Travel Blog: Kochi's Temple on a Hill

We've moved south from the main Japanese island of Honshu to the small island Shikoku to visit the city of Kochi. Here our excursion took us to Chikurin-ji Temple and the Makino Botanical Gardens.

We docked while we were having breakfast, and looking out the window at Marketplace, I noticed the welcome the ship was getting:

It was very windy and I was surprised to see that these young people managed to get the flags into the air, and then control them. They only flew them until the lines were set and then they packed everything away.

Kochi is not a huge city, and on our short drive to the temple we were surprised to see large rice fields right beside residential properties and manufacturing.

Our first stop this morning was the Makino Botanical Garden. Dr. Tomitaro Makino was a self-taught student of botany who focused on the flora of Japan throughout his extensive career as a plant taxonomist. He was instrumental in naming numerous plant species, traveled around Japan promoting the importance of understanding plants, and published a book, 'Makino's Illustrated Flora of Japan' which is still studied today.

The botanical garden was established in 1958, not long after Dr. Makino's death. He had always said that Mt. Godaisan would be an excellent location, and this section of the grounds around Chikurin-ji was given to the prefecture for it. It is a beautiful location with views over the town.

A field of flowers we could put into our
garden at home!

Japan is the home of green tea, and we were shown the Camellia Sinensis, the plant that provides the leaves for it. We also had a quick lesson on the difference between green tea and matcha. Yes, matcha is green tea, but it is made by grinding very young leaves to a powder, and drinking or eating the powder mixed into your recipe. Regular green tea is made just by steeping the leaves and extracting the flavour. Another version of green tea, hojicha, is made from roasted leaves, so it is more brown coloured than green. We tried some in Tokyo, and it is also delicious.

There is a temple pilgrimage route around Shikoku Island that covers 1,400 km or about 800 miles and visits 88 sacred temples associated with the monk Kobo Daishi. Our guide said that many people will make this pilgrimage, but most of those who walk the distance - taking approximately 6 weeks - are foreigners. Most Japanese, including himself, take the car. Chikurin-ji is one of the temples on the list, and there are signs for the pilgrims to follow from the garden to the temple.

There is a small statue marker along the path showing the pilgrims they are on the correct path and where they are. We also noticed a lot of grave markers beside the road, and often in some odd spots, and someone asked the guide about them. Apparently in years gone by, if a pilgrim died along the route, others would make sure they had a proper burial near that spot. Pilgrims always wear white to identify themselves, although now it is more like a vest, and there's little chance of having to bury them on the roadside. We did see a few walking around the temple....probably heading back to their cars to drive to the next one after getting their book stamped.

As we walked through the gardens, our guide pointed out some other more interesting plants and trees. This one is the Crape Myrtle, which sheds its bark so the trunk is very smooth; so smooth that even monkeys can't climb it, so it is called Sarusuberi, or 'monkey'-'slip/slide', in Japanese.

Here we found some double cherry blossoms still on the tree. We are far enough south that the blossom time is truly over.

A very pretty small purple orchid:

This is just a little bit of a huge Evergreen Velvet Bean, or Mucuna plant. It is a climbing vine native to China with uses in traditional Chinese medicine. The thing was about 30 feet high and strung right across the walking path. Our guide told us it was poisonous, but I didn't see anything of that when I looked it up. It was just very impressive and covered in flowers.

Even the gardens have their own azalea display, but it isn't as nicely pruned as the bushes at Nezu Shrine.

I couldn't find out what this tree is called, but it
sure has interesting blossoms.

A statue of Dr. Makino in the gardens.

Along with a large conservatory and other research buildings in the gardens, there were some other lovely displays. One had lovely primroses; they would change the featured plants with the seasons.

After our visit in the gardens, we entered into the grounds of Chikurinji Temple. This temple is thought to have been established in 724 by Gyoki, a Buddhist high priest. He had been sent to find a site on a mountain and build a temple to Monju Bosatsu, the Buddhist saint of wisdom. Gyoki found this site, named the hill Mt. Godaisan, and enshrined an image of Moju Bosatsu that he carved himself to found the temple.

The temple has a lovely 'Guest House' with a Japanese garden surrounding it that is said to have been established in the early 1300s by Muso-kokushi, a famous garden designer of the time. The garden is counted as a National Scenic Beauty since 2004.

After visiting the guest house we entered the temple through a very old wooden gate.

The main gate to the temple

The temple is Buddhist, but there is a small Shinto
shrine on the grounds. Many Japanese are born
Shinto but may be Buddhist when they pass away,
according to our guide.

The Main Hall

The pagoda is quite ornate but is not that old. It was built in 1980 to replace the original 3-storey pagoda that was destroyed by a typhoon in 1899. It houses a small piece of Buddha's bone that was sent from India.