A Delightful Early Morning Walk in Susaki

 

On day 19 of my walk along the Shikoku Pilgrimage I left the northern part of Susaki where I had spent a restful night in a business hotel. I slept out a lot on the pilgrimage, stayed in Zenkanyado and Tsuyado when I could, and then every now and then splurged for a room in a hotel.

Susaki was the biggest town I had been in since leaving Kochi City and it was a glorious autumn morning as I headed towards the extra bangai temple of  Daizenji.

The things that strike my eyes and lead me to taking a snap vary wildly, though strong compositions work....

I stopped in at a couple of small shrines as I came into Susaki proper. Susaki now covers quite a wide area but the train station near my hotel last night was Onogo. I passed Oma station before arriving near Susaki Station.

As I started to ascend the slope towards the temple the views of Susaki Bay opened up

As was common on the vast majority of days while walking these pilgrimages I was filled with gratitude for what had passed and excitement at what was to come....

The previous post in this series on the delights to be found between the temples was on the walk from Uranouchi Bay to Susaki.

To Mihara Castle Ruins

 

There is not a lot left of Mihara Castle, but what is left is somewhat striking.

I arrived in Mihara at the end of day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and took a ferry from Ikuchijima Island after having visited temple number 11 Kojoji, with its marvellous 15 century National Treasure pagoda.

Mihara is quite a busy little port with numerous ferries servicing the islands of the Inland Sea and even across to Shikoku. There is also some shipbuilding.

The castle was built in 1567 and greatly expanded over the following decades. It was built on a couple of small islands in the mouth of the Nuta River. At high tide it appeared to be floating on the sea and was known as the "floating castle".

The base for the tenshu is pretty much all that remains now, and it was built during expansion in 1595, though no tenshu was built. It was a pretty large cattle measuring 1 kilometer by 600 meters and had 14 gates and 32 yagura.

It was the easternmost fortification for the Mori Clan and the important Sanyodo highway passed through the outer fortifications.

In the Edo Period it was controlled by the Asano Clan since 1619 and was a branch castle of the Hiroshima Domain.

In the early Meiji Period most of the buildings were dismantled and sold as lumber. In 1894 with the construction of Mihara Station much of the stonework was taken away and used in the construction of Itozaki Port. Land reclamation moved the seashore further away and the final straw was the expansion of Mihara Station for the Shinkansen in 1975.

The previous post in this series on the Chugoku Pilgrimage was Kojoji Temple and its ancient pagoda.

Yama Shrine Jobutsu

 

Many of the shrines scattered around the Kunisaki Peninsula are simply called Yama Shrine,.... Mountain Shrine.

This Yama Shrine is about 5oo meters west of Jobutsuji Temple, one of the temples of Rokugo Manzan, the religious system based on the mountains of the Kunisaki Pennsula and also temple number 3 on the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I was following on this visit.

It's a fairly substantial local shrine, and fairly typical for the shrines in the Kunisaki Peninsula.

There was no shrine immediately adjacent to Jobutsuji, so I am guessing that is the shrine that is linked to that temple.

Unusually there were no Nio guardians, though there were a pair of wooden zuijin.

What was unusual was the relief carving that appears to show the Three Monkeys at the bottom and then an angry figure over a pair of men apparently engaged in cock fighting.

Cock fighting was common in Japan since ancient times, both among the elite and commoners. A statue showing cock-fighting is at Tokei Shrine in Tanabe on the Kumano Kodo.

The photo below shows an unusual carving on a fan-shaped rock in a wall. I have actually seen that before but am unaware of any meaning.

The previous post was on Jobutsuji Temple.

After leaving Yama Shrine my route was over the mountain ridge towards the next temple, Jinguji. The Kunisaki Hanto Minemichi Long Trail I was following roughly followed the historical shugendo pilgrimage route around the peninsula. In places the trail follows roads, but here it was literally invisible. I was able to guess where the route was through the  sugi tree plantation that now passes for forests in many places in Japan.. At the top it was necessary to use chains to climb over the top of the ridge.

Kojoji Temple 11 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

The 11th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage is located on an island in the Inland Sea between Hiroshima and Shikoku.

Kojoji is a Soto Zen temple that was founded in 1403, though at the time it was founded as a Rinzai Zen Temple.

It is said to have been founded by the Zen Master Daido who founded Buttsuji, incidentally the next temple on the pilgrimage.

At the height of its power it was home to 100 monks.

It fell into disuse but was revived in the early 17th century when it was converted to Soto.

Some of the temple buildings burned down in early Meiji and others were dismantled.

Only the Pagoda, gate, bell tower and kitchen remained.

In 2010, a new Main Hall was built.

The star of the temple is the pagoda dating back to 1432 and is rightly registered as a National Treasure.

My understanding and recognition of historical Japanese architectural styles and details is somewhat limited, but most sources mention that the pagoda is in Zen style that includes various Chinese elements.

Kojoji is a little off the beaten track, and other than the pagoda there is not actually a lot to see, however if you are visiting nearby Kosanji then it might be worth a look.

The previous post in the series was on the walk from Innoshima Island to Ikuchijima Island.

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.