28 November, 2012, I started the fifth, and final, day of my Autumn walk exploring the Kunisaki peninsula are of Oita in Kyushu.
I was heading directly north out of Kitsuki and was heading for the highest point of the peninsula, Mount Futago.
The sky was blue, but the sun had not yet reached the bottom of the steep mountain valley, and so frost lay on the vegetation.
And the water in the basins in front of the shrines was covered in ice....
Iwami Hachimangu is the largest of a cluster of 4 shrines lined up at the base of the small mountain that used to have a castle on top.
It is located along theGinzan kaido, one of the the roads that lead from the sea up into the former silver mine of Iwami Ginzan.
The castle and shrine are associated with the Mori clan who controlled the area until the Edo period when the Shogunate took over the mine and its environs.
The other shrines are a Wakamiya Shrine, a Konpira Shrine, and one called Ubo-gu. It's not clear if any of these shrines were here before the Hachimangu and castle were established in the 16th century.
Route 31, the main road from Nima up to Omori runs close by and the shrine becomes very visible when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
I was on my way to Omori on day 4 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage.
On the 16th day of my walk along the Ohenro pilgrimage of Shikoku, I left my hotel near Kochi Station and headed south towards Chikurinji Temple, the next on the route.
I stopped by the Museum of Art, but it was too early and not open, so I didn't go in.
It is quite striking, looking like a cluster of oversized traditional storehouses.
It was designed by Nihon Sekkei, a very prolific company employing hundreds of architects. It opened in 1993.
Extensive use is made of shallow pools of water around the buildings.
The museum has a collection of over 40,000 artworks, including a lot by famed local artist Yasuhiro Ishimoto, but it is most well known for its large collection of works by Marc Chagall.
Shunko-ji is one of a group of three temples adjacent to each other and all known individually as Tsubakidera, or Camelia Temple. They are located in the Kunisaki area of Oita in Kyushu.
Shunkoji, on the left in the top picture, seems to be the original, and there seems to be some antagonism between it and the other two.
All three temples are built on the site that it is said Kobo Daishi visited after coming back from China and then visiting nearby Usa Jingu.
The temple was founded around 320 years ago by the 11th priest of nearby Tennenji Temple. The 10th priest had visited Shikoku and on his return had founded a local 88 temple pilgrimage, the Bungo Ohenro. Curiously the temple across the road is a member of that pilgrimage, and Shunkoji is not.
Shinkoji does have quite a large statue of Kobo Daishi on high ground within the temple grounds. Underneath the statue is a spring said to have been created by Kobo Daishi.
In my previous post, I showed a few of the Fudo statues in Shunkoji and the Kaiun Fudo shrine at the start of the entrance road.
Later I will do a much longer post on the other two temples.
Heading down the valley after visiting Mudo-ji Temple in the Kunisaki area of Oita, Kyushu, I stopped at a small roadside shrine with a large Fudo Myo-o statue.
This was Kaiun Fudo Myoo, a Fudo known for changing your fortune and luck to good. My guess is it is a fairly modern statue.
A narrow road leads up a small side valley to a cluster of three temples, one being Shunkoji Temple.
Shunkoji Temple also had numerous Fudo statues.
Though I was walking the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage, Shunkoji was not a part of the actual pilgrimage, though the whole area of Kunisaki is an ancient Yamabushi site, so Fudo statues are plentiful.
Shunkoji lays claim to a connection with Kobo Daishi, so in the next post I will explore that connection and the temple.
Shinsoji Temple sits on a hillside looking over the town of Yokota on the banks of the Hi River in the Okuizumo region of Shimane.
It does not seem to be a famous temple, and I can actually find almost nothing about it, except we can guess and infer some things.
The buildings and structures have been rebuilt in relatively recent times, and they are substantial, so we can infer that it is a relatively rich temple.
It lies above Igitake Shrine, one of the many shrines in the area connected to the myths of Susano and the Orochi serpent, but between the shrine and the temple is a very large cemetery. There is a good chance that is where the wealth is derived from.
It may also be that the temple looked after and operated the shrine. In historical times there were actually very few Shinto priests, with most shrines being operated by Buddhist priests.
A few things that are known are that the temple belongs to the Soto Zen sect, and the honzon is an Amida.
Yasakiji Temple, number 47 on the 88 temple Shikoku pilgrimage, is located at the base of the foothills to the south of Matsuyama City and is just a short walk from the previous temple, Joruriji Temple.
Said to have been founded in 701, it is unusual in that the founder is said to be En no Ozuni, sometimes known as En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo. Most of the temples claiming origins before Kobo Daishi tend to claim Gyoki as their founder.
Many historians believe that the Shikoku ohenro was created by numerous smaller Shugendo pilgrimage routes being connected together.
Yasakaji is also often connected to Emon Saburo, the legendary "first" pilgrim who walked around Shikoku numerous times attempting to catch up with Kobo Daishi.
Not far from Yasakaji is Monjuin, a temple believed to be Saburo's family temple, and now one of the 20 extra "bangai" temples, so I will do a fuller account of the Emon Saburo story when I cover Monjuin in the next post in the series....
Connecting the main hall and the Daishido are two passages covered in murals, the way of heaven, and the way of hell.
These last three shots depict scenes from various Buddhist "hells".
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