Gardens at Chofu Mori Mansion

 

The Mori Mansion in Chofu was finished  in 1903, after 5 years of construction.

In 1902, Emperor Meiji stopped here twice, on his way to Kumamoto and on his return journey.

The mansion was built for Motoshi Mori, the 14th and final Chofu Mori Lord.

It was their main residence until 1918. It was donated to Shimonoseki in 1948 when the family moved to Tokyo.

It was renovated and opened to the public in 1998.

The mansion is fairly large, about 10,000 sq m's, so is worth a visit for those interested in traditional architecture, but the highlight must be the gardens.

There is a large stroll-garden with a pond and also a karesansui section.

Then there is a Shoin garden, a courtyard garden, and a teahouse garden...

The gardens and grounds have plenty of maple trees, so is an excellent Autumn leaves viewing spot, as is the nearby Chofuteien Garden.

I took so many photos while visiting that I have split this post into two parts with the second part having a further 28 photos....

The previous post was on the nearby Kozanji Temple with its National Treasure Buddha Hall and moss garden.

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 It will not be published or made public.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 most recent posts.

Onbara Hachimangu

 

After walking through the small settlement of Onbara on the bank of the Gonokawa River, I stop in at rhe local shrine.

It's a Hachimangu, not surprising, and appears to be a fairly typical local shrine of the area...

However, with a bit of digging I was able to find a few stories in its history.

The Hachimangu was established in 1603, but prior to that the villagers were parishioners of an Amatsu Shrine which is about 4 kilometers upriver and on the opposite bank. That in itself is quite unusual, though Amatsu Shrine was obviously fairly important as it is ranked as a Sannomiya.

For those villagers that couldn't make the journey to Amatsu Shrine, they would gather on this hill and set up altars and perform rituals to worship it from afar, so it looks like the establishing of the Hachimangu was on a site already with spiritual significnce to the villagers.

In the 18th century someone stole the goshintai of the shrine, the object inside the honden that the kami inhabits when visiting. No info is given on what the goshintai was, though it was often a Buddhist statue or sometimes a rock. Nowadays, we are told that goshintai are supposed to be a mirror, though that is a largely modern "tradition". A new goshintai was enshrined. However, in the 19th century the old goshintai was discovered in the grounds so it was enshrined in a new structure named the Old Hachimangu. It now stands next to another small shrine, a Yama Shrine that used to be located at an old mine nearby that closed down.

The previous post in this series on my walk up the Gonokawa River to its source was on my walk into Onbara.

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.

Kozanji Temple 19 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Kozanji is a Soto Zen temple in the old samurai town of Chofu near Shimonoseki.

It was established originally as a Rinzai temple in 1327.

It is the 19th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

Originally called Chofukuji, by the start of the 17th century it had become somewhat dilapidated, but Mori Hidemoto had it reconstructed as a Soto temple and changed the name to Kozanji.

The highlight of the temple is the Butduden, the Buddha Hall, built in 1320. Top photo.

It is the oldest remaining example of Zenshuyo style architecture in Japan and is registered as a National Treasure.

Kozanji has numerous links to the Meiji Restoration. The mound pictured below is a memorial to all those who gave their lives for the Meiji Restoration.

Inside the Butsuden is the honzon of the temple, a Thousand-armed Kannon, as well as numerous other noteworthy statues.

28 statues were carved in the early 16th century as attendants to kannon, and 23 remain today.

Kozanji has a big, ornate two^story gate, but it was enclosed in scaffolding and tarps when I visited.

The honzon is said to have been carved by the famous sculptor Unkei.

In the entrance to the priests quarters is a statue of Idaten.

This Bodhisattva is known as a protector of monasteries....

The previous post in this series on day 25 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pigrimage was on the moss garden here at Kozanji.

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 most recent posts.