Showing posts with label henro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label henro. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

Kochi Daijingu & Yosakoi Inari Shrine

 


Kochi Daijingu is located just outside the main gate of Kochi Castle, and within the grounds is Yosakoi Inari Shrine.


Kochi Daijingu, with its unique golden torii, is a branch of Ise Shrine, but I can not find much info on it beyond that it was established in 1873. The Inari shrine is far more popular and has more info.


There were a lot of chickens wandering around the grounds, something I have seen before at shrines, but not so very often....


The Inari Shrine was renamed Yosakoi Inari quite recently in honor of Kochi being the origin of the Yosakoi dance.


The shrine originally was in the property of the Yamauchi Clan, and was moved to Kochi when the clan sold their property in early Meiji. I believe it was originally in Kyoto as a few of the enshrined kami are specifically local Kyoto kami.


As a branch of Ise, the Daijingu enshrines Amaterasu. The chicken has been considered the messenger of Amaterasu in the same way that the fox is considered the messenger of Inari.


Consequently, there are no komainu at the shrine, just a pair of recently added chicken statues and the usual foxes.


The previous post from day 16 of my walk along the Shikoku Ohenro pilgrimage was Kochi Castle.


Saturday, January 27, 2024

The Art of Taisanji Temple

 


Like most of the temples on major pilgrimages, Taisanji, temple 52 on the Shikoku pilgrimage has plenty of art adorning the buildings and grounds.


The Nio Gate is about 600 meters from the temple grounds. Rebuilt in 1305,at  the same time as the main hall, it contains 2 striking Nio guardians.


At the next gate, at the entrance to the main temple complex, there are 4 statues of the Shitenno, the four heavenly kings.


It is not uncommon to find temple gates with the four shitenno


Inside the bell tower are paintings depicting Enma and the other judges of hell and scenes of the tortures and sufferings awaiting those going to hell...


Ema, votive plaques, are a religious practice common to both shrines and temples. There were a variety of different designs at Taisanji, but I was attracted to theFudo.....


traces of pigment can still be seen in this example of relief carving....


Not sure who this statue is, but to my untrained eye it seems to be almost an Indian-style statue...


Small statues of Daikoku, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, can often be found at the ends of roof ridges, or, like here, on a wall toed with kawara.


To me, this final statue aears to be done in Korean style.


Friday, January 26, 2024

Taisanji Temple 52 on the Shikoku pilgrimage

 


The main hall of Taisan-ji Temple, built in 1305, in the mountains to the northwest of Matsuyama City is a National Treasure and is truly one of the most elegant of the buildings on the pilgrimage.


Number 52 on the Shikoku pilgrimage, it claims to be one of the oldest temples on the pilgrimage.


According to the legend, Mano Choja, a wealthy man from Bungo in Kyushu was heading to Osaka on business in 587. Caught in a storm, his ship was in danger of sinking but was saved by a light shining from the spot where the temple now stands.


Guided to land safely, he climbed the mountain and discovered a miniature statue of Kannon.


He came back with a team of craftsmen from Bungo and according to the legend raised the main hall in one night. Later Gyoki visited and carved a Kannon statue and placed the original statue discovered by Choja inside it. In 739 Gyoki built the temple in the form it is now.


It is said that Shotoku Taishi visited here and there is a statue of him in the octagonal Shtokutaishi Hall.


Later, Kobo Daishi visited and converted the temple to Shingon. The Nio gate also dates back to the temple rebuilding of 1305. In the next post, I will show some of the statues and paintings found here.


The previous post in this series on the Shikoku Ohenro was on temple 51, Ishiteji Temple.


Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Kochi Castle

 


Kochi Castle is not one of the biggest Japanese castles, but is known as being the best preserved.


Whereas only 12 Japanese castles still have their original tenshu, central tower or keep, Kochi castle is the only one that retains all of the original structures within the Honmaru, or inner bailey.


This includes the Daimyo's "palace" which was attached to the main keep.


Kochi Castle is situated on top of a small hill in the middle of what is now Kochi City on the southern coast of Shikoku.


Fortifications had been built upon the hill, Otakayama, during the late Heian or Early Kamakura Periods, After being defeated by Hideyoshi in 1585, Motochika Chosokabe started to build a new castle on top of the older fortifications, but because the area was prone to flooding moved to Urado on the coast to the south.


In 1600, following the Battle of Sekigahara, control of the domain was given to the Yamauchi Clan and they decided Urado castle was not suitable so began enlarging the castle on Otakayama which was renamed Kawanakayama Castle and later Kochi Castle.


A major fire burned down most of the castle in 1727 and it was rebuilt from 1729 until 1753. Most of the current buildings date from this period.


As well as the main keep and the Daimyo's palace, six gates still remain.


The Yamanouchi held the castle until it was decommissioned in 1868.


It was spared the government ordered destruction that befell the vast majority of Edo Period castles, and also was unscathed during the bombings of WWII


Major repairs were undertaken in the postwar period. Just outside the castle is a castle museum with extensive displays.


I visited at the end of my 16th day walking the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage. The previous post in this series was Hata Shrine. The previous castle I posted about was Tsuyama Castle.


Saturday, December 2, 2023

Ishiteji Temple Part 4

 


This is the last of four posts on the colorful and chaotic Ishiteji Temple in Matsuyama, Ehime.


The first post looked at the entrance and main part of the temple. The second looked at the tunnel leading to the okunoin, the "inner temple".


The third looked at the tunnel coming back from the Okunoin, and this post looks at some of the other halls and the area around the Treasure Hall.


The honzon of Ishiteji is a Yakushi Nyorai, a so-called Medicine Buddha, but there were numerous halls and altars to a variety of Kannons.


There were also a few of the kind of wooden carvings that populated the tunnels and okunoin.


While paintings can be seen at some temples, there seemed to be a lot more here...


The Treasure Hall is open as a museum with an entrance fee and is worth a visit.


It is located in a quieter part of the temple with some vegetation and much fewer people.


There are several walls with relief carving done in Indian style.....


Though a major temple on the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage, Ishiteji does not have a Shukubo, paid temple lodgings, though when I visited ten years ago there was a tsuyado, a free place to stay for walking pilgrims, but I have no idea if that still exists.


For information on the temple's history and about the various historical buildings, see Part 1.


For those with an interest in actual history, rather than legend, I did read that it is believed Ishiteji was te center of a local yamabushi pilgrimage that later became joined up with several others and eventually became the 88 temple pilgrimage of later..




The previous post in this series was Ishiteji Temple Part 3. The previous temple on the pilgrimage was temple 50, Hanta-ji.