Sunrise wallk to Dainichi-ji Temple 94 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Sunday January 5th 2014. Day 56 of my walk around  Kyushu on the Kyushu Pilgrimage. This will be the last day where I base myself in Kurume, an interesting town that I had never heard of before coming here but which has been my home away from home as I have explored the region.

As I am walking across the bridge to Nagatoishi on the north side of the river the sun comes up behind me.

 I find the first temple, Dainichi-ji, easily enough and it is yet another structure indistinguishable from a house. The ground floor is two open car parking spaces, the second containing some statues and the entrance to the stairs that I presume lead up to the “main hall”.

It was founded in 1985 and at that time was surrounded by rice paddies, though now it has become a suburb of Kurume. In 2010 it became temple 94 on the pilgrimage.

The honzon is Dainichi Nyorai, and there is also a Dainichi statue outside in the entrance area. Inside is said to be a Yakushi, Kobo Daishi, Fudo, and numerous other statues alongside the Dainichi.

There is no reason why a temple must conform to a pre-determined idea of what a temple should look like, but it is disappointing nonetheless. It is also a little too early in the morning to ring the bell and go in so I pay my respects to the statues at the entrance and head off.

Red Cliff Sekiheki

Red Cliff Sekiheki

Sekiheki is a large, colourful cliff almost 1k long on the south coast of Chiburi Island, Chiburijima.

Chiburijima is the southernmost, smallest, and least-popu lated of the 4 inhabited islands of the group of islands known as Oki off the coast of Shomane.

The Oki Islands are part of the Daisen-Oki National Park, and since 2013 have also been a UNESCO Global Geopark.

Geoparks tend to focus on the geology of a place and also tend to have a lot of signage and information boards explaining what you can see.

Sekiheki is a great spot to see the result of various volcanic activities 6 million years ago. The Oki islands themselves are a sunken caldera.

The sections of cliff that are red were formed from magma with a high concentration of iron-oxide.

The Oki Islands are one of my favorite three places in Japan and other posts from them can be found by clicking this link.

Wakayama Castle

Wakayama Castle

Though not as well known as many, Wakayama Castle was considered very important by the Tokugawa Shogunate and in the early twentieth century was classified in the top three hilltop castles of japan

A smaller castle stood nearby, built by the Saiga Ikki, one of the many religious groups that maintained armed independence during the Warring States period. It was attacked first by Oda Nobunaga and then later by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Construction of Wakayama Castle began in 1585 by Hideyoshi's younger brother, Hidenaga.

It was greatly improved by the Asano Clan who had been given the domain following the Battle of Sekigahara. He built the three-storey keep connected by corridors to three Yagura turrets.

Control of the castle passed to Tokugawa Ieyasu's son, Yorinobu, and he expanded the castle further.

The keep was burnt down by a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1846, but was rebuilt a few years later. In 1871 the castle was abandoned, but unlike most castles in Japan at that time it  was not dismantled.

Most of the buildings were destroyed by American bombing during WWII but have been reconstructed since then.

Japan Goods

Disappeared Japan Yukaen Chinese Garden

 

Yukaen was a Chinese-style garden in Hiroshima.

It was built in 1992 to celebrate the sister-city relationship between Hiroshima and Chongging City in Chima.

When I visited almost twenty years ago the plum blossoms were blooming.

It was located on the banks of the Ota River not too far from Hiroshima Castle.

However, a few weeks ago as I was taking a bus out of Hiroshima I noticed the garden had gone and the whole area was a big construction site.

I have been unable to find out what is being built, or if the garden will be reconstructed here or elsewhere.

I have never encountered any other visitor when I have visited and reports suggest that in recent years the garden had become quite shabby and rundown.

Zenkakuji Temple

 

Tucked up a narrow opening in the steep side of the Gonokawa River valley just downstream from its mouth, Zenkakuji does not look like a temple, which explains why I passed it many times before ever venturing in to look.

It was founded in the 1950's by a man in one of the many Buddhist sects that sprang up in the postwar period as a reaction to the decadence of the mainstream sects.

The spot was chosen because of a small waterfall, a perfect spot for shugyo, ascetic training.

Water is often associated with dragons and serpents in Japan, and many times I have heard stories of the red rocks such as those found here being linked to dragons blood

There are, of course, several statues of Fudo Myo around the spot where adherents stand under the falling water.

I think the founder had passed away before I moved to the area, but his wife carried on living at the temple. However I am sure she has passsed away since then.

When I stopped in on this walk there was a friendly, young man sweeping the paths the main building was open and I was able to go inside for the first time. As I would have expected it was quite low-key. The place is obviously still being used, but I just noticed that googlemaps has stopped labelling it as a temple.

Gesshoji Temple Gardens

Japan Travel

Gesshoji Temple is located against the hillside to the west of Matsue castle, one of the dozen remaining castles in Japan.

It was originally a small Zen temple called Toun-ji, but in 1664 the first of the Matsudaira lords of the castle, Naomasa, the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, changed it to a Jodo temple and installed the mortuary tablet of his mother here.

Following Naomasa's death, his son built his father's tomb here and since then it has been their family temple.

I recently posted on some of the tombs and the "giant" tortoise made famous by Lafcadio Hearn.

The temple grounds are known for their hydrangeas, but there is also a formal garden.

This is in Izumo-style, a feature of which is rectangular stones intermixed with rounded stones.

The garden was enjoyed by Matsudaira Fumai, a renowned tea-master.

Adjacent to the main garden is a smaller garden viewable from the tea room.

Later I will show some of the statues at the temple and some of the artifacts in the treasure house.

Saimyoji Temple 3 on the Shikoku Fudo Myo Pilgrimage

 

On the third day of my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myo Pilgrimage my first stop was Saimyoji, temple number three of the pilgrimage, located just outside Mima.

Unusually the large cemetery was in front of the temple, not behind or to the side as is more normal. While large cemeteries attached to temples are the norm in many parts of Japan, it is worth noting that in my area most cemeteries are very small and scattered around the village.

It is a Shingon Temple, but I can find little information about it. It is relatively large and the treasure house contains statues registered as National and prefectural Important Cultural Properties, so must be fairly old. Mima was a prosperous area in earlier times.

It was very early and no-one was about and I missed the Fudo Myo statue to the left of the main hall;

For the next few days, I would carry on west, up the wide valley before coming back downstream on the southern bank, through an area I had not visited before as yesterday the Fudo pilgrimage route diverted from the standard ohenro route.