tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79754211404466684772026-08-11T07:02:10.468+09:00More glimpses of unfamiliar JapanOff the beaten track in Japan:- Nature, Culture, History, Spirit, Art....Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.comBlogger2709125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-65140976700810498742026-08-08T18:54:01.028+09:002026-08-08T18:54:01.028+09:00Susa Shrine May 5th, 2015, day 40 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. A short walk from my nights campsite I arrive at Susa Shrine.This is the head shrine of a large network of Susa shrines nationwide. I know I have come across many Susa shrines in my walks around western Japan, but I am not sure how common they are in the east.There is a small Amaterasu shrine facing the main shrine.The Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-12008893892487636322026-08-07T09:25:56.795+09:002026-08-07T09:25:56.795+09:00Koi Pond at Kaburaiji Temple Kaburaiji is said to be an ancient temple founded by Shotoku Taishi.It is located near Sanda in Hyogo, at the site of his mother's birthplace.I will cover the temple in the next post, but for now some shots of the pond in front of the main hall filled with koi.I was here as Kaburaiji is the next temple on the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I am walking.I didn't see them, but the temple is knownOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-54614758218353718152026-08-06T05:27:50.242+09:002026-08-06T05:27:50.242+09:00Sights Seen Down the Isa River to the Kando River After leaving Izuchi Shrine, I continued on down the Isa River.After a while I came across a very unusual sight for Japan...... a sheep!!I have occasionally seen goats, but sheep are very, very rare in the Japanese countryside...Quite common in the mountains of Izumo are thatched houses....Yoshikuri Mountain once had a castle on it. It was destroyed during the Amago-Mori fighting of the Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-18545966200725711282026-08-04T13:15:56.959+09:002026-08-04T13:15:56.959+09:00Fujishiro Oji Shrine Fujishiro Oji Shrine in Kainan, Wakayama, used to be considered the entrance to Kumano. The Kiiji Route, the main route of the Kumano Kodo, ran from Kyoto and then through Osaka and Wakayama. This route was primarily coastal or following rivers. From Fujishiro Oji the route heads into the mountains for the first time.Of the 99 Oji, shrines where pilgrims stopped on the way to Kumano, Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-69992422319513035172026-08-02T10:06:13.293+09:002026-08-09T07:46:44.496+09:00Down the Isa River from Hachimangu to Izuchi Shrine After passing by the entrance to Mount Sanbe, my route continued west down the Isa River.My first stop, in the village of Yamaguchi, was the village Hachiman Shrine.It was established in 1095, but I can't find from which "mother" shrine it is from, Usa, or Iwashimizu I think it is a little too early to be a branch of Tsurugaoka.Curiously it only lists Ojin and Jingu. No mention of Chuai or Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-88626884703059494782026-08-01T11:00:33.068+09:002026-08-01T11:00:33.068+09:00Shodoshima Temple 55 & 56, and Into Tonosho After leaving the giant Juniper tree at Hoshoinji, I pass a small Inari shrine on the way to the next little temple. Number 55, Kannon-do.The way is slightly on the hillside so views of Tonosho and the sea and islands beyond are plentiful.Kannon-do was a small building and enshrined Bato Kannon, the Horse-head Kannon. It is the only pilgrimage temple to do so.In earlier times, people would Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-51853321964959017722026-07-30T11:44:40.783+09:002026-07-30T11:44:40.783+09:00Reflecting Paddies Around Mount Sanbe I awake long before the sun at my perch overlooking the reservoir behind Sanbe Dam. I get up, stuff my bag into my pack, visit the public toilets for ablutions, grab a cold drink from the vending machine, and set off.From here, there is more climbing until I get closer to Mount Sanbe, and I want to do as much of it as possible before the day warms up too much.I am treated to a lovely suriseOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-22955583055742544302026-07-29T13:39:51.781+09:002026-07-29T13:39:51.781+09:00One Thousand Two Hundred Rakan Rakan, or Arhats, usually come in groups of 500.Said to be the disciples of the Buddha, many temples will have a full 500 statues, but many more will have a much smaller number.Otagi Nembutsuji, a temple outside the main part of Arashiyama near Kyoto has an amzing 1200 of them.Even more amazing is that they were only started to be made in 1981, part of something called the Showa Rakan Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-57862880104955646562026-07-28T08:41:23.643+09:002026-07-28T08:41:23.643+09:00To Sanbe Dam After leaving Mononobe Shrine I head up the Shizuma River.Then I cut north and headed over the mountains to drop into the Sanbe River Valley.I carried on up that river ever closer to Mount Sanbe, the highest point in Iwami.An active volcano with a height of more than 1,100 meters...The climb gets steeper as I leave the river bank and climb up towards the top of the dam.A fairly standard damOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-28110071033496206002026-07-27T09:55:35.752+09:002026-07-27T09:55:35.752+09:00Tenei Hachimangu 3rd of May, 2014, and my final stop of day 9 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was a fairly standard village shrine in Mito Onsen, in the Chugoku Mountains near Masuda.There was no signboard, and I have been unable to unearth any information searching the web.Plenty of small shrines within the grounds, almost certainly moved there in the early 20th century when local shrines wereOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-8499338908302711312026-07-26T05:33:31.925+09:002026-07-26T05:33:31.925+09:00Mononobe Shrine By mid-afternoon, after leaving Omori, I stopped in briefly at Mononobe Shrine, the ichinomiya of Iwami.The primary kami is Umashimaji, said to be the ancestor of the Mononobe Clan. Behind the shrine is a tomb said to be for Umashimaji. The Mononobe were a martial and ritual clan dominant in the rise of the Yamato in Cetral Japan.The shrine is said to have been established in 514, which Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-68424004315740243652026-07-24T19:01:01.552+09:002026-07-24T19:01:01.552+09:00Down the Shimanto & Shimonokae Rivers 23rd of December, 2011, and I begin day 22 of my walk around the famous Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage by crossing the Shimanto River on the Shimanto River Bridge that carries Route 56 acrossthe river.There are numerous possible routes down to the next temple at Cape Ashizuri, and I chose this one, if I remember correctly, as it gave me more shrines to visit.Vast fields of Susuki, Japanese Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-58335467349475361102026-07-23T13:45:18.943+09:002026-07-23T13:45:18.943+09:00Iwami Ginzan Omori Omori, like Yunotsu where I started walking today, is both a World Heritage Site and a Historic Preservation District.One my way through the town I made a quick visit to Anyoji Temple.The Kote-e dragon is quite magnificent, and I have posted it before, but here is another angle.I believe this is a sutra repository.It is a Jodo Shinshu temple and so I suspect this is an Amida....Many of the Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-70861615145619282442026-07-22T07:02:19.394+09:002026-07-22T07:02:19.394+09:00Wakamiya Hachimansha, Yasaka Shrine, Kifune Shrine, & Yatate Shrine After leaving the delightful Komo Shrine in the early morning of my 6th day walking the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, the next section of my walk headed pretty much due East.As usual, I stopped in at any shrines I passed. The first was called Wakamiya Hachimansha, and curiously the main kami was Emperor Nintoku. In 1908 a whole bunch of other kami were jointly enshrined, including Amaterasu,Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-23843276161244248912026-07-20T15:57:21.939+09:002026-07-20T15:57:21.939+09:00Iwami Ginzan Kaido Yunotsu Route After crossing over a pass from Shimizu, the footpath once again joins a road and then head roughly East up the Yusato River.On the opposite side of the valley, a bit too far to be bothered with a detour, is a big, newly rebuilt shrine.This is Mizukami Shrine and has been important for a long time, being listed in the Engishiki.The current honden dates to 1761. The shrine enshrines a pair Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-22535155901419596562026-07-19T12:53:44.255+09:002026-07-19T12:53:44.256+09:00360 Degree Views of Matsue Matsue, the capital city of Shimane, is actually quite small, with a population of less than 200,000.Not much in the way of high-rise buildings; in fact, the tallest is only 70 meters high.However, from the top floor of that building, there is a 360 degree observation deck that is free to enter.The building is the Sanin Godo Bank headquarters, and the observation floor has a separate Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-32740151092377480732026-07-18T16:04:00.670+09:002026-07-18T16:04:00.670+09:00Ryuukoji Temple & Many Fudo Myoo's In Shimizu, there is just one small temple, though it is intriguing for me because of the multiple Fudo Myoo statuettes in the grounds.I recently learned that it is a temple of a relatively new sect called Nakayama Shingo Shoshu, founded in the early 20th century and with the head temple in NE Saga close to the Fukuoka border.I believe this is a statue of the founder of the sect, Kakue Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-50148966456622515062026-07-17T12:10:49.789+09:002026-07-17T12:10:49.790+09:00Jinnein Temple 68 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage Jinnein, temple 68 on the Shikoku pilgrimage, is really part of Kannonki, temple 69.The original 68 was the Kotohiki Hachiman Shrine on top of the hill above the temples.In 1868, the Amida painting that was in the shrine was moved to the Western Golden Hall of Kannonji, and a little later it was renamed Jinnein and became 68.The main hall has a curious cube-like concrete box that visitors Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-27452335784878636152026-07-16T11:58:52.057+09:002026-07-16T11:58:52.057+09:00Kannonji Temple 69 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage Kannonji, temple 69, and Jinneiin, temple 68, both occupy the same site, but I came into the kannonji side first so it gets posted before 68.The reason I came into Kannonji first was that I visited the original "temple" 68, which was the Hachiman shrine on the hilltop.From the hilltop is the viewpoint overlooking the Zenigata Sunae, a huge sand sculpture.The shrine was founded in the very Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-43397199757012652782026-07-15T11:26:34.286+09:002026-07-15T11:26:34.286+09:00Shimizu on the Ginzan Kaido After leaving Yunotsu, the Ginzan Kaido again becomes a footpath and crosses over the old Route 9 and the new expressway, as both run through tunnels at this point.The next settlement is the delightful Shimizu, a place I enjoy every time I visit as it seems cut off from the outside modern world, though there is a narrow road that leads into it.It is late April, and the azaleas are in full Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-57509223947137416242026-07-14T14:26:01.968+09:002026-07-14T14:26:01.968+09:00Otagi Nembutsuji Temple Arashiyama Otagi Nembutsuji Temple is now located in a narrow valley just outside Arashiyama, usually a bit too far for most tourists to walk to.However, it was originally located on the other side of Kyoto and was only moved here in 1922.The original temple was founded in 766 and was built in the Higashiyama district, not too far from Gion.It later became a Shingon temple but was completely destroyedOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-67149013388629717312026-07-12T11:35:15.174+09:002026-07-12T11:53:04.567+09:00Yunotsu: World Heritage Site & Historic Preservation District After a short walk along the Ginzan Kaido from its start, I take a diversion into the main part of the hot spring town of Yunotsu.Dominating the lower part of the town, the Naito Residence has been the headmans residence for centuries. I believe the family "own" the hot water that fuels the numerous public and private onsens in the town.Their sprawling property, which has a stone lantern inOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-21164220625237280872026-07-10T16:18:04.924+09:002026-07-10T16:18:04.924+09:00Picturesque East Coast of Dogo IslandDogo, the largest of the Oki islands in the Japan Sea off the coast of Shimane, remains one of my favourite places in Japan.Like many places far from the Shinkansen, it has no overtourism.On the first day of my three-day walk around the coastline of the island, I left the Sasaki Residence and started walking up the east coast.The Oki Islands are a UNESCO Global Geopark which means there are Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-69925351752840736312026-07-09T20:14:00.427+09:002026-07-09T20:14:00.428+09:00Okidomari Port & the Ginzan Highway I started day 38 of my walk alog the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage at Okidomari, the small port that serviced the Iwami Ginzan silver mines. The port and the mines as well as the road I am taking, the Ginzan Kaido, are all part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.For more info on the port and Ginzan Kaido, please see this earlier post.The next temples on the pilgrimage are a cluster around Izumo.Ojisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7975421140446668477.post-13913280938309725372026-07-08T20:18:18.609+09:002026-07-08T20:18:18.609+09:00To Kasubuchi to end the Third Day A short walk after leaving the Ago Ohashi Bridge, the river turns towards the north and will stay north until the small town of Kasubuchi.Part of some transformers at a small power station using water piped from upstream and then dropped from a height to power turbines....Other than a few thatched farmhouses with tin covers, not much of note until reaching Kasubuchi.I cross via a fairly newOjisanjakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05506748719638540152noreply@blogger.com0