Showing posts with label kinkifudo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kinkifudo. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Kifune Shrine Amagasaki

 


The Kifune Shrine in Amagasaki is sandwiched between the Hanshin Railway Line and the Hanshin Expressway in the Nishihinmachi district. A branch of the famous Kibune Shrine north of Kyoto, it was originally located within Amagasaki Castle but was relocated here when the castle was renovated during the Edo period.


As a branch of Kibune, the main deity enshrined here is Takaokami, however, 2 other Kyoto kami, from the 2 Kamo shrines are also enshrined.


There are half a dozen subsidiary shrines in the grounds, the largest of which is Shimanami Inari. It was also originally within Amagasaki Castle but was not moved here until 1869 when the castle was decommissioned and soon dismantled. 


Symbols of an American Football can be seen at the shrine because of the link to Kwansei Gakuin Fighters, a local university american football team. Since their founding in 1941 the team has been very successful except for one year when they ranked sixth, their worst ever ranking. That year no-one prayed for success at the shrine, so ever since they have not missed a year.


I was visiting at the end of my second day walking the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage. The previous post was on crossing the Yodo River.


Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Crossing the Yodo River

 


As day 2 of my walk along the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage winds down it was time to head west after visiting the cluster of temples in central Osaka.


I crossed the Yodo River on the bridge that carries Route 2, a non-descript low, concrete bridge, one of 70 that crosses the Yodo.


At this point the river is about 600 meters wide. It starts 70 kilometers away inLlake Biwa and there it is called the Seta River. When it crosses into Kyoto it becomes the Uji River, and south of Kyoto it is joined by the Katsura and Kizu rivers and changes its name to Yodo.


Before the advent of the railways in the modern period it was the main transportation artery between Osaka and the capital in Kyoto.


Looking back, the high-rise landscape of downtown Osaka dominates.


The previous post in the series was on the Yasaka Shrine on the East bank.


Saturday, October 28, 2023

Yasaka Shrine Ebie

 


Ebie is a neighborhood on the bank of the Yodo River in Osaka, west of Umeda. Route 2 crosses the river here and this was the route I was walking west.


The local shrine is a branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine. I visited in 2017 and so a large ema of a Rooster was on display.


There seem to be quite a few Yasaka shrines in this part of Osaka, though I have no idea why. There is no info on the shrine's history, though it is believed to be quite old.


There are several sub-shrines in the grounds including the Ebisu Shrine pictured above, and an Inari Shrine.


Sunday, September 24, 2023

Chikurin-in Temple Gunpoen Garden

 


The Gunpoen Garden at Chikurin-in Temple in Yoshino is, along with one of the gardens at Taimadera and the one at Jikoin, classed as one of the Three Great Gardens of Yamato, and while having an intriguing history is hardly known at all.


Yoshino, in the mountains of southern Nara, is and was a centre of Shugendo, the mountain-worshipping cult, but is now most famous for its cherry blossoms, although the Shugendo sites are part of a World Heritage Site.


The small temple of Chikurin-in is now somewhat overshadowed by its lodgings facility, technically a Shukubo, but in essence a ryokan.


Historically the temple was a lodging for Shugendo pilgrims, and it is said many very famous guests have stayed here, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Emperor Hirohito.


The temple claims to have been founded by Prince Shotoku which would mean late 6th or early 7th century and it was called  Chinzan Dera. A couple of centuries later Kukai visited and changed its name to Josen-ji.


In 1385 it was renamed Chikurin-in, and in the late 16th century was moved to its current location.


The garden, a stroll-type with a large pond, is said to have been originally designed by Sen no Rikyu, probably the most famous tea master of all, although one of his most important students, the renowned general Yusai Hosokawa, is thought to have done further work on the garden.


What is often mentioned in reference to the garden here is that several cherry trees play a prominent part in the design and that this is quite rare in standard Japanese garden design. When I visited in November, the cherry trees were bare but a few maples were in full colour.


A path leads up to high ground above the garden where there is an archery ground and great views over the Yoshino mountains, the grand Kinpusenji Temple, and the rest of the  town.


The temple was closed down in 1874 with the shiunbutsu bunri edicts but re-opened later as a Tendai sect temple. In 1948 it became a Shingon temple.


Chikurin-in is situated at roughly the boundary between the Naka Senbon area and the Kami Senbon area.


I'm sure that when the cherries are blossoming in the late Spring then the garden is delightful, but a glorious Autumn day was just fine for me. I was the only person in the garden.



Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Umeda Architecture Snapshots

 


The high-rise buildings of Umeda in downtown Osaka may be quite familiar to many visitors, but because I live deep in the countryside and rarely visit cities the sights are quite unfamiliar Japan to me and very fascinating.


The cluster of seven temples that comprise the start of the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage are all located in central Osaka and after visiting the 7th, Settsu Kokubunji, in the afternoon of my second day walking, it was now time to head West towards Kobe where temple 8 lay.


I had a hotel room booked for the night in Nishinomiya so I had no time to explore or engage in any kind of photographic study of the architecture, just snapshots as I passed by.


This is the Umekita Ship Hall, a commercial property on the northside of JR Osaka Station. It was designed by Nikken Sekkei


The unique Umeda Sky Building, designed by Hiroshi Hara, seen from a distance.


A replica of a medieval Belgian church on the 8th floor of the Hotel Monterey Osaka.


The previous post in this series on the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was Settsu Kokubunji Temple.

Monday, June 19, 2023

Settsu Kokubunji Temple 7 Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 This text is from an earlier post that was of photos of Taiyuji Temple, number 6 on the pilgrimage that I mistakingly thought was number 7 Kokubunji. I have now edited that post and added relevant information about Taiyuji. Sorry.


Kokubinji is an urban temple in downtown Osaka that is the 7th temple on the Kinki Fudo pilgrimage. It is also on the Saigoku Yakushi, Settsu 88, and Osaka Jizo pilgrimages. Settsu is the old provincial name for what is now Osaka.


The temple's origins lie in the 7th century when a temple was established on the site of a former palace to pray for the peaceful repose of the former emperor Kotoku. It was called Nagara-ji.


In 741 a nationwide system of temple-monasteries called Kokubunji was established, one for each province. Nagara-ji was chosen to be the Kokubunji for Settsu.


In 1615 the temple completely burned down during the Siege of Osaka and was not rebuilt for a hundred years.


It was completely rebuilt again at the end of the Meiji period, and in June 1945 was once again destroyed, this time in an air raid, so all the structures have been built since then, except for the entrance gate which dates to the Edo Period.


The honzon is a Yakushi, but there are numerous other shrines and altars to a variety of deities and buddhas, including several Fudo Myo. Not surprisingly considering the various pilgrimages it is on, the temple attracts a lot of visitors and is surprisingly quiet for an urban temple.


The large Fudo statue with large eyes is Minori Fudo. The smaller Fudo ( photo 4) is a Mizukake Fudo. Photo 5 is a Kobo Daishi statue.


The Bell Tower is a memorial to the Tenroku Gas Explosion when the nearby subway line was being constructed in 1970 and a gas explosion killed 79 and injured 420.


The previous post in this series on my second day walking the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was Kantele Ogimachi Square.