Showing posts with label soto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soto. Show all posts

Friday, February 9, 2024

Senganji Temple 9 on the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage

 


Senganji Temple, number 9 on the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage, sits on a steep hillside overlooking the small town of Kawamoto on the Gonokawa River.


It is a Soto Zen temple with a Jizo for a honzon, and was founded in 1576.


It was originally located in a valley to the west but was burned down, quite ossibly due to warfare.


On to of the mountain was a castle belonging to the Ogasawara Clan who ruled the area, with the agreement of the powerful Mori Clan.


Senganji and two powerful temples nearby, also both on the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage, all had strong connections with the Ogasawara and were considered clan temples.


Senganji has been uninhabited and rarely visited for some time, and since I visited ten years ago I have seen photos showing a lot of deterioration and collapse in the buildings.


According to one source there were several residences at the temple until about 100 years ago.


The previous post was on the path up the mountainside to the temple which has many statues.


Senganji is also temple number 21 on the Iwami Ginzan Kannon pilgrimage, a recently rediscovered pilgrimage route.


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Togakuji Temple Matsue

 


Togakuji is a large Soto Zen temple located in the Okudani area of Matsue City, north of the castle.


The entrance passes through a nice raked gravel garden with pine trees.


Throughout the grounds are numerous "cute" statues


As well as many mizuko jizo


This Fudo Myo is in the same hall that houses the 500 Rakan, or arhats, disciples of the Buddha.


They were carved locally between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.


The temple was built by the mother of Kojiro Horio, a grandchild of Yoshiharu Horio, the head of the Matsue Domain and builder of Matsue Castle.


Kojiro died young in 1609 and in 1610 the memorial temple was built for him.


Originally located near Gassan Toda Castle, it was moved to its current site in 1613 following the building of Matsue Castle.


The large cemetery contains the tombs and graves of quite a few important local dignitaries.


The area of Okudani is not well visited by tourists but there are several more nice temples and shrines in the vicinity.


The previous post in this series was on the Meimei-an Teahouse Gardens just north of the castle.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Kotaiji Temple Nagasaki

 


The next big temple after Daionji along Teramachi in Nagasaki is Kotaiji, and there was a little bit more to see here.


The first building you come to is the Kegonkaku, the Great Buddha Hall, built in 1723.


It houses a 3.4 meter tall red statue of the Vairocana Buddha, known in Japan as Dainichi Nyorai.


Kotaiji was founded in 1608 and was moved to its current location in 1626. It belongs to the Soto Zen sect and the honzon is a Shaka Triad, the historical Buddha flanked by two guardians.


The honzon was donated to the temple by a wealthy man named Takasuri who also paid the construction costs of the nearby Megane Bridge. The bridge was originally part of the approach to Kotaiji Temple and the main gate used to be located closer to the bridge.


The Niomon gate was built in 1680 and is said to be the oldest existing shrine or temple gate in Nagasaki.


The pair of Nio, however, only date back to 1985 and the originals had deteriorated too much.


The main hall was built in 1663 and is made out of teak.


The Zendo, meditation hall, was built in 1832.


Zazen mediation sessions are available for foreign visitors.


The previous post was on Daionji Temple next door.


Monday, January 30, 2023

Shinsoji Temple Yokota

Shinsoji Temple Yokota

Shinsoji Temple Yokota.

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.

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.

Roof.

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.

View.

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.

Autumn leaves.

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.

Carp.

A few things that are known are that the temple belongs to the Soto Zen sect, and the honzon is an Amida.

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Santoka Taneda and Midorikannonzuisenji Temple

 

This is a statues of Santoka Taneda (1882-1940 ) a famous poet of the early 20th century who is well known as much for his lifestyle as his poetry. The statue is in the grounds of a small Zen temple just north of Kumamoto.


I came across the temple by chance. Day 47 of my walk along the Kyushu pilgrimage found me heading north out of Kumamoto City to the next temple in Yamaga. I came across a statue of Fudo Myo at the base of a set of very steep, narrow, and overgrown steps that led up the hill////


It is a quite small Soto temple but with quite a lot of statuary around. Santoka had made what many believed was a suicide attempt by stepping in front of a train in Kumamoto. He recuperated at a nearby zen temple and was obviously attracted to something because a year later he was ordained as a Zen priest.


He then spent a year as a caretaker here at Midorikannonzuisenji before heading off on his famous walks around Japan.


Zuisenji is a larger temple a little lower down the hill, and this was the Kannon -do of the temple. I believe these are rakan statues, but, as usual, might be mistaken.


I am fairly certain this is a Kannon.


These two more colorful statues were, I believe, connected to a shrine just above the kannondo. They do have somewhat of a kami statue feel to them, but I have no idea. Maybe a reader does?


The temple is popular for fans of Santoka, and is also known for its autumn colors. A short haiku by Santoka can be found here.


Bato Kannon, the Horsehead Kannon, popular among livestock raisers as well as samurai. 


There were a couple of statues of Ebisu.