Henro Information

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General Henro Information
四国お遍路さん Pilgrims in Shikoku

to 88 temples in honor of Kobo Daishi Kukai




In the Beginning was a sacred mountain
Koya-San 高野山

Koya San in Wakayama

Kobo Daishi Kukai 弘法大師　空海
(Kooboo Daishi, Kuukai )



. Amulets for the Kukai Pilgrim .

. Pilgrim's Stamp Book 納経帳 nookyoochoo .


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Haiku and Henro:

.... . The Henro Pilgrimage


Two short Haiku Henro Trips,
Gabi Greve, Summer 2005


元日にかわいや遍路門に立
ganjitsu ni kawai ya henro kado ni tatsu

on New Year's day
a cute little pilgrim
at the gate

Issa, Tr. by David Lanoue



ちびっこお遍路よっくんが行く
藤田祐子/著. 新潮社

Here is the diary of a Henro walk from a cute little pilgrim with his Grandmother, Yuko Fujita. Fujita san visited my Daruma Museum the other day !

かわいや遍路の日記
佳宏と祐子ばあちゃんの「お四国遍路」
ようこそ！

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My Shiraishi Henro Walk, Okayama Prefecture
白石島の遍路道　岡山県


My Daruma Dolls from Shikoku ... 四国のだるまさん



Glossary of Henro Pilgrims Vocabulary


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quote
A Journey with no end

Presently, the annual number of walking pilgrims is 1000

It is said that today 100,000-200,000 people travel around the Shikoku pilgrimage route annually with most people going by car or bus, however around 1,000 people walk. The standard motives for doing the pilgrimage are
1) to pray for safety in the home and
2) remembrance of ancestors.
However, in the case of walking pilgrims, who might do it for such reasons as mentioned above might also the pilgrimage for ascetic training, just to walk it or for a spiritual reason such as to "find oneself" or "to soothe one's soul" or for personal training.

The pilgrim attire, such as the white vest and Kongo staff, act as a way to clearly separate pilgrims from regular travelers and if one also includes the hat, gloves and leg bands one becomes an even more full-dressed pilgrim. Even in the present day, most pilgrims wear such attire and walk the mountains and roads of Shikoku and although this appearance may look strange in the big cities, it fits in with the landscape of Shikoku.

While there are many motives for journeying on the Shikoku pilgrimage route, in most cases, people return home with a greater degree of satisfaction than they had expected to have before they departed. And while the struggle and conquest over bad roads, bad weather and one’s stamina are important as experiences to help one focus on oneself, the one thing that impresses all people the most is the receiving of charitable gifts along the way which is the representative way of interaction between the pilgrims and the local people.


O-settai (Charitable Gifts)
Osettai is the action of giving presents, such as food, by the local people to pilgrims. In olden times, vending machines and convenience stores did not exist so due to this form of giving pilgrims were able to survive the journey. Rice and tissue were important items of osettai. On one hand, from the religious viewpoint of the local people, giving to pilgrims was important because they are considered to be the transformed body of Kobo Daishi and that pilgrims will go around to each temple on my behalf. As well, the gifts given will not only act as a form of assistance to someone struggling along the pilgrimage route, but that those goods are actually gifts to the Gods.

The custom of osettai is still prevalent today; however those who travel by car and bus while have few opportunities to experience this charity. On the other hand when one becomes a walking pilgrim there will be many occasions to receive osettai from people one passes on the road or from people who live in the homes one passes. By wearing the garb of a Shikoku pilgrim, one is recognized as an OHenro-san and one can exchange warm greetings with others who will be receptive and show you the way. This experience is quite removed from the present-day lifestyle in which one must obtain and maintain one’s place in society through self expression.

This homepage offers practical information for becoming a Shikoku pilgrim with a focus on walking pilgrims.

source : 　Hiroshi Kushima
Kikusui Henro House




Rice Crackers for the Pilgrim !

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................ External Links

Mark Schumacher on the subject

Introduction
Terms / Concepts
Pilgrimage Stamps
Stamp Books
Pilgrimage Scrolls
Prayer Slips
Pilgrimage Seals
Sacred Images
eStores for Pilgrims

Top Pilgrimages List
Deity-Specific Circuits
Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage !!!
Hyakudo Mairi
Holy Mountains
Sacred Shrines

Holy Mountains & Sacred Shrines in Japanese Buddhism & Shintoism


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Journal of a Pilgrim
with Haiku and Tanka


The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.
. . . Join Dave Turkington


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........................... Japanese LINK

Introducing most online material for each temple !
四国八十八箇所 お遍路ポータル



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Work your way through my Archives from 01 to 88 !

Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所

(under construction)



Zen Art by Qiao Seng, Sad Monk


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observance kigo for late spring

o-fuda nagashi, ofudanagashi お札流
floating of temple amulets

From Temple Nr. 44 大宝寺 to 53 円明寺 in the Matsuyama region, the amulets of pilgrims are floated in the sea at Takahama beach 高浜沖.
On the 28th day of the third lunar month, now in April.


. OBSERVANCES – SPRING SAIJIKI .


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　


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The Shikoku Pilgrimage, henro 遍路,
comprises many kigo for spring and autumn.
. KIGO for the henro pilgrimage .


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Henro 01

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Temple 1 . Ryoozen-Ji 霊山寺



徳島県大麻町板東126
Tel　　０８８－６８９-１１１１

Temple Song:
りょうぜんの　しゃかのみまえに　めぐりきて
　　　　　　　よろずのつみも　きえうせにけり


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灯篭の灯りに隠れし鳩一羽




taking shelter
in the Buddha's light -
a dove in the morning

Zuflucht suchen
in Buddha's Licht -
eine Taube am Morgen


©　Gabi Greve, 2005


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aki urara hohtoh no hato maiori ki

From the pagoda in fall,
the doves come down near me.

Mitokawa Pilgrim


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples .. 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve

Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

Worldkigo Database

Henro 12

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Temple 12 Shoozanji 焼山寺 Shozan-Ji



- Shozan-ji means “Burning Mountain Temple”.

Adress:
徳島県名西郡神山町

Temple Song:
Nochi no yo o, omoeba kugyō Shōsanji,
shinde ya sanzu no, nansho aritomo.


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- Kobo Daishi, also known as Kukai, was the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, and also the founder of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. There are many legends in Shikoku about the miracles performed by Kobo Daishi.


Once upon a time, a great snake (some say it was a dragon) with supernatural powers lived in Kamiyama. The great snake would cause heavy rains to fall and strong winds to blow, causing the people much suffering.

Just as Kobo Daishi was visiting the area as part of his training, the great snake had just spat fire and caused the mountain before the Kobo Daishi to go up in flames, like a red ocean. Kobo Daishi felt that something was not quite right, and he began to climb the mountain while chanting prayers, and even when people tried to stop him, he just kept going. But wouldn’t you know it, as he climbed the mountain, the fire began to extinguish itself, bit by bit.

The furious great snake tried to stop Kobo Daishi, but the Daishi invoked the Akasagarbha bodhisattva and conquered the great snake, and shut him up in a cave. After that, the natural disasters stopped, and the people were able to live a peaceful life.
And they all lived happily ever after.
source :　www.in-kamiyama.jp

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quote
The first of the pilgrimage's mountain temples, Temple 12 is located at 800 meters (2,640 feet) and is considered one of the pilgrimage's nansho. ...

Legend has it that En no Gyōja (an ascetic wanderer who lived a generation prior to Kūkai, 634-701, and is claimed, incorrectly, to be the founder of Shugendō) subdued a fiery dragon here on the mountain and then founded the temple.

A hundred years later, Kōbō Daishi returned to find that it was once again terrorizing the local inhabitants and was causing a great deal of damage to life and property in the area. As Kōbō Daishi ascended the mountain, the dragon's flames threatened to engulf him, but he extinguished them by forming the mudra of Turning the Wheel of the Dharma with the aid of Kokūzō Bosatsu. He was able to seal the dragon in a cave and carved two statues to guard the entrance. For this reason the temple is called Shōsanji.
The mountain itself is called Marozan from the Sanskrit word for water (Vari) — subduer of flames.

Among the temple's treasures is a letter from Emperor Daigo. Also, on the summit of the mountain is a small stone sanctuary enclosing a statue of En no Gyōja which memorializes his victory over that trouble causing dragon.

Of interest is the tomb of Emon Saburō at a small shrine two miles down from the temple.
source : /www.shikokuhenrotrail.com


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Other Henro temples related to dragons

. 21 Temple of the Great Dragon 太龍寺 Dairyu-Ji .

. 36 Temple of the Green Dragon 青龍寺 Shoryu-Ji .

. 41 Temple of Dragon's Ray 龍光寺 Ryuko-Ji .



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples ... 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

Worldkigo Database

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Henro 10 and Taima Mandala

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Temple 10 Kirihata 得度山 切幡寺

The Cut Cloth Temple . Kirihataji




After you pass the Niomon gate, it is a walk up 99 steps to the water basin, purifying hands and mouth and mind. Then another 230 stone steps (maybe one or two more) to the main hall.


Outside there is the famous statue of

Kirihata Kannon 切幡観音.


http://www.e-nikki.jp/nikki.php?user=hirochan&date=2005-03-31


Once upon a time
about one thousand and two hundred years ago,
there lived a young girl at the bottom of this mountain, who was weaving material to make a living. One day, a poor priest came along and asked her for a piece of cloth. Without further ado, she cut the cloth she was working on in half and gave a piece to the priest.

The father of the girl had been sent off to a far-away island, although he was not guilty of any crime. The mother, who was pregnant when this happened, came here to give birth to the daughter but died without being able to fulfill her wish of praying properly to the Holy Kannon.

So the priest carved a statue of the Holy Kannon with a piece of cloth over her arm and gave it to the girl to pray to every day. The girl than transformed herself, sending out 7 layers of light and became the Holy Kannon herself.

As you guess, the priest was no other than Kobo Daishi himself.


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Here is another version of the story

According to legend, Kobo Daishi founded the temple in honour of a beautiful young girl. Every day, while he performed his meditations in a mountainside hut, she interrupted her cloth-weaving -- kirihata means "cut-cloth" -- to bring him food. Eventually, she told him her story: Her mother had been a lady of the court in Kyoto and her father an officer in the court guard. Before she was born, her father had been exiled for his part in a rebellion and her mother, fearful of the danger to her unborn child, prayed to Kannon, the Buddha of compassion.

Her prayers were answered and she managed to flee to Shikoku where she raised her child until she died, leaving the daughter alone. Kobo Daishi was so moved that he carved her a statue of Kannon and, heeding the girl's wishes, ordained her as a nun. She immediately attained enlightenment, or Buddhahood, and changed into a statue of Kannon joining the one Kobo Daishi had carved. Kobo Daishi took the two statues and enshrined them in the temple he built in the girl's honour.

Kirihataji is understandably popular with Japanese women.
Before Kobo Daishi, women were thought incapable of Buddhahood. Women had to be re-born as men to have that potential. Kobo Daishi's teaching of Sokushin-jobutsu -- that every person has a Buddha-nature and is capable of attaining enlightenment "in this very body, in this very life" -- changed that attitude.

Arguably, it is these influences that have made Kobo Daishi "the most prominent and influential individual figure in popular Japanese religious history," as Ian Reader writes in Religion in Contemporary Japan. In 828, for example, he founded the first school for commoners, providing food, shelter and education. This was unheard of at the time: Only aristocrats could obtain an education.

© Robert Sibley. © 2006 CanWest Interactive


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This statue is also part of a set of stamps from the 88 temples of Shikoku.



四国八十八ヶ所の文化遺産　第3集
発行日 平成18(2006)年8月1日(火)
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/kitte_hagaki/stamp/furusato/2006/h180801_f.html



山のふもとに機を織って一人で暮らしている娘がおり、ある日、貧しい身なりのお坊さんが訪れ、布を分けてほしいと言われた。娘は、今まで織っていた布を惜しげもなく真中から断ち切って差し出した。感激したお坊さんが娘の願いを聞いたところ、娘の父は無実の罪で島流し、身重の母は観音さまのお告げでこの地へ来て、娘を生んだのだが、観音さまをおまつりしたいという願いを果たせず亡くなったという。
お坊さんは娘に代わって観音さまを刻み願いをかなえたところ、娘は観音さまに姿を変えたというものです。実は、このお坊さんは弘法大師で、観音さまは「はたきり観音さん」としていまも厚い信仰を集めています。
http://www.iyotetsu.co.jp/kankou/88/awa/10.html


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The story of the Hatakiri Kannon might well be related to an earlier story of the
Taima Mandala at
Temple Taimadera 当麻寺 / 當麻寺. .

This mandala was woven around 763.
The fibers for the original version are said to have been made of lotus fibers, prepared carefully wiht the help of two nuns. Later it was said these two were Buddha Amida and Bodhisattva Kannon themselves.


Here is the full legend of Princess Chujo
(Chuujoo hime 中将姫)

Once upon a time, in Nara, one beautiful princess named Hase lived.
... her mother in law detested Princess Chûjô (Hase). She began to raise a hate more than more. Her flames of hate toward Chûjô-Hime burned into flames.
snip
For the space of three years, Princess Chujo spent her time zealously reciting prays Buddhist. One night of those days, two nuns came to see Princess Chûjô. They said to her,
"Gather a lot of threads of lotus as much as possible and load them on the back of hundred camels."
Princess Chûjô gathered a lot of stems of lotus with her father's aid. Another evening, two nuns visited her again. They began to spin the stems into threads. The two nuns brought out these threads by the fountain in front of the temple and rinsed the thread of lotus in the fountain.

. READ
The Legend of Princess Chujo 　




. The Taima Mandala 当麻曼荼羅図 explanations
http://www12.canvas.ne.jp/horai/con-ex.htm


Taima-dera
is a famous temple in Nara, originally build in 612 by the Imperial Prince Maroko, a brother of Prince Shotoku Taishi. It has a famous grove of red maple trees in autumn.
The main object of veneration is the Budda of Medicine, Yakushi Nyorai, but the most popular attraction is the Taima Mandala, a graphical representation of the Pure Land of Buddhism, according to the sutra of the contemplation of Amitayus 観無量寿経.

. Reference : Taima-dera





Basho at temple Taimadera:

僧朝顔幾死返る法の松
soo asagao ikushi ni kaeru nori no matsu

Monks and morning glories;
How many have died and returned!
The Dharma pine.

Matsuo Basho
Tr. David Coomler

Haiku about the Pine
and discussion by Coomler


Basho writes a prefix for this in
Nozarashi Kiko :

Visiting temple Taimadera on Mount Futagami, we saw a pine in the temple yard that was really old, maybe a thousand years, "big enough to hide an oxen".
It was not a sentient being, but it had been saved from the woodcutters ax.
How wonderfull, how awesome!



. Nozarashi Kikoo 野ざらし紀行 Nozarashi Kiko .

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Two short Haiku Henro Trips,
Gabi Greve, Summer 2005



External Link

Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


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observance kigo for early summer

neri kuyoo 練供養 procession of Bodhisattvas
Taima nerikuyoo 当麻練供養
Taima hooji 当麻法事 Ritual at Taima temple
..... Taima hoo-e 当麻法会
raigo-e 来迎会 Ritual of welcoming Buddha
.... gooshoo e 迎接会
mandara e 曼荼羅会 "Mandala meeting"

at temple Taimadera Nara
当麻寺

May 14, the memorial day of Princess Chujo
中将姫


CLICK for more photos.

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. OBSERVANCES – SUMMER SAIJIKI .

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Henro 21

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Temple 21 Big Dragon Temple
太龍寺 Tairyu-Ji.
Shashinzan 舎心山 常住院 太龍寺 Tairyuuji



Adress:
徳島県阿南市加茂町龍山2

Temple Song:
のうぼう　あきゃしゃ　きゃらばや　おん　ありきゃ　まりぼり　そわか

太龍の常に住むぞやげに岩屋
　　　　舎心聞持は守護のためなり




虚空蔵菩薩 Kokuzo Bosatsu

Protector deity of people born in the year of the Ox and the Tiger.
The statue is shown once a year, on January 12.


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Kokuzo Bosatsu, Kokuuzoo Bosatsu 虚空蔵菩薩
©　Hirotaku

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太龍の常にすむぞやげに岩屋 　
舎心聞持は守護のためなり



There is a large boulder Shashinzan 舎心嶽 where Kobo Daishi sat on all day long 求聞持修行.


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Tairyuji temple is in the summit of the mountain with an above sea level of 600m.
You can go in a rope way to this temple from Wajiki town of the Nakagawa upstream.
When you climb on foot, it takes 26km from Kakurinji temple for about 8 hours.

The Tairyuji temple called West Koyasan has grown thick by the big Japan cedar tree of about 1000 year.

Kobo Daishi built this temple by Emperor Kammu's command in 793.

The Kokuzo Bodhisattva of the principal image says that the Kobo Daishi engraved by himself. The place where the 19 years old Kobo Daishi self-trained is Tairyugadake 太龍嶽. There is a large boulder where he sat on all day long 求聞持修行.

That is recorded on Kobo Daishi's work. The name of Tairyuji temple was given in
connection with the Shashinzan and
the large dragon which protected Kobo Daishi.

Although this temple also followed the rise and fall, it was revived in 1095.
The feudal lord Miyoshi, and all the past lords believed in the Tairyuji temple deeply, and protected it.

Read more and look at photos HERE !
©　JRSCOMWARE

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A ropeway links Tairyuji Temple, 21st of the 88 Hallowed Grounds in the Shikoku Region. Tairyuji stands on the steep hill of Mt. Tairyuji and the "Washi no sato" roadside facilities ("Michi no eki").
The cable spans a river and a mountain; its pillars are the largest in the world. Its 101-passenger capacity is among the largest in Japan.
... www.kansai.gr.jp/Collection/asp/

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. Henro Dragon Temples in Shikoku .


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples ... 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum
Worldkigo Database

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Henro 34 Gokoku Harvest

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Temple 34 . Tanema-ji 種間寺



住所　高知県吾川郡春野町秋山７２
Tel　　０８８－８９４－２２３４



ご詠歌 The Temple Song

よのなかに　まけるごこくの　たねまでら
　　 　　 ふかきにょらいの　だいひなりけり

yo no naka ni makeru gokoku no Tanemadera
fukaki Nyorai no dai hinari keri

Kobo Daishi is said to have brought the seeds of the five grains: rice, barley, two types of millet and soy beans from China and planted some here.
gokoku 五穀（米、麦、粟、きび、豆） see below
The temple name, "space between the grains" reminds us of this legend.


Some Buddha sculptors from Korea where washed ashore here in olden times and started to carve the Yakushi Nyorai Buddha statue in thanks for their rescue.


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This temple features a special Kannon statue which grants wishes for an easy birth and bringing up children.

Kosodate Kannon 子育て観音

She stands in a separate hall with a roof over her head, holding a baby in her hand.

Around the open walls are offerings of water ladles without a bottom (hishaku 柄杓), with the wish for "yoku tsuujiru", the baby may pass easily".

Here is one made from bamboo with a bottom:







Here is a detail of the many offerings on the side:




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The main deity of this temple is Yakushi Nyorai.




MORE ABOUT
Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来、Buddha of Medicine


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Gokoku, the Five Grains 五穀

soy, wheat, barley, proso millet, and foxtail millet

They are regular items of temple food in Japan.

Farmers also pray for the "GOKOKU", meaning a bountiful harvest, at temples or Shinto shrines.
gokoku kigan 五穀祈願
or
gokoku hojo (gokoku hoojoo) 五穀豊穣,
the fertility of the five grains
Gokoku Hojo / English Reference : also Festivals, usually in Spring


The old state rituals of Takayamasai, Goryuusai (Goryūsai 五竜祭) and Raikoosai (Raikōsai) were especially famous.


The number FIVE also means PLENTY in the symbolic language of ancient Japan. In Chinese, it also means "all the grains and cereals".
FIVE in Chinese also refers to the five elements.


There are
The Three Guardian Gods of the Five Grains
Gokoku shugo no san nin no kamisama
五穀守護の三人の神様


One of them is Oo Anamura no Kami, another name for Okuninushi no Kami.
五穀守護の神 大己貴命（大国主命）


五穀神: Ogetsuhime (Oogetsuhime )オオゲツヒメthe Food-Goddess. She produced food from different parts of her body.
The Land of Awa (粟（阿波）国) is called Ogetsuhime. Today it is Tokushima prefecture.
Ohter spellings of her name: 大宜都比売、大気都比売神、大宜津比売神
She is also known as "Ukemochi no kami" (Uke-Mochi-No-Kami) 食保（うけもち）神, deity who preserves food or the soul of the rice grain. Wakaukanome.

quote
A deity appearing in an "alternate writing" quoted within Nihongi. The name uke is synonymous with uka, meaning "food," with the result that ukemochi no kami means a tutelary of foodstuffs, although some theories suggest that the kami is identical to Ōgetsuhime. According to Nihongi, Amaterasu commanded Tsukuyomi to go to Ukemochi, whereupon Ukemochi produced various foods from her mouth, including "things broad of fin" and "things narrow of fin," "things rough of hair" and "things soft of hair," and these she presented on one-hundred serving tables as a feast to Tsukuyomi.

Tsukuyomi, however, was enraged at being served foods that were "polluted" (since they had issued from Ukemochi's mouth), and drew his sword and killed Ukemochi. Hearing of this, Amaterasu sent Amenokumanoushi to investigate; it was found that cattle and horses were produced from the head of Ukemochi's dead body, rice was produced from her belly, and wheat and beans were produced from her genitals.

Amenokumanoushi took these items to Amaterasu, who was pleased, saying that the foods would serve to feed human beings. Amaterasu planted the various grains and seeds in fields and paddies, a story said to represent one type of food-origin myth.
©　Nakayama Kaoru


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quote
Toshigami, originally an agricultural deity (God/Goddess of the seasons and the vegetation cycle) became a New Year deity, but to Shimabuku, Toshigami was not just a deity of the incoming new year, Toshigami was still an agricultural deity and was greeted to ensure the protection of the gokoku or five grains, rice, wheat, barley, beans, and millet, which Okinawan farmers needed grow to survive.
©　www.isshinkai.net


MORE ABOUT
Toshigami, 歳德神 the God of the Year



A Buddhist prayer before meals

Ten no sankou ni mi wo atatame, chi no gokoku ni tamashii wo yashinau. Mina kore Honbutsu no jihi nari. Tatoe itteki no mizu, hitotsubu no kome mo kudoku to kouku ni yorazaru koto nashi. Warera kore ni yotte shinmi no kenkou ni mattou shi, Busso no oshie wo mamotte shion ni housha shi, houshi no jougyou wo tasseshimetamae. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Itadakimasu.

The rays of the sun, moon and stars which nourish our bodies, and the five grains of the earth which nurture our spirits are all the gifts of the Eternal Buddha. Even a drop of water or a grain of rice is nothing but the result of meritous work and hard labour. May this meal help us to maintain the health in body and mind, and to uphold the teachings of the Buddha to repay the Four Favours, and to perform the pure conduct of serving others.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Itadakimasu.
©　www.nshi.org/Buddhisme


Here is a Daruma Kite from Hadano and Beckoning cat
秦野達磨凧
They have been made since the Kamakura period with the prayer for a good harvest (gokoku hojo 五穀豊穣)


© kanagawaya


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005



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. . . .. . . . . . H A I K U


梅雨深し五穀米派と白飯派
tsuyu fukashi gokoku mai ha to shiromeshi ha

the rainy season deepens -
those who eat five grain rice
those who eat white rice

©　Sato Natsuko 佐藤　夏子

Tr. Gabi Greve


Rice mixed with five grains


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. WKD : Rice, kome米 types of rice .

. WKD : Wheat (mugi 麦) .


Foxtail millet (awa), barn millet (hie) and
egg millet (kibi)
. WKD : Millet and Kigo .


. WKD : Beans (mame　豆) .



. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　



. Autumn Festival (aki matsuri 秋祭り)
Giving Thanks for the five grains and other harvested items of this year.


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Henro 35

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Temple 35 . Kiyotaki-Ji 清滝寺
きよたきじ



高知県土佐市高岡町５６８－１
電話　　０８８－８５２－０３１６

Temple Song:
すむみづを　くめばこころの　きよたきじ
　　　　　　　なみのはなちる　いわのはごろも



医王山(いおうざん) Mountain of the Medicine Deity
Yakushi Nyorai


©　Photo: 青木　淳


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Worldkigo Database

Henro 36

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Temple 36 Shooryuuji 青龍寺
Shoryu-Ji
The Temple of the Azure Dragon

Kochi, Tosa town
高知県土佐市宇佐町竜601






Seiryuujii, Shooryuuji 青竜寺
temples named Seiryu-ji or Shoryu-Ji
. Temples named 青竜寺 .


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Namikiri Fudo Talisman



納経所横の石段を上ると、仁王門が見え、仁王門をくぐると左手に滝がある。
そのそばには、平成4年建立の赤い三重塔が、緑の木立の中に建っている。
新しいだけに美しい塔だ。仁王門から本堂までの石段が長い。１７０段
本堂には海上安全を祈願する職や絵馬がたくさん奉納されている。土佐藩
主山内氏は青龍寺に帰依し、藩費によって諸堂の修造が行われたと伝えら
れている。明治の頃までは土佐七大寺の中に数えられていた大寺で、末寺
四か寺、脇坊六坊を有していたという。石段を上りきったところには本堂と大師
堂が並んでいる。向かい側には三十三観音の石像がある。どの石像にも、赤
や黄の、前かけのような布がかけてある。そのため石像にもあたたかみが感
じられる。



Look at many more photos here:
http://f46.aaa.livedoor.jp/~taxi/junrei/36/36z.htm






Namikiri Fudo, Wave-calming Fudo

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Aki Meguri Shikoku Logbook:
the Temple Guy

The temple is located at the end of a swampy valley which I guess was once an inlet of Usa Bay (more on that name in a moment). Several writers have mentioned that the bridge seen here was only built in 1975; before that pilgrims had to "cross the river" by boat. I would guess that in fact--when the inlet was still there--they crossed the entire bay by boat. It was a long way around the bay by bus; it would have been a beeline by boat.

The founding legend here replicates the one for the founding of Koyasan. When he was leaving China after his studies there, the Daishi threw his vajra--a sort of holy dumbbell he's often seen holding in his right hand--across to Japan. It landed here, behind the hondo. So he founded the temples here. (At Koyasan, it was his staff, not his vajra. Jeez, he must have come home empty-handed!)

A "perennial" word about the vajra. We're told that on the pilgrimage, we should hold our beads in our left hand when we pray, without being told why. A cursory inspection will show that statues of the Daishi always show him with a circle of beads in his left hand. (A circle--remember that.) In his right, he usually has his vajra if sitting, and his staff if standing.

Freud calling. The circle is feminine, the staff or vajra masculine. The feminine symbol is in the left (yin, receptive, passive) hand, the masculine in the right (yang, creative, active) hand.

Mystery solved.


This temple has a waterfall used in a rite called takigyo--praying under a waterfall. I have had the privilege of seeing this--under a much larger fall--at one of the temples on the Bando circuit. It is truly powerful. This waterfall, though much smaller, would still give you quite a rush.

source :　the temple guy.com


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


. Henro Dragon Temples in Shikoku .

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Henro 41 Ryuko-Ji

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Temple 41 Ryuukooji 龍光寺 .
Temple of Dragon's Ray 龍光寺 Ryuko-Ji



Inari yama, Ryuko-Ji 稲荷山龍光寺

People call this temple with his mountain name
O-Inari san. 三間のお稲荷さん
Honorable Fox Deity of the Mountain

There used to be a Shinto gate (torii) at the entrance to this mountain temple.

Another deity appeared to Kobo Daishi in 807

Gokoku Daimyoojin 五穀大明神 Great Deity of the five grains
and asked Kobo Daishi to carve a statue of Inari Myojin 稲荷明神.

The main statue is a Kannon with 11 faces 十一面観世音菩薩
and Fudo Myo-O and Bishamon-Ten.

Even now the main temple festival is on the first sunday in March, when Kobo Daishi met the Deity.
Prayers for a good harvest, health, good business and peace in the family are offered.

Adress:
愛媛県宇和島市三間町戸雁173

Temple Song:
おん　まか　きゃろにきゃ　そわか
on maka kyaronikya sowaka

この神は三国るふの密教を
　　　　守り給わむ誓いとぞきく



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Once upon a time, the village headman was sleeping at the riverside.
The local dragon came by and tried to kidnap him. But the headman took out his sword and scratched the eyeballs of the dragon out.
The eyeballs ryuu no me　龍の眼 are kept as a treasure at this temple.

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Inari Myojin 稲荷明神


from 蓮長寺　 Temple Rencho-Ji Nara



from Shrine 東光院瘡守社, Kawasaki town
source :　ooinarien.web.



. Inari 稲荷 the Fox Deity .


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples ... 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005

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Temples named Ryuukooji 龍光寺 Ryuko-Ji （竜光寺）

Dragon Ray Temple

栃木県さくら市
徳島県美馬市（旧美馬郡木屋平村）
愛媛県宇和島市（旧北宇和郡三間町）
三重県鈴鹿市
東京都文京区
東京都杉並区
新潟県糸魚川市（大字小見）

Ryuukooin 龍光院 Ryuko-In
長野県上田市
和歌山県伊都郡高野町
広島県中区
愛媛県宇和島市
愛媛県松山市

Ryookooin 龍光院 Ryoko-In
京都市左京区黒谷町
京都市北区紫野大徳寺町


They relate to the common symbolism of Dragon and Light.
It might also reflect the quality of a good emperor in China, who was always seen as a "dragon".

Ryuutokuji 竜得寺　Ryutoku-Ji
"Temple of Great Dragon Quality"


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. Dragon Temples of Japan .


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Henro 65

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Temple 65



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

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Henro 66

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Temple 66



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Henro 68 - Jinne-In

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Temple 68 神恵院　Jinne-In

See
神恵院観音寺 Jinnei-In Kannon-Ji

. Kannon-Ji 観音寺 .

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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Henro 67

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Temple 67



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Henro 69 - Kannon-Ji

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Temple 69 Kannonji 観音寺 Kannon-Ji

Temple Song

観音の大悲の力強ければ　
おもき罪をも引きあげてたべ







Nio Guardian deities at the gate

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神恵院観音寺 Jinnei-In Kannon-Ji

quote
観音寺と神恵院　
Kanonji to Shinkeiin　Jinne-In and Kannonji Temples



Kannonji City in Kagawa Prefecture uniquely has two Holy Sites of Shikoku in one premise;
Jin’nein Temple (the 68th) and
Kannonji Temple (the 69th).

These temples were originally a part of Kotohiki (Harp Play) Hachimangu Shrine founded in 703 by Priest Nissho, who had received a divine message from Hachiman Daimyojin with the tune of Japanese harp heard from a boat on the sea. Jin’nein was also built at this time as an attached temple to the shrine.

In the Daido era (806-809), Kobo Daishi enshrined Amida Buddha、which was Honjibutsu (Buddhist counterpart of the deity of the shrine) and designated the shrine as the 68th of the 88 Holy Sites of Shikoku. Then he carved Sho Kanzeon Bosatsu (Sacred Form of Kannon) and built the formal seven buildings of a temple in the nearby mountain, and named it Kannonji Temple, which was designated as the 69th.

Later in the Meiji period (1868-1912), when temples and shrines were separated according to the Shinbutsu Bunri policy of the national government, Honjibutsu Amida Buddha of Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine was removed to Nishi-Kondo Hall of Kannonji Temple, which became the main hall of Jin’nein Temple; hereby two temples has been located in the same premise since then. Jin’nein temple is up the stone steps from Kannonji Temple.
source : nippon-kichi.jp


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Close to this temple is
Sennenji 専念寺 Sennen-Ji
of the Jodoshu sect
仏光山称光院
葛飾区奥戸8-10-3
The main statue is a Seated Amida Nyorai.



Ever since Yamazaki Sookan 山崎宗鑑 Yamazaki Sokan (1465 - 1553),
a haiku poet of the Muromachi period, spent a night here, this temple was often visited by haiku poets.


. Yamazaki Sokan 山崎宗鑑 Yamazaki Sookan .

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The haiku poet Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶
visited here two times between 1792 and 1794 with the head priest
性誉和尚, haiku name Gobai Osho 五梅和尚.

Issa wrote the following haiku

乞食も護摩酢酌むらん今日の春

遠かたや凧の上ゆくほかけ舟

白魚のしろきが中に青藻哉

天に雲雀人間海にあそぶ日ぞ

The handwriting of one of these haiku is preserved in a stone memorial at the temple, see below.

- Reference -

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乞食も護摩酢酌むらん今日の春
kotsujiki mo gomazu kumuran kyoo no haru

even the begging monks
drink some ritual sake -
this first spring day

It was the first day of the first lunar month, New Year in the Edo period.

. gomazu 胡麻酢 sesame with vinegar .

Here written with the characters for 護摩, the fire rites of esoteric Buddhism.

In this context, it is an euphemism for ricewine, used by monks and priests who are officially not allowed to drink sake.
Other euphemisms are
hannyatoo 若湯（はんにゃとう）hot water of wisdom
Kara-cha 唐茶（からちゃ）tea from China

. Fire rituals, goma kuyoo 護摩供養 .





kotsujiki 乞食（こつじき） are monks who have left their home and taken to the road in their pursuit of religious experience. They live from alms and often have to sleep outside.
This is still a bit different than the henro pilgrims to the 88 Shingon temples of Shikoku in honor to Kobo Daishi.


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source :　www.city.kanonji


元日やさらに旅宿とおもほへず
ganjitsu ya sara ni ryoshuku to omohoezu

New Year's Day -
I am still travelling on
it's hard to believe


On this trip to Matsuyama, Issa wrote

Saigoku kikoo 西国紀行
Record of Travels in the Western Provinces

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Zenigata,　 銭形　the coin made of sand
on the beach of Kannonji Town




2008 ７月２０日付・一茶と銭形まつり
Issa and the Zenigata Festival
If Issa would be here to see this festival, with its dances and fireworks, what kind of special haiku would he write about it?
source : www.shikoku-np.co.jp

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Contribution by Christopher Drake

kotsujiki mo -beggars, here beggar pilgrims, too
goma-zu kumu-ran - are probably/surely drinking sake to fete
kyou no haru - the first day of the new year, the first day of spring

This hokku is from the opening section of Issa's Record of Travels in the Western Provinces (Saigoku kikou 西国紀行). He had been staying in a Pure Land Buddhist temple, Sennenji, in the harbor town of Kannonji in northeast Shikoku, an island west of Osaka. The head monk there wrote haikai, and Issa was able to stay there for long periods. In this travel journal Issa begins by saying goodbye to his friends at Sennenji, his home away from home, and he then pays his respects to the many beggar pilgrims who, like him, are also setting out or about to set out at the beginning of the new year on the very same roads -- he on a haikai journey and they to visit some or all of the 88 Shingon temples on Shikoku devoted to the right-handed Tantric Buddhism brought to Japan by Saint Kobo, who is worshipped at each of the temples.

Near Sennenji Temple, where Isa is staying, is the large Kannonji Temple, no. 69 on the 88-temple pilgrimage, so Issa is no doubt used to seeing many pilgrims visit the temple and knows the difficulties they are going through. The 88-temple pilgrimage is now a rather trendy, romantic one, but in Issa's time most of the pilgrims were impoverished, sick, or in very difficult circumstances, and they made the pilgrimage not just for merit but in desperate attempts to salvage something of their lives. As Issa writes in his travelog, most of them sleep under trees or on big rocks and must beg their way around the pilgrimage route. Issa himself doesn't feel much different than a beggar, since all he has is haikai, and he seems to wonder whether he will also end up sleeping outside in the first lunar month (Feb.) while on his journey. During his actual trip, he almost had to sleep under a tree once, but finally he was able to beg a night's lodging at a house.

In his haibun travelog Issa puts himself among the beggar pilgrims and compares his own cups of sake drunk to celebrate the new year with the many cups the many pilgrims must surely be drinking here and there in the town of Kannonji and around the Shikoku pilgrimage route. The -ran here is important. Sometimes the word simply means "seem to" (the "may not" option is weak unless there is a ya or ka), but in this hokku and the surrounding travelog Issa seems confident that even the poorest pilgrim surely will manage to get a little sake with which to welcome the new year. So here -ran means "probably, almost surely," since Issa is imagining many thousands of people he can't see and therefore must guess and estimate how they celebrate the new year. I tried to capture this element of guessing or imagining with "out there."

Issa puns and writes goma (sesame 胡麻) with characters (護摩) that refer to the sacred fire (Sanskrit homa, Japanese goma) used during many ceremonies in Shingon Tantric Buddhism, including some of the ceremonies at the 88 pilgrimage temples. This pun is a standard one, since "holy fire sesame vinegar dressing"(!) is a euphemism used by monks of many different sects to refer to sake, which they are officially forbidden to drink, as Gabi pointed out. Issa isn't referring to sesame dressing mixed with sake or anything like that. The word is simply monk argot for a guilty pleasure, sake.
Both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (they were usually paired in a set in Japan) gave alms the poor and to beggars around New Year's, so I suspect the reason Issa is confident that the beggars must be able to drink a few cups to celebrate the new year is because he's seen Sennenji, Kannonji, and other temples and shrines in the area giving out sake to beggars so that they can welcome the new year. There are other monk euphemisms for sake, so perhaps Issa used the one that puns on "sacred fire" because on New Year's day the fire-using Shingon temples on the pilgrimage route are probably giving free sake to beggars and other visitors.

Issa uses the standard phrase "today's spring" to refer to New Year's Day as the beginning of spring. This is Issa's second hokku in the travelog, and in the first Issa uses "first day of the year" (ganjitsu ya). New Year's Day often didn't quite coincide with the first day of lunar spring, but this was a minor detail, and the first day of the new year was generally referred to as the first day of spring. Issa set out on his journey a week later, on 1/8.

Regarding the pronunciation of "beggar" in the hokku, Issa may have used konjiki in his native dialect, but I have followed Issa's various editors and used kotsujiki, since I think it may be more probable. Kotsujiki is not snobbish or elitist. It's a traditional Buddhist word that refers to a mendicant monk wandering around while meditating on his feet and begging for alms at people's doors -- which is what the pilgrim beggars are doing, though they are lay believers. Later kotsujiki also came to be used for beggars in general. It seems unlikely that Issa felt this word to be detached from ordinary life, since in this and other hokku and haibun he often compares himself to a beggar.
And in this hokku there is the further element of Issa's compassion toward the many suffering pilgrim beggars who are making the Shikoku pilgrimage without any assurance that they'll even finish it alive. It seems likely that Issa would want to show his respect for these vulnerable pilgrim beggars by using the full Buddhist term, not a dialect version that people on Shikoku probably didn't use. Especially at New Year's, when polite language was the norm.


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Pines at the beach of Temple Kannon-Ji 観音寺　

. My Visit to Shikoku in 2005 .


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Henro 70

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Temple 70



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

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Henro 71

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Temple 71 : Iyadani-Ji

四国第７1番
弥谷寺参道俳句茶屋

Near the entrance to this temple is the famous "Haiku Teahouse" Haiku Chaya　俳句茶屋。
You can even see some Daruma on the photos. The teahouse, or small restaurant, started more than 100 years ago to cater to the tired pilgrims.



http://www.shokokai-kagawa.or.jp/mino/mino/kankou/haiku.html





http://etuosimomura.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2006/07/1_0ce8.html


Click HERE to look at more photos !



World Kigo Database : Henro Pilgrims and Haiku


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Iyadani-Ji Temple is the 71st stop of the Pilgrimage to 88 Buddhist Temples across Shikoku. High Priest Kukai, is said to have the training in his childhood days in a cave and has old history.

Mount Iyadani was worshipped as the mountain of deceased, and believed that many of the spirits had go back to the mountain in the old days. Inside the temple, there are many ruins related to this legend, some statue and carvings, five-ring tower, are said to go back to Kamakura Period.

The symbol of Iyadaniji Temple is the 370 steep stone steps leading to the main hall. To catch your breath, we recommend the haiku cafe which many haiku poems created by the visitors decorate the room.

In middle of Mount Iyadani lies in a forest, recreation center called Mount Iyadani Fureai No Mori. It is designed for small children to elderly visitors. Fureai Park Mino has accomodation and natural hot spa, Cosmo Land Mino is amusement parks with many rides. Multi-purpose Square, Michi-no-Eki, Herb Garden, Promnade are other features.

Tsushima Shrine, famoust for the guardian of children is nearby, and Tenmu Castle Ruins, Mount Kihouzan Mini-Shikoku 88 Jizo Statues are easy access as well. The town is full of history and culture, and to enjoy and relax.

Iyadani-Ji


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mountain temple visit -
a cup of tea and
a haiku to go

Gabi Greve, 2001


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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve

Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

Worldkigo Database

Henro 72

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Temple 72



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Shikoku Henro 88 Temples 四国遍路８８札所


Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


************************

Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve

Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

Worldkigo Database