Chionji

Founded sometime in the 9th century C.E. just south of Amanohashidate, Chionji is a temple of the Rinzai-Zen sect. While the temple claims to be built in the 9th century, the eariest recorded dates are from the Kamakura Period (1180-1333 C.E.). Many of the buildings and the pricipal figure in the temple are all also dated to the Kamakura Period. The temple is dedicated to the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Monju (Manjusri), and as a result the temple has been a noted pilgrimage spot for leaders and philosophers throughout Japan’s history. For much of its history, Chionji claimed the forested sandbar Amanohashidate (The Bridge to Heaven) as private property of the temple, until the Meiji Restoration formally separated it from the temple. Amanohashidate is a key feature of the Shinto belief and therefore could not be associated with Buddhism per the new regulations. It was later established a national forest in 1871.

For the casual: 6. For the educated: 8.

Let’s just get the main issue out of the way first, it’s not easy to get to Amanohashidate from Kyoto. There is a train, but it takes a few hours. Now, that being said, this is a beautiful temple and one of my personal favorites for which I will explain in a bit. The road to the temple is one of those roads that clearly hasn’t changed in at least a hundred years. Cute little shops are here and there with maneki neko in windows and standing outside doors beckoning the odd passerby to see their wares. The main gate to the temple certainly announces itself because of its size and its clear distinction from the neighboring buildings. Once through, the grounds are filled with beautifully kept pine trees that are covered in omamori (fortune telling papers) which are specially printed on small paper fans. My favorite part of the temple is within the main building to the side. Keen eyed observers will notice a lot of very gruesome images painted on large wooden boards. These are images of the Buddhism Hell Scrolls! Yay!!! Just like gruesome stone statues outside a cathedral, these images show what happens to those who do not follow the teachings of the Buddha, and especially those who are evil in this life and do not deserve enlightenment. There are punishments befitting the crimes of the individual, like being turned into mostly animal if the person was cruel to animals, being turned into a hungry ghost for those who were too greedy, and quite a few other ones that I’ll just let you look it up if you have the stomach for these things. These images bring me particular joy because they remind me of one of my favorite classes in college taught by one of my favorite professors, a man with a dry sense of humor who knowingly showed us the most graphic images just before lunch time then asked us if we had any appetite left. We did not.

Omamori hanging from tree branches. These both say “Daikichi” or “THE BEST LUCK!!!” 

Yup, they’re pretty gruesome. 

 

Nariaiji

Nariai-ji is a temple complex in northern Kyoto Prefecture overlooking the city of Amanohashidate. The temple was first constructed in 704 C.E. is the 28th stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and is known today for granting prayers.

For the casual: 6. For the educated: 3.

Let’s get straight to the point, this temple incredibly beautiful. For sure it’s not an easy location to get to: Sea of Japan coast, long train rides, super steep roads, and more, but once you’re there it’s a wonderful place to stop and spend some time. There’s the beautiful pine trees all around, the view of Amanohashidate from the observation deck, and a five story pagoda surrounded by maple trees. Smell the air, take some photos, and enjoy the day, it’s worth it. I apologize that I don’t have more photos. Looking through them, I was feeling a little too artsy-fartsy that day and don’t have a good representative photo for you.

 

Sekizan-Zenin

Sekizan-Zenin is a temple in the Higashiyama disctrict of Kyoto dedicated to the Sekizan Daimyôjin. The temple was founded in the 9th century and is one of the temples on the Kyoto pilgrimmage of Shichifukujin (七福神), The Seven Lucky Gods, in Kyoto.

For the casual: 7. For the educated: 4.

Sekizan-Zenin is a fun temple to visit in Kyoto if you’re looking for a change of pace. There are notable statues and features of the temple that are uncommon anywhere else. There are lucky monkey statues on the roofs, there is a prayer bead gate to walk through for luck, and there are dozens of statues of monks, priests, and holy figures. Rather than a temple with one main hall, Sekizan-Zenin is a complex of small halls and shrines.

Just a photo note. I was going through my photos to write this post and for some reason I never took a photo of the buildings, just statues and other small things. Sorry about that. If you can take my word on it, this is a lovely little temple with beautiful buildings. Sorry!

The orange sign reads “goshuin” and there are dozens of signs around every corner leading the path through the complex to the goshuin booth. It made me laugh at least.

 

Kurama-dera

In the mountains north of Kyoto, Kurama-dera was founded atop the mountain with the same monacher in the late 8th century C.E. The temple was originally founded as a nature retreat, a spot to get away from the chaos and commotion of everyday life and enter a serene and secluded life in search of spiritual enlightenment. Now, that dream is slightly less viable with the massive city of Kyoto crammed up against the entrance of the mountain pass. The temple itself is known for a long and storied history, but it’s most known for a powerful supernatural connection between the samurai general Minamoto Yoshitsune, and the tengu of Kurama-san, Sôjôbô.

For the casual: 6. For the educated: 7.

Kurama-dera, like any good mountain complex, is not simply confined to one location on the steep slopes. The temple has its main halls in one location, but there are a series of smaller halls, shrines, and locations of import all across the mountain. Most of these locations are reasonably accessable along a mountain trail which begins on the east side where the temple is, and ends on the west side.

The temple grounds have a great many important locations like an energy locus on the observation deck, rooms where sutra copies can be written, and homes for some of the temple’s important artifacts. A small museum is also open to the public for a small fee which contains temple artifacts, items relating to the tengu legends of the area, and also the wildlife found across the mountain.

There’s even a shrine to the king of demons (奥の院魔王殿) ! Now, I’m not sure if this is a shrine to a specific demon, monster, or just a darkness that seems to be present in the area; I mean, the landscape behind the building looks pretty hell-ish. I think what is more likely is that this shrine is dedicated to Sôjôbô, the tengu I mentioned earlier. He was said to be the king/god of all tengu in Japan and some myths state that he had the power of 1,000 tengu. When Minamoto no Yoshitsune (Ushiwakamaru) was staying at the temple, he trained under the famed tengu and learned martial arts, military strategy, and magic. While tengu are yokai of extraordinary power, they can be equal parts benevolent and malevolent. This small shrine may be to appease the evil side of the tengu that could bring destruction to the towns, and even the kidnapping of children. Of course, this is all conjecture since I couldn’t find any concrete information regarding the temple grounds.