Shimane Prefectural Office Gardens

 

The Shimane Prefectural Offices are located in the Matsue City, the prefectural capital.

Opened in 1959, they were built adjacent to the inner castle and its moat in what would have been the outer bailey of the castle complex.

Designed by Yasuda Shin, a Shimane-born architect, the building was recently made an Important Cultural Property.

The inner courtyard garden was completed in 1966.

The garden was designed by Shigemori Kando, the oldest son of the greatest 20th century Japanese garden designer Shigemori Mirei.

I found it interesting that the draincovers were incorporated into the raked sand design...

The influence of his father was quite strong.....

Another unusual feature that I found intriguing was that light reflected off the windows and created unnatural shadow patterns

Shigemori Kando later designed the garden at Tottori Prefectural Government Offices, and while some elements are common to both gardens, it is quite different.

If you are visiting the castle and have an interest in gardens, then it is certainly worth a visit, especially as there is no entry fee.

A second garden can be found in another part of the complex.

It is long and narrow and seems to represent the coastline.

The final two photos are stone arrangements in different parts of the park around the offices.

The previous post on gardens in Matsue was on the Meimei-an Teahouse.

From Innoshima Island to Ikuchijima Island

 

I came down the west side of Mount Shirataki and reached the road running along the shoreline of Innoshima Island.

I then headed south to the bridge that would take me over to Ikuchi Island

I have covered the Ikuchi Bridge previously when I walked the Shimanami Kaido, so if you want any specs please check this link.

To get to the path for pedestrians and cycles to access the bridge meant passing under the bridge. Fortunately for pedestrians there was a short-cut so I didn't have to follow the very long and shallow-sloped cycle path.

An unusual little "park" made by someone local methinks.

Ikuchi Bridge only has one level so pedestrians are are in the open and can enjoy the views a bit better.

Once on Ikuchijima I headed around the north coast of the island, avoided the main attraction of the island, Kosanji, and headed towards Kojoiji Temple, my destination.

The last two photos in those post were not at a religious site, rather outside a stonemasons factory....

The previous post in this series on day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the hundreds of statues atop Mount Shirataki.

Yokomineji Temple 60 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

At 745 meters above sea level, Yokomineji, temple 60, is the highest of the pilgrimage temples in Ehime, and the second highest of all the 88 pilgrimage temples.

I visited in February about 11 years ago and in the autumn there had been a major storm that severely damaged the trail up the mountain.

On the lowest slopes of Mount Ishizuchi, Yokomineji is one of the Henro Korogashi.... hard to reach temples, and with the path blocked by storm debris it was even more so ......

Said to have been founded by famed and legendary founder of Shugendo, En no Gyoja, in 651.

Gyoki, nd then a century later Kobo Daishi, also visited.

Almost to the shrine you pass the Furubo Jizo-do. There used to be a small settlement in the area as during the Edo period this was a well travelled road.

Yokomineji has quite a complex history not made easier by the reconfiguring of the Jaoanese religious landscape in the latter half of the 19th century.

When Enno Gyoja founded it he carved a statue of Zao Gongen, the main deity of what is now Shugendo. Later when Kobo Daishi came he carved a Dainichi statue and made it the "main image".

What seems certain is that it was a syncretic site with both kami and Buddhist elements. A report from the 17th century writes of a Zao Gongen main shrine, and a Kaisan-do dedicated to Sekisen, and a hall dedicated to Dainichi and Kobo Daishi.

In early Meiji all the Buddhist elements were removed and a new temple hall built near the Niomonto house them. This was called Omineji.

What was Yokomineji Temple became a branch shrine of Ishizuchi Shrine and a temple at the base of the mountain became the 60th pilgrimage temple.

By 1909 it was reinstated as Yokomineji Temple, though the observant notice that the architecture remains shrine-style.

The statue a few photos above is a Hoshiku Daishi. Holding a sword, I believe this represents Kobo Daishi performing a star ritual when he visited here. It stands on the site of the former Kaisan-do.

I did not spend much time exploring as it was very cold and there didn't seem to be anyone around. I certainly saw no other pilgrimas.

As I was about to leave it started snowing. 

On the way down I stopped in at Tsumashiro Daimyojin Shrine.

The guardian deity of the temple, many of the crude torii had rotted and collapsed.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Koryuji, the 10th bangai temple.