Friday, November 9th, 2001
See here for the distances between temples
The Shikoku Pilgrimage
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Preliminaries
Whew! I hit the 80's today. Eight more temples--probably three or four more days--and then I'll be heading back to Number 1 to close the circle. I'll also almost certainly return to Koyasan to check in with the Daishi; it's the most proper way to finish the pilgrimage.
Yesterday and today I did five temples a day. The traveling isn't so tough, but doing these five-temple homepages is killing me! Especially since this youth hostel room doesn't have a table, even a low Japanese-style one. So I've tried to raise the computer up a bit in the tokonoma (decorative alcove), but it's still uncomfortable.
Ah, the sacrifices I make for you, dear readers!
Bangai: Kaigan-ji (海岸寺)
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Before I set out for Number 76 this morning, I took a look around Kaiganji where I'm staying, the temple Oliver Statler refers to as "Beach Temple"--and with good reason, as the back wall of the temple is right along the beach.
I feel bad sometimes about picking on Ed Readicker-Henderson so much, but I just get this feeling that he and I were on different pilgrimages. Differences of opinion are one thing, but differences of fact are a big concern. This is all the more strange because (I think) Ed lived/lives in this area, where I have found the most mistakes in his book.
Kaiganji has two units. One is a hondo (main hall) and youth hostel surrounded by other buildings. On the map of the grounds given to me, there are 20 named components, including statuary groups, gates, and no fewer than four marked -do, meaning (Buddha) hall, as in hondo. Across the street is the Okunoin, the "back temple," where the Daishido is located. This stands on the purported site of the Daishi's birth--I believe that's right, though Number 75 says he was born there. (See yesterday's logbook for details). In that "back" unit of Kaiganji, there are 26 named components, again four of which are -do. There is also an extensive "Mini-88," a path lined with statues representing each of the Shikoku temples; this path is one of the longest that I've seen, leading up the side of two different hills and across the gully in between.
Now, here's what Ed says of Kaiganji: "Kaiganji...is now little more than a new gate dwarfed by apartment buildings."
???
Here's something different:
These figures on either side of the "beach unit's" Main Gate are enshrined...
...in place of the usual Nio. Recognize them? They're Sumo "wrestlers."
After dawdling on the beach for a while, I finally hopped a train for...
---GALLERY---
Temple #76: Konzo-ji (金倉寺)
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This fairly unprepossessing looking temple is rich in history. It is the birthplace of Enchin, later called Chisho Daishi, the Daishi's nephew, who became the sixth patriarch of Tendai Buddhism.
It was also the site of what the Bishop calls a "residential home" of General Nogi, a hero of the early 20th century. (By the way, this area--near Zentsuji--is still a military area. I saw several men in uniform riding their bikes home from "work" last night.) The General (sometimes called "Count") and his wife are famous for committing suicide upon the death of the Meiji Emperor in 1912.
1912. Mark that date, 'cause I'm about to take it out of Ed again.
Ed records that "a shogun's wife" used to wait here. (An easy mistake, as shogun means "general," more or less.) Then he says, "The resident priest assured me that the current pine is only a second-generation tree, but it is small enough that it may be a few generations later than that, almost dwarfed by the stone which has the legend carved into it."
Well, if this was a Kamakura shogun Ed might have a point. But since this guy died less than a hundred years ago, I vote for the priest.
A short train ride and a short walk took me to..
---GALLERY---
Temple #77: Doryu-ji (道隆寺)
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This temple could be characterized as a little gem: it's small, but the raw, unfinished wood of the buildings makes it seem very old. The grounds are crammed with small buildings, and a pathway lined with Kannons representing the 100 temples of the three big Kannon pilgrimages: the Saigoku (Kansai) 33, the Bando (Kanto) 33, and the Chichibu 34--all of which I've done (the last one entirely on foot last July).
This temple was a training center for both Tendai and Shingon priests. Ed says it was founded when a relative of the Daishi's (who lived before him) accidentally shot his nurse with an arrow. He carved a Yakushi (Buddha of healing) and built this temple to house it. Later, the Daishi carved a bigger image of Yakushi and put the smaller one inside it (a common practice).
---GALLERY---
Temple #78: Gosho-ji (郷照寺)
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All of today's temples were blessedly close to train stations. This one, the farthest, was still less than a twenty-minute walk.
Goshoji belongs to the Ji sect, founded in the Kamakura period by Ippen. This is the sect that also owns Yugyoji in Fujisawa, where I was treated so royally.
This temple is quite pretty, although parts of it are torn up for construction.
Somewhere on the grounds is a representation of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys. The Bishop puts it on the hondo, where it's off-limits to casual visitors like me. Ed puts it by the front gate; I couldn't find it--perhaps it was removed during construction.
The classic representation of these three is at Toshogu in Nikko. Ed gives an interpretation I hadn't read before: there are worms in the human body which monitor the soul's condition, and report on it at the time of death. It is hoped that they will follow the monkeys' examples, seeing, hearing, and--especially--speaking no evil. News to me.
---GALLERY---
Temple #79: Tenno-ji (天皇寺)
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A most unusual place. The main gate (see the Gallery below) is the torii of a shrine; its honden appears behind it. To the right one finds the temple office, former shukubo (temple lodgings), and stamp office. To the left are the hondo and Daishido. So does the temple administer the shrine? I don't know.
But I do know how this came to be--more or less.
I can't possibly give you all the historical background in a brief manner, but this will be enough: there was a troubled emperor in the 12th century, and a dispute over succession. His name was Sutoku. Eventually he was exiled to this province, where he was assassinated. His body was either kept (Ed) or bathed (the Bishop) in a pond here until its burial at Number 81, where I hope to go tomorrow.
The story doesn't end there. He was pissed, even after death, and wreaked havoc on the country--or so they say. The Emperor strikes back. So they deified him in an attempt to placate him; the shrine here is dedicated to him as a Shinto god.
For this reason, Koshoin is also called Tennoji--the Temple of the Emperor.
---GALLERY---
Temple #80: Sanuki Kokubun-ji (讃岐国分寺)
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Today's last temple, and my entree to the eighties.
This is the fifth and last Kokubunji of the trip; here's a summary set of links:
- Totomi Kokubunji (at Mitsuke on the Old Tokaido, September 25th)
- Temple 15 (Awa Kokubunji, October 16th)
- Temple 29 (Tosa Kokubunji, October 25th)
- Temple 59 (Iyo Kokubunji, November 3rd)
---GALLERY---
That's it for today. Weather willing, I'll be up in the mountains for a walk from Number 81 to Number 82 and back down to the valley floor tomorrow. (If the weather is bad, I'll do Numbers 83 to 86--all city temples--instead.) Just three more days, if all goes according to plan, and I'll be on my way back to Number 1.
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Posted October 18, 2019
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