I went to the Yasaka Temple！｜「海陽で行ってみた！」八坂寺編
Hey, it’s Tony!
こんにちは、トニーだよ！
I’ve lived in Kaiyo for almost 2 years now, and there’s a place in Sabase near Asakawa that I usually drive by called the Yasaka temple. The road signs always caught my attention, and I heard that it was one of the Bekkaku (special) temples associated with the 88-temple pilgrimage, but I never really took the time to visit it properly. So, I decided to check it out with Global Kaiyo team member Kyoko. October is peak pilgrimage season, so it made sense to visit now!
海陽町に住んでもうすぐ2年になるだけど、いつも車で通る鯖瀬に八坂寺っていう場所があるんだ。道路標識がいつも目について、八十八ヶ所巡礼にまつわる別格二十霊場の一つだと聞いていたのだが、ちゃんと訪れたことがなかったんだ。そこで、グローバル海陽チームの暁子さんと一緒に行ってみた！10月は四国巡礼のピークシーズンなので、今行くのがベストだったね！
Apparently, a lot of pilgrims skip visiting the Bekkaku temples because of the extra time and distance required. But, since this temple is so close to the main road taken by the pilgrims, a large number of them drop by to see it.
多くのお遍路さんはどうやら、余分な時間と距離が必要なために別格寺院の参拝を見送ることにすることが多いらしいが、この寺院はお遍路さんが通る国道に近いから、多くのお遍路さんが立ち寄るんだ。
It was clear from the start that there were many things to check out when I got there, like the statues of different deities and a couple temple buildings closely packed together.
着いた瞬間から、さまざまな神様の像やいくつかの寺院や、見るものがたくさんあることがわかったよ。
At the main temple building, we paid our respects first by lighting some incense and praying.
本堂では、まず線香をたいてお参りをしたよ。
The building to the left of the main temple had a statue of Kobo Daishi holding a mackerel. Here, if you swear that you will go three years without eating mackerel, then you will be blessed with good health. I don’t eat mackerel often, so I would probably forget quickly and be blessed without realizing!
本堂の左側の建物にはサバを持った弘法大師の像があったよ。ここで、3年間サバを食べないと誓えば、健康に恵まれると言われているんだ。あまりサバを食べないから、すぐに忘れてしまって、気づかないうちに恵まれるかもしれないね！
Between this building and the main temple lies a little pathway that leads to a pagoda on a hill too, which was interesting to see!
この建物と本堂の間には小道があり、そこを進むと多宝塔があって、それを見るのも面白かった！
There was also a big bonsho bell in the main area that I sounded with the wooden beam. Remember, gently does it!
本堂の近くには大きな鐘もあり、木の棒で鳴らすことができるんだ。でも、優しくね！
To the right of the main temple was an unassuming building, inside of which was the highlight of this trip: a tunnel!
本堂の右側にはあまり目立たない建物があり、その中にはなんと、洞窟があったよ！
We took off our shoes and entered through the side entrance. I heard that there was a tunnel here before, but when I saw it in person, it was a lot deeper than what I imagined. The tunnel stretches for 88 meters and curves downwards towards the end. One side of the wall is lined with a unique statue dedicated to each of the 88 temples and 20 Bekkaku temples like this:
靴を脱いで左側の入口から入ってみたよ。前からここにトンネルがあることは聞いていたけど、実際に見てみると、想像していたよりもずっと深かった。トンネルは88メートルにわたって伸びていて、最後に向かって下にカーブしていくよ。トンネルの壁の一方には、八十八箇所や別格二十霊場がそれぞれに捧げられたユニークな像が並んでいたよ：
The opposite side was lined with glass cabinets labeled with a prefecture. Each cabinet contained many small golden statues, each representing a donation made to the temple.
その反対側には、各都道府県の名前が付いたガラスケースが並んでいた。それぞれのケースには多くの小さな金の像が入っていて、お寺への寄付を表しているんだ。
At the end of the tunnel was a dimly lit hall called the Goma-do. The walls of the room had shelves which were lined with many smaller golden statues like the ones in the tunnel. In the middle of the room was an altar which had some fruit and incense offerings dedicated to the larger statue of Fudō Myōō in the back of the room. It all felt very sacred, in the sense that these places always have a tendency of making people go silent the moment they enter. It reminded me of a Taoist temple in Sydney that I used to go to when I was a kid.
トンネルの最後には、護摩堂があったよ。壁には棚があり、トンネルにある像と同じような金の像がたくさん並んでいた。部屋の中央には果物や線香などのお供え物が置かれていた祭壇があり、その背後にはが大きな不動明王の像だった。入った瞬間に人を無言にさせる力があるという意味で、この部屋がとても神聖に感じられた。子どもの頃よく行ったシドニーの道教寺院を思い出させる感じだね。
After checking out the Goma-do hall, we headed back through the tunnel we came in through to wrap up our visit to the Yasaka temple. Even though it’s such a compact area, I was surprised that there was so much to see and do at this temple. A lot of people come here for their first temple visit of the year, so maybe I’ll come back again then!
護摩堂を見た後、トンネルを戻って八坂寺の訪問を終えることにしたよ。こんなにコンパクトなところなのに、この寺院で見るものやすることがたくさんあってすごかった。毎年の初詣に来る人も多いようなので、その時にまた来ようかな！