow road leading to the mountain Atago Shrine.

It is one of the historic architectural preservation districts in Kyoto, though I would wager probably the least visited.

In my last post, I looked at two of the 400-year-old thatched buildings still operating as eateries.

This time, some of the other thatched buildings around the same area.

The area was originally farmhouses, but developed into a "shrine town" serving the growing number of pilgrims heading up to Atago Shrine.

Toriimoto means "around the torii", the vermilion first torii on the path up the mountain.

I became quite fascinated by these preservation districts, of which there are more than 120 scattered around Japan.

Some are well-known and very touristy, but many are off the beaten track and, to my mind, a bit more authentic.

click on the "preservation district" tag at the bottom of this post for more of my posts on them.

I believe the tags don't show in the smartphone version of these pages..... 

The previous post in this series on Arashiyama was on the kaiseki restaurants in two of the thatched former farmhouses.

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Uppurui Bay

 

After coming down from Gakuenji Temple I reach the north coast of the Shimane Peninsula at Uppurui Bay.

My way is around the bay to the mountains on the other side where Ichibata Yakushi, the next temple, is situated.

Tye name Uppurui seems a difficult one for many Japanese to read. The double P is unusual. I have heard that it derives from Ainu or ancient Korean.

I once spent two nights on a yacht in Uppurui Bay, sheltering from a typhoon.

On the cape across the bay is a small wind farm. It is said to be one of the biggest in Japan.

While sailing into the bay that time I saw my first flying fish, the prefectural fish. Every

There are several small fishing harbours and one big fishing port.

Apparently Spanish Mackerel, Yellowtail, Sardine, and Horse Mackerel are all landed here as well as a tyoe of seaweed that is well prized.

I climb out towards the Uppurui Windmill Park where I plan to spend the night.

Not sure why they are called windmills..... they are not milling anything.... look like wind generators or wind turbines to me.....

The previous post was on the delightful Gakuenji Temple

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Kasuga Shrine Fuse

 

Fuse is a small fishing village on the East coast of Dogo, the largest of the Oki Islands in the Japan Sea off the coast of Shimane.

I reached it late in the afternoon on my first day walking around the coast of the island.

The shrine in the village is a Kasuga shrine and is said to be older than the mid-16th century. The shrine is most well known for the main path which is directly east and so sunrise can be viewed on the Spring and Autumn equinoxes

Being a branch of Kasuga Shrine, the main kami is Ame no Koyane, seen to be the encestor of the Nakatomi-Fujiwara Clan who pretty much ran Japan for centuries. Curiously, the chigi, clearly visible in the one before last photo, is for a female kami. Also clearly visible is the red oni decorating the end of the roof. A blue one is at the opposite end.

There are numerous other secondary shrines within the grounds with Hachiman and Sumiyoshi being two I could discover the names of.

This is where the rituals and ceremonies for the amazing tree-shrine, Oyama Shrine, nearby take place.

The previous post was on some of the amazing coastline along this section of Dogo.

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