Showing posts with label kyushu108. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kyushu108. Show all posts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Kaigenji Temple 78 Kyushu pilgrimage

 


Though listed as temple 78 on the Kyushu pilgrimage, Kaigenji is not really a temple at all. It consists of a monument and a roofed area for conducting ceremonies.


It is located next to a small beach on the north coast of Hirado Island and is the site where Kobo Daishi set sail on his journey to Tang China in 804


From the 7th to 9th centuries Japan sent numerous diplomatic missions to China. The one in 804 consisted of 4 ships, only two of which reached China.


A small number of monks were often included in the mission, and in this case not only Kukai, as he was known, but also Saicho were on the trip.


Saicho returned a little sooner than Kukai and he went on to found  Tendai Buddhism. Kukai founded Shingon.


On the hill above the beach is a giant statue of Kukai. The previous post was on Saikyoji Temple, marking the spot Kukai performed a ceremony after returning from China.


Sunday, March 24, 2024

Saikyoji Temple 77 Kyushu pilgrimage

 


Saikyoji Temple is located on a hillside overlooking the harbour of the main settlement on Hirado Island.


It is built on the site of where Kobo Daishi performed his first Goma ceremony after returning from China in 806.


It is a Shingon temple and because of its size is sometimes referred to as the Koyasan of the West, although it must be said I have come across numerous other temples with the same nickname.


It was established in 1607 by the local daimyo Shigenobu Matsuura, who was a fervent believer in Shingon. However, at that time a zen temple existed on the property.


The zen priest refused to leave and so Matsuura burned down the temple with the priest inside. For years Matsuura was haunted by ghosts of the murdered riests until one day they were scared away by the sound of a baby crying. This is said to be the origin of the "Crying Baby Sumo" event held every February at Setsubun. Most Naki Sumo events are held in shrines in May.


The honzon is a statue of Kokuzo Bodhisattva, not one of the more famous bodhisattvas, but important to Kobo Daishi. Kokuzo was the focus of the ascetic practices that Kobo Daishi undertook as a youth.


Within the grounds are an Ebisu Shrine and an Inari Shrine.


Between the main temple and the Okunoin, the path is lined with 88 statues representing the Shikoku pilgrimage.


The temple was well supported by the Matsuura clan and the temples Treasure House museum has many delightful paintings and statues, unfortunately some of which were looted from Korea during Hideyoshis invasions.


The temple is number 77 on the Kyushu pilgrimage and also on the Kyushu Kannon pilgrimage.


Number 78 on the Kyushu pilgrimage is a few kilometers away and is the site where Kobo Daishi set sail on his journey to China. It is an unmanned site so pilgrimage stamps need to be gotten here.


Hirado is an interesting place with a lot of historical connections. William Adams, the English sailor immortalized in the novel Shogun, is currently attracting a lot of interest because of the new remake of the TV drama.


He lived and died in Hirado.


The previous post was on the pagoda at the okunoin of the temple.


Hirado is well worth a visit if you are in the area, and Saikyoji is well worth a visit if you are in Hirado.


Thursday, March 21, 2024

Saikyoji Temple Pagoda

 

When it was constructed, in 1989, the 3-storey pagoda at Saikyoji Temle on Hirado was probably the biggest 3-storey pagoda in Jaan, although larger ones have been built since then.


It is at the okunoin of the temple, overlooking the sheltered harbour and castle of Hirado, once a very important port for international trade before the country was closed down to most trade in the 17th century.


The okunoin is where Kobo Daishi performed his first Goma ceremony after returning from China in 806.


Hirado was also where he left for China a few years earlier and I would be visiting that site next.


Saikyoji is temple 77 on the Kyushu pilgrimage, and the main temple has lots to see so I will be covering that in the next post.


The pagoda stands 33.5 meters tall. On the first floor is an altar to Fudo Myo, and a Fudo statue also stands in front of the pagoda.


From the top floor there are great views over the town, castle, and harbour.


The previous post in this series on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu was on the Tabira Catholic Church on the mainland just across the bridge from Hirado.


Monday, March 18, 2024

Tabira Catholic Church

 


Tabira Catholic Church is located on the mainland close to the bridge across to Hirado Island.


It is a Romanesque brick structure with a wooden roof and was built in 1918.


Under the guidance of two French priests in the late Meiji period, Hidden Christians from areas further south in Nagasaki resettled in the area and built the church. Eventually many other Christian families migrated here.


The church was designed by Yosuke Tetsukawa who designed many other churches in the Nagasaki area.


In the late 20th century new stained glass from Germany and Italy was installed in the church and the original stained glass was donated to a church on Shikoku.


Since sites connected to Hidden Christians in Nagasaki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage, Tabira Church has become a popular tourist site. So nowadays it is recommended to contact the church in advance for permission to visit, but when I was there no such restrictions existed.


I visited on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu just before crossing over to Hirado. The previous post was on the Ohashi Natural Bridge.



Friday, March 15, 2024

Ohashi Natural Bridge

 


If you follow the path up behind Ohashi Kannonji Temple you arrive at the Ohashi itself.


Formed when the roof of a cave collapsed, the natural bridge is about 30 meters long and about 4 meters wide and is split into two sections for most of it.


Scattered around the cliffs underneath it are numerous statues, the biggest being a Fudo Myo.


The community of ferns growing here is quite unusual and is registered as a National Natural Monument.


The natural bridge was one of the historic Hirado Hakkei, the "eight scenic views of Hirado Domain"


Unlike the American Southwest where the natural bridges and arches can be seen dramatically, here in Japan the dense vegetation makes them less than  impressive, but the biggest one in Japan, Onbashi in Hiroshima, is actually quite impressive.


The previous post in this series on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu was on the Ohashi Kannon Temple.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Ohashi Kannon Temple 75 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 


The main building of Ohashi Kannonji is a modern, concrete affair, but because of its proportions it is quite elegant.


The main statue is a Kannon, but to the left is a lovely Fudo, and to the right is an Inari, or maybe a Dakiniten, which unusually has a coiled snake.


According to the temple legend the honzon, an eleven-faced Kannon was carved by Gyoki in the 7th century, so yet another temple in the area that claims a connection to Gyoki.


Nearby is an older hall and the priest's residence.


Among the many statues dotting the grounds is a triad consisting of a central Fudo flanked by a statue of Kannon and a Kobo Daishi.


As well as being on the Kyushu 88/108 pilgrimage, the temple is also on a couple of Kannon pilgrimages.


Ohashi means "Big bridge" and refers to a natural stone bridge in the cliff behind the temple. It deserves its own post which will be next.


The previous post in this series chronicling day 68 of my walk was on the small shrine down below the temple. The previous temple was Saifukuji, a few kilometers upstream and on the opposite side of the valley. It also had a natural bridge.