Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Ichikan-kyo on Mount Shirataki

 


Mount Shirataki is a 227 meter high mountain in the north of Innoshima, one of a group of islands un the Seto Naikai, the Inland Sea between Hiroshima and Shikoku.


With outcroppings of bare rock, it was exactly the kind of place that yamabushi used to practise their austerities in what became known as Shugendo.


It also offered great views over the surrounding waters and channels between the islands and so the Murakami Clan, who used  Innoshaima as one of their bases, built a small Kannon Hall near the top and used it as a watchtower.


There are several small shrines and halls scattered around the summit.....


But the biggest remains the cluster of buildings around the Kannon-do.


Behind the Kannoin-do a path leads up to the observation tower on the very summit, and here are found about 700 statues, including the 500 Rakan I posted about previously.


As a nod to its Yamabushi history, there is a triad of Tengu relief carvings....


Almost all the statuary on the mountaintop is owed to one man, Denroku Kashiwara.


He was born on the island in 1781. He became relatively wealthy as a merchant,


At the age of 42 he is said to have attained enlightenment and practised zazen on the mountaintop.


With a disciple and stonemasons from Onomichi he began erecting statues in 1823 but seriously began a few years later.


He founded a new religion that was named Ichikan-kyo which is no longer active.


Ichikan-kyo combined Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, and Christianity, with Christianity itself being outlawed.


In 1828 he was "interrogated by domain authorities but released.


He died shortly afterwards, generally believed to have been poisoned by the authorities.


His disciples carried on and all the statues were completed in 1830.


I visited on my way to the next island to visit the next temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, so came up the eastern side of the mountain,


I left down the western slope which is the main entrance and so passed through the Nio gate when leaving.


The previous post was on the 500 Rakan statues on the mountain, and the post before that was on the 360 degree views from the mountain.



Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Shointei Garden Tsuwano

 


Saronoki is a comoex of buildings in the old castle town of Tsuwano, known as a "Little Kyoto".


Mostly a souvenir store Saranoki also has a fast food restaurant with ice cream, and a more traditional restaurant and coffee shop with views of a traditional garden known as Shointei.


The property is inside what was the samurai quarter of the town, and this site was the residence of the highest-ranking retainer of the local lord.


The owner of the establishment was kind enough to take around some of the private, family areas of the complex and so we were able to viewthe garden from many other angles.
 

It is claimed that the garden has some kind of national recognition,though as a scenic spot or what I don't know,


In fact none of the sources I use for traditional garden information has any info at all.


The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the Morijuku Museum and its gardens,,,










Sunday, July 6, 2025

500 Rakan of Mount Shirataki

 


The top of 226-meter-high Mount Shirataki on Innoshima Island in the Inland Sea between Hiroshima and Shikoku is covered with 700 Buddhist statues.


500 of them are of the rakan, or arhats, said to be disciples of the historical Buddha.


With its rocky outcroppings, Mount Shirataki is believed to have been a site favored by Yamabushi, the shugendo ascetics who practised their austerities in the mountains.


Later, the Murakami Clan established a Kannon Hall on the mountaintop and is used it as a lookout over the surrounding waters.


The rakan, however, along with most of the other statues, were put here in the early 19th century.


A man named Hashiwabara Denroku founded a new religion based on elements of Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, and Christianity.


Betwen 1827 and 1830 he and a discile together with stonemasons from Onomichi carved 500 rakan statues.


The vast majority were not complete statues, rather relief carvings.


They were also fairly crude and lacking the refinement of many rakan.


Therefore the idea that you will be able to recognize the face of someone you know within the 500 figures is a little harder to realize.


There are about 200 other statues on the mountaintop and I will cover them in the next post, and also a little more detail on the unusual cult and its founder.


Some posts on 500 rakan at other sites include Sennyoji Temple in Kyushu, and at RakanjiTemple at Iwami Ginzan.