Vacation 2011 Day 17 to Essouira

We left Marrakesh in the early afternoon and headed 200k almost directly west until we hit the Atlantic and Essouira. It was my first time here and I was very impressed. Instead of the red of marrakesh, here everything was white.

Like in Marrakesh, fresh squeezed orange juice was abundant and cheap.

Essouira is one of the best anchorages on the Moroccan Atlantic coast.... Phoenician, Carthaginians and Romans all had settlements here in ancient times. The harbor is filled with funky wooden fishing boats of all sizes.

Essouira is now a very popular tourist resort so the narrow, traffic-free alleys were filled with art and craft shops.

The huge stone wall of the Portugese fort still surrounds the old town

The old town has a main plaza but mostly consists of a maze of narrow alleys and lanes...

Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art revisited

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art sits on the waterfront in Kobe and was constructed in 2002 as part of the cities post-earthquake revitalization.

Earlier I posted on one of the features of the architecture, the spiral staircase

The museum primarily consists of 3 glass structures each with an overhanging roof. The 3 structures are set on a base of white granite with steps that lead down to the waterfront.

The museum was designed by Tadao Ando and has more than a passing resemblance to his Fort Worth Museum he built a little later.

Shikoku 88 Temple 13, Dainichiji

Temple 13 has the same name as temple 4, Dainichiji. It is the first of the 88 temples located in Tokushima City.

The main deity is kannon, and there is a nice statue of her in the grounds. Legend has it that Kukai had a vision of the Dainichi Nyorai while doing a goma ritual nearby and then founded the temple.

Originally part of a shrine-temple complex it was originally named Ichinomiyaji after the shrine which is just across the road, Ichinomniya. The temple and shrine were officially separated after shinbutsu bunri and the temple buildings date from the late Meiji period.

There is a nice statue of Kurikara, a dragon wrapped around a sword. Associated with Fudo Myo, kurikara statues are often found at ascetic sites, waterfalls etc. The most common association of Kurika and Fudo Myo is in a legend that has Fudo transforming into a dragon to consume the sword which was a manifestation of a heretic.

Leading the blind to the aquarium

Recently some of my photos have been used in a publication dealing with access for visually-impaired people.

The photos were taken from an earlier post, Leading the blind, on the tactile floor markers used as guides.

While scouring through my files looking for the originals I came across this sequence of photos of the same subject. All of them were taken at Aquas, our local aquarium.

I find it intriguing that something designed for those with poor or no sight could be so visually striking.

I also like them because it is very easy to photograph them and have them look like the paintings I used to do back in the day......

Fudo Myo o of Shikoku

Of all the Buddhist deities in Japan I think Fudo Myoo is my favorite. Associated strongly with Shingon its not surprising that statues of Fudo Myoo are plentiful on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

One of the fascinations is with the diversity of representations, from statues executed by artists to cruder images made by "folk". These first two are both found at temple 1, Ryozenji.

This rather unusual one is found at Temple 2, Gokurakuji, and Fudo Myoo is accompanied by a pair of attendants, Kongara and Seitaka.

The flames behind Fudo Myoo in this fairly modern sculpture are carved in an unusual way. It is located at temple 7, Jurakuji. The flames represent the purification of the mind by the burning away of all material desires.

This modern version which stands along the entrance way to temple 12, Shosanji. What is unusual about this one is that both his "fangs" are pointing down. Usually one is up and one is down.

Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

I'm about halfway through walking the Izumo 33 kannon pilgrimage. There are hundreds of 33 Kannon pilgrimages in Japan, though probably the oldest and most well known is the Saigoku Pilgrimage up in Kansai. The Izumo pilgrimage was founded, like many of the others, around the middle of the Edo period, the time pilgrimages really became popular among common folk.

I havent measured it yet but my guess is it is about 300k in length, possibly longer. Many of the temples are uninhabited and in fairly remote locations. Many are mountaintop temples and therefore there is a lot of ascending and descending to do.

There are some stunning views especially across the OkuIzumo region. There is little in the way of pilgrim infrastructure. I have found no signs along the road and there are no rest huts, though I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that temple 9, Mine-Ji, had a tsuyado for pilgrims. Stores are few and far between, though the route does pass through the urban areas of Izumo City and Matsue City. Occasionaly the route follows main roads, but most of the route is along very narrow, mountain roads with very little traffic.

I recently discovered a map of the old Iwami 33 Kannon pilgrimage!!!!! so once I finish the Izumo 33 that is what I will walk next....... and then the Chugoku 33 Kannon.... and then the Shodoshima 88... and then,,,,

Iiyama Hachimangu

The Iiyama Hachiman shrine is located in Fukawa, now a part of Nagato City, Yamaguchi, and is the main shrine of the area.

It was established in 772 and moved to its present location in 807. In the 15th Century the Mori Clan who had taken over the area from the Amago greatly expanded the shrine, and I suspect this is when it was turned into a Hachiman shrine

Being a Hachiman Shrine the main kami enshrined here is Ojin along with his father Emperor Chuai, mother Empress Jingu, and the 4th being Emperor Nintoku his son. usually the 4th kami at a Hachiman shrine is Himegami, Ojin's "wife".

Also enshrined here are 3 unamed female kami and I suspect they were the original kami of the shrine. Hachiman did not spread around the country until the samurai rose to power many centuries after the shrines founding.

I suspect that the 3 female kami may well have been the Munakata Sisters. As "daughters" of Susano, and hailing from north Kyushu, it is believed the Izumo area and north Kyushu were connected in an alliance and as northern Yamaguchi is halfway between those two places it would make sense.

Seen along the way

One of the pleasures of walking alone is the opportunities to encounter other creatures. On the second day of my Shikoku Pilgrimage I came across this kamakiri, Praying Mantis. All the ones I had seen before were green and I have no idea why this one was brown, Maybe it was old, maybe it was male,.... more info on kamakiri can be found here

This little frog was ensconced in the coin-return lever of a drinks vending machine. I used the correct change so didnt need to disturb it.....

While taking a rest at Fujiidera another kamakiri explored my backpack.

While enjoying the view from my campsite this pair of grasshoppers/crickets/locusts..... having some difficulty identifying exactly what they are. Whatever they are, what they are doing is obvious enough. One of the species, called batta in Japanese, was the inspiration for the kids TV show character Kamenrider. Other sources describe them as Inago, a very popular food source in past times, though still available nowadays, most japanese have not eaten them.

A Plethora of Phalli

There are literally thousands of ceramic votive phalli at Mara Kannon Shrine in Tawarayama, a small onsen town in the mountains of northern Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Mara is crude slang for the male member, and Kannon is the Buddhist goddess of mercy but now a torii stands in front so it is classifies as a shrine.

The phalli are left by people who are praying to have a child, so it is known as a fertility shrine now, but it has a rather macabre origin which I will explain in a later post.....

Fertility shrines are a pet interest of mine and though the vast majority of them disappeared in the early Meiji Period there are still quite a few hidden away in the backwaters of rural Japan...

Vacation 2011 Day 17 last morning in Marrakesh

Sunrise from the roof of Hotel Ali on our last morning in Marrakesh.

We had a few hours to wait for the van that was going to take us to Essouira on the coast so I tagged along with friends who went shopping.

We didnt go to the souks, rather to the upmarket tourist shops that offered a shopping experience more comfortable to those who didnt like haggling. The prices were corespondingly higher.

I personally take no pleasure in shopping so I just wandered around snapping photos....

The red color of Marrakesh dominates everywhere..... and the bright sun created strong shadows..... kind of hard not to take good pictures.....