Reviving a Lost Garden Part One

 

At almost 600 meters elevation, high on Mount Taima near Hamada is a wonderful garden, truly off the beaten track.

A shrine was established here in 889 after a monk received an oracle. In 947, a temple, Sonshoji, was established just below the shrine. It had an Eleven-faced Kannon as its honzon.

In 969, further shrines were built and over the centuries the shrine^temple complex grew.

In the early 16th century the shrine^temple complex was burned down during the war between the Ouchi Clan and Amago Clan.

It is believed that in the mid to late 17th century the garden was created.

In 1836 a huge landslide destroyed the compkex.

In 1844 the shrine was rebuilt but at the temple, only the priests' quarters were rebuilt.

In 1868, with the Shinbutsu Bunri edict, the temple was moved to Koyasan.

In 1872 the shrine was destroyed by the Hamada Earthquake and then rebuilt soon after.

In 1942 the great garden scholar and designer Mirei Shigemori "discovered" the garden.

In 1979, Shigemori's son and collaborator, Kando Shigemori visited.

Obviously, by now, all the overgrown vegetation has been removed and the bushes pruned back to reveal the stonework.

The current head priest of the shrine used to be a gardener in Kyoto, and I believe it has been he who has been personally responsible for the revival.....

All the stone used is native to the mountain.

From one edge of the garden are views down onto the coast....

Apparently, some of what appear to be smaller stones are in fact huge boulders buried deeply, inplying that the stone work of the garden must have been built around some fixed features.... There are no Crane or Turtle arrangements, although the uppermost grouping of stones is considered a Horai arrangement.

These photos were taken during a visit to the shrine in the winter of 2009. Next up I will show how the garden now looks.

Some other gardens I've covered recently include the Ryushintei Garden at Sorinji Temple, and the Chofuteien garden, both of which I highly recommend.

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Iwanaga Hachimangu

 

A little further along the road to Akiyoshidai after visiting the Hirohata Hachiman Shrine, yet another large hachiman shrine appeared.

Iwanaga Hachimangu had a very long approach with numerous torii....

It is claimed to be the oldest shrine in the area, being founded in 715.

The curious thing is they say it was enshrined from Hyuga, now Miyazaki. All the other Hachiman shrines in western Honshu at around that time are enshrined from Usa. Usa was the original Hachiman shrine and as the cult spread to Honshu due to the association of Hachiman with the founding of the Great Buddha at Nara, it gradually became a national cult.

However, before it spread to Honshu, it had spread somewhat around Kyushu. I came across a couple of Hachiman shrines in southern Fukuoka that had been established very early on. However, I had not found one in Miyazaki. The head priestess of Usa Hachiman had led an army earlier to suppress "revolt" in the southern part of Kyushu, so maybe that explains it.

Like many shrines, this one has been relocated several times, although the exact dates are unknown. It changed its name to Iwanaga in 1922, but it is unclear what it was called before.

Like other hachiman shrines in the area, the kami selection is Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata princesses.

Within the grounds is a Tenmangu, and an Arajinja enshrining Susanoo.

In the 1980's a small kofun with an unusual stone-lined coffin chamber was excavated nearby. It was relocated the shrine grounds to keep it safe from the expanding limestone mining.

The final photo shows a quite common feature at many shrines..... a naval artillery shell!!...almost certainly dating to just after the Russo-japanese War at the start of the twentieth century.

The previous post was on another nearby hachiman Shrine, Hirohata Hachimangu.

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From the Shimoko River to Yasaka

 

I find it almost impossible to not find beauty somewhere in my view, no matter the place or time. Colours, shapes, angles, shadows, contrast..... everywhere. Of course that doesnt necessarily mean anyone else  sees it. I wonder what is going on in the minds of people who say they are bored. Which is a long-winded way of saying that every kilometer I walk in the backcountry of Japan,... and it has been many, many thousands, there is always something of interest, something to photograph, something that prompts questions...but I am quite sure that they may not be at all interesting to anyone else....

Carrying on up the Shimoko River after visiting the Otoshi Shrine, I passed this unusual house. It seems to have been converted from a kura, the thick-walled storehouses that contained all the treasures of a family to escape the frequent house-burnings. Never did figure out chimneys.....

Passed another of the derelict tunnels for the ghost railway that was never completed....

I then pass under the Hamada Exressway. Like many rural sections of expressway in Japan, it is a simple two lane affair, one in each direction..... and it is a toll road.... costs to use it....

And then another tunnel from the ghost railway, though I believe this one did get some use as a road tunnel for a while....

Around Sano I head off from the Shimoko River as it veers east, and I continue south...

I take a narrow, mountain road over a pass and drop into the valley of the Hamada River. I follow it upstream.

I continue to slowly climb....

It is the second of May, planting time in the paddies.....

I climb out of the Hamada River valley and cross over into the Sufu River valley...

I soon arrive at Sufugawa Dam, and after following the bank of the reservoir for a while, I once again head into the forst and over the mountains and descend into the approach to Yasaka and the next temple

I am now entering an area of the mountainous interior of Iwami that I completely unfamiliar with..... exploring new country,.. something getting harder and harder to do without going further and further from my home...

The previous post in this series on day 8 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on the first part of this days walk from Arifuku.

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Hirohata Hachimangu

 

An hour or so after setting out from my hotel on my walk from Ine to Akiyoshidai I came across the first shrine of the day.

Yet another Hachiman Shrine.

This one was said to be a branch of the original Hachiman Shrine, Usa Hachiman, in what is now Oita. The date given is 732.

The shrine has been at its current site since 1660. It had moved several times before.

In 1221, following the Jokyu War, a new samurai lord took over the area. Unusually, he chose to make this Hachiman shrine his tutelary shrine, rather than establish a new one, which was normal.

The kami are Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata Princesses. This seems to be the norm for Hachiman shrines in this area.

In 1752 a Tenmangu Shrine was established within the grounds....

The main shrine was rebuilt in 1769, and in 1770 the shrine grounds were expanded and reforested.

The previous post was on the walk from Mine to Akiyoshidai, during which I stopped in at this shrine.

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