Appendix 9 (temples 25, 26 and 27) from the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces

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Japanese Letterpress Print

Appendix 9 (temples 25, 26 and 27)

from the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces

by unknown, 1925

Illustrated Account of the Sino-Japanese War, Volume 7

IHL Cat. #2413.55

(from the complete 1925 album of prints IHL Cat. #2413)

About This Print

The ninth of eleven appendices in the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces portfolio, each providing information on three of the thirty-three temples that make up the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Each appendix sheet provides a sketch of each temple's honzon 本尊(enshrined principle image), its goeika 御詠歌 (a song/prayer recited by some pilgrims) and a haikai (comic linked verse) composed by the haiku poet Ishikura Suiyō 石倉翠葉 (1875-1938) who, along with the artist Akatsuka Chūichi 赤塚忠一 (1887-?), accompanied Nakazawa on his seventy-eight day pilgrimage to the thirty-three temples and surrounding sights beginning on December 11, 1923. The creator of the honzon sketches is unknown.

The three temples on this sheet (including their locales, using the old province names, and sangō 山号*) are:

Harima no kuni [Banshū] Mitake-san Shinkiyomizu-dera 播磨國 [播州] 御嶽山新清水寺 (temple 25, 二十五)

Harima no kuni [Banshū] Hokke-zan Ichijō-ji 播磨國 [播州] 法華山一乗寺 (temple 26, 二十六)

Harima no kuni [Banshū] Shosha-zan Engyō-ji 播磨國 [播州] 書寫山圓教寺 (temple 27, 二十七)

Each temple name in the below table is linked to its corresponding print.

* the name of a Buddhist temple's sacred mountain prefixed to the name of the temple. They are used both in the portfolio's table of contents and on each addendum sheet.

Temple Name and Number Goeika 御詠歌
Shinkiyomizu-dera  新清水寺, temple 25 Such feeling!
Around every corner
And in every place
There is nothing it misses-
The waves of this pure water あはれみや普き門の品々になにをかなみのここに清水
Ichijō-ji  一乗寺, temple 26 In spring the cherry blossoms
In summer the orange blossoms
In autumn the chrysanthemum
Always exquisite-
The Way of the Mountain Flowers 春は花夏は橘秋は菊いつも妙なる法の華山
Engyō-ji  圓教寺, temple 27 Coming from so far away
As I climb Mt. Shosha
The sound of the wind
Rustling in the pines-
Isn't this the Dharma? はるばるとのぼれば書寫の山おろし松のひびきも御法なるらん

Note: All goeika English translations taken from A Pilgrimage in Japan: The 33 Temples of Kannon, Joan D. Stamm, Mantra Books, 2018. Goeika in Japanese taken from the website of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage Association https://www.saikoku33.gr.jp/

Comparison of Appendices - The Original 1925 Release and the 1946 Second Edition

As shown below, the original 1925 release is printed in red ink on the same paper used for the prints themselves. The 1946 release is printed in black ink on a thin translucent sheet of paper.

A 1925 (left) and 1946 (right) addendum sheet for temples 4, 5 and 6

About the "Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces"

First issued in 1925 and reprinted in 1946, the 1925 album contains 58 prints and the 1946 album 59 prints. For detailed discussion of the two editions and additional information on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage see this site's article Nakazawa Hiromitsu - Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces.

click on the image to go to the article

The Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage (Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei)

Sources: website of cultural anthropologist Martin Gray http://www.taleofgenji.org/saigoku_pilgrimage.html and "Buddhist Pilgrim/Buddhist Exile: Old and New Images of Retired Emperor Kazan in the Saigoku Kannon Temple Guidebooks," Mark MacWilliams, appearing in History of Religions, May, 1995, Vol. 34, No. 4, The University of Chicago Press, p. 303-328.

Japan's most famous pilgrimage, originating in the 11th century, encompasses 33 Buddhist temples in Western Japan (Kansai region) dedicated to Kannon (bodhisattva Avalokitasvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who hears the cries of the world and assists anyone in distress.

The 33 temples on the approximately 1,000 kilometer pilgrimage route correspond to Kannon's ability to take on 33 different forms. One hundred thousand pilgrims navigate the route in its entirety or part each year.

Note: For a listing of all 33 temples go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigoku_Kannon_Pilgrimage. To access an interactive map of the route and its temples go to https://www.thetempleguy.org/p/saigoku-33-kannon-route.html and scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

Print Details

IHL Catalog
#2413.51
Title or Description
Appendix 9 (temples 25, 26 and 27)
附録九
Series Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces
西国三十三所巡礼画巻 Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei gakan
Artist unknown - sketches of honzon not credited. Principle artist for portfolio is Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964). Haikai by Ishikura Suiyō 石倉翠葉 (1875-1938)
Signature
not signed
Seal of the artist not sealed
Publication Date September 28, 1925 大正十四年九月十八日発行 [publishing date as given on the colophon for the 1925 album]
Publisher
文淵堂版 Bun'endō han

發行者金尾種次郎 publisher Kanao Tanejirō
發兌元金尾文淵堂 publishing house Kanao Bun'endō
Carver not applicable
Printer 松本兄弟堂, a company founded in Osaka by Matsumoto Kisaburō 松本喜三郎 in 1923
Impression excellent
Colors excellent
Condition good - foxing and some discoloration; wrinkling on margin edges
Genre shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour)
Miscellaneous
Format horizontal oban
H x W Paper
10 1/16 x 15 3/16 in. (25.6 x 38.6 cm)
H x W Image
8 9/16 x 11 1/2 in. (21.7 x 29.2 cm) (area with red border)
Literature Nakazawa Hiromitsu kenkyū: Hon karano kenshō, Hiromitsu Nakazawa, Mitsunobu Satō, et. al., Mitsui Kōkei, Tokyo, 2006, p. 46-48.
Collections This Print
National Diet Library Call Number 寄別7-8-2-5; National Library Board, Singapore BRN:9854371 (entire 1946 album, no images shown); British Library System number: 017018582 (entire 1946 album, no images shown); Harvard Yenching Library HOLLIS number 990082993710203941 (1925 album)

last revision:

12/23/2020 created