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JR Yamaguchi Station (JR山口駅) St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park (聖サビエル記念公園) Ryufuku-ji Temple (龍福寺) [the former Ouchi Mansion (大内御館)] St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church (山口サビエル記念聖堂) Santoka Taneda (種田山頭火) |
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| JR Yamaguchi Station (JR山口駅) is a small station for local trains after JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station was built for Shinkansen Line. | ||
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(Tuesday 23 March) JR Yamaguchi Station (JR山口駅) | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Illustrated map of Yamaguchi City, JR Yamaguchi Station | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Signpost of Yamaguchi City as a western Kyoto in front of JR Yamaguchi Station | |
| St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park (聖サビエル記念公園) is located 342 m north of JR Kami-Yamaguchi Station (JR上山口駅). It was the site of the demolished Daido-ji Temple (大道寺) where, under Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi (大内義隆, 1507-1551)'s permission, Cosme de Torres (トルレス; 1510-1570), Xavier's successor, built a church.
Xavier landed in Kagoshima in the 18th year of Tenbun (天文18年) or 1549. In November 1550 (天文19年) he came to Yamaguchi on the way to Kyoto. However, Xavier found Kyoto badly damaged because of series of wars. So he came back to Yamaguchi and asked Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi to give permission to propagandize Christianity here in April 1551 (天文20年). Yoshitaka, who were well grounded in a variety of foreign cultures and trading, generously gave Xavier the site of the demolished Daido-ji Temple. Lodging at the demolished temple, he went to town to propagandize Christianity to local people. Six months later In September 1551, Xavier left for Kyushu leaving his Valencian disciple Cosme de Torres (1510-1570), et al. Soon Harukata Sue (陶晴賢, 1521-1555), a powerful retainer of the Ouchi clan, rose in revolt against Yoshitaka who was forced to commit suicide at Tainei-ji Temple (大寧寺) in Nagato-Fukagawa (長門深川) in late 1551. however, Yoshinaga Ouchi (大内義長), successor supported by Harukata, gave a permission to Torres to build a church here as the copper replica of the formal letter from Yoshinaga shows (see below). For further information of St. Francis Xavier [Francisco Javier, 1506-1552], 1. go to the "Juan Goto and Crypto-Christians" page. 2. go to the "Sakai City" page. 3. go to the "Shimonoseki City" page. 4. go to the "Hioki City" page. 5. go to the "Kagoshima City" page. 6. go to the "Nagasaki City" page. 7. go to the "Oita City" page. |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Signpost of St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park (聖サビエル記念公園) near Nisseki Hospital (日赤病院; Japan Red Cross Hospital) | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Relief of St. Francis Xavier on the monument, St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Inscription of the monument indicating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the saint, dated June 2, 1949. St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City. | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Bronze monument of the replica of the letter of permission to build a church here from Yoshinaga Ouchi (see above). St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City. | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Bronze monument of the replica of the letter of permission to build a church here from Yoshinaga Ouchi (see above). St. Francis Xavier Commemoration Park, Yamaguchi City. | |
| Ryufuku-ji Temple (龍福寺) was built by the Mori clan (毛利氏) in the 3rd year of Koji (弘治3年) or 1557 here at the site of the former Ouchi Mansion (大内御館) to repose the soul of the Ouchi clan. Generations of the Ouchi clan governed and ruled their dominions in the Chugoku District and in the Kyushu District. In the 30th lord Yoshioki Ouchi (大内義興, 1477-1528) saw the most prosperous days. However, his successor Yoshitaka (大内義隆, 1507-1551) was not so interested in wars, so that his powerful retainer Harukata Sue rose in revolt, which made Yoshitaka commit suicide in 1551. Although Sue supported Yoshinaga Ouchi (大内義長) as Yoshitaka's successor, Motonari Mori's army defeated the Sue clan at the Battle of Itsukushima (厳島). | ||
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(Tuesday 23 March) Signpost of Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Approach to San-mon Gate (山門) to Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Replica of Xavier's Missionary Well, Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion. Xavier liked to stand by a well along Daiden-oji Street (大殿大路) and preach before the audience during his stay in Yamaguchi between April and September 1551. | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Replica of Xavier's Missionary Well, Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) "San-mon" Gate (山門) to Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) "Shoro" (鐘楼; the Belfry), Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) "Bell of Happiness" (しあわせのかね), "Shoro" (鐘楼; the Belfry), Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) The tower erected for the repose of Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi, Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) The tower erected for the repose of Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi, Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Yoshitaka Ouchi's tanka as his farewell production dated September 1, 20th year of Tenbun (天文20年) or 1551:
討つ人も (Utsu Hito mo) 討たる人も (Utaru Hito mo) 諸ともに (Morotomo ni) 如露亦如電応作如是観* (Nyoroyaku Nyodenousa Nyozekan) (The person who attacks and The person who is attacked One and all Will be gone like dewdrops. The thunder disappear in a moment. I feel that way.) (trans. Eishiro Ito) *The passage is derived from Diamond Scripture Sutra (Skt. Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita; 「金剛般若経」). |
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(Tuesday 23 March) "Hon-do" (本堂; the Main Hall), Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Ryufuku-ji Temple Museum (龍福寺資料館), Ryufuku-ji Temple, the site of Ouchi Mansion | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Equestrian statue of Lord Yoshioki Ouchi (大内義興公「馬上展望」像), Ryufuku-ji Temple Museum | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Equestrian statue of Lord Yoshioki Ouchi (大内義興公「馬上展望」像), Ryufuku-ji Temple Museum | |
| St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church (山口サビエル記念聖堂) is located within Kameyama Park (亀山公園) or at 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City (山口市亀山町4-1B). The original building was erected in 1952 for praising the achievements of St. Francis Xavier, but burnt down on September 5, 1991. With supports by many people, the present church was completed on April 29, 1998. | ||
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(Tuesday 23 March) St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church, 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier in front of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church, 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier in front of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church, 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier in front of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church, 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier in front of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church, 4-1B Kameyama-cho, Yamaguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Clock Tower (left) and Bell Tower (right), St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Museum of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Residence of the Jesuits or Monastery (イエズス会レジデンス/修道院)、St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Yamaguchi/Shimane Parish Head Office, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) A statue of the Holy Mother, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) A statue of the Holy Mother, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier Preaching by the Well, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier Preaching by the Well, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier Preaching by the Well, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier Preaching by the Well, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
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(Tuesday 23 March) Statue of St. Francis Xavier Preaching by the Well, St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church | |
| A 50-year-old poet Santoka Taneda (種田山頭火) lived near JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station (新山口駅/小郡駅) for seven years between 1932 (昭和7年) and 1938 (昭和13年). His cottage was named "Gochu-an" (其中庵) by the poet himself: About 20 minutes' walk from the north exit of JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station following guiding boards one by one.
Santoka Taneda (種田 山頭火, birth name: Shoichi Taneda; 種田 正一; 3 December 1882 - 11 October 1940) was the pen-name of a Japanese author and haiku poet. He is known for his free verse haiku (自由律俳句). Santoka was born in Nishisabaryo Villege (西佐波令村; now Daido, Hofu City [防府市大道]), Yamaguchi Prefecture, to a wealthy land-owning family. At the age of eleven his mother Fusa (フサ) committed suicide by throwing herself into the family well. Though the exact reason for her action is unknown, according to Santoka’s diaries his mother had finally reached the point where she could no longer live with her husband’s philandering. Following the incident, Santoka was raised by his grandmother Tsuru (ツル). In 1902, he entered Waseda University (早稲田大学) in Tokyo as a student of literature. While there, he began drinking heavily, and in 1904, at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争), he dropped out of school. The documented reason was “nervous breakdown” (神経衰弱), which some believe to be a euphemism for frequent and severe drunkenness. By that time his father Takejiro (竹治郎) was in such dire financial straits that he could barely afford to pay his son’s tuition. In 1906, Taneda father and son sold off family land in order to open a sake brewery. In 1909 his father arranged for Santoka to marry Sakino Sato (佐藤 咲野), a girl from a neighboring village. In his diaries, Santoka confesses that the sight of his mother’s corpse being raised from her watery grave had forever tarnished his relationship with women. In 1910 Sakino gave birth to a son, Ken (健). In 1911, he began publishing translations of Ivan Turgenev and Guy de Maupassant in the literary journal Seinen (『青年』; "Youth") under the pen name Santoka (山頭火), meaning "Mountain-top Fire." That same year he joined his area’s local haiku group. At that time, his haiku mostly adhered to the traditional syllabic format, though some were hypersyllabic. In 1913, Santoka was accepted as a disciple by the leading haiku reformist Seisensui Ogiwara (荻原 井泉水). Seisensui (1884-1976) could be regarded as the originator of the free-form haiku movement, though fellow writers Shiki Masaoka (正岡子規) and Hekigoto Kawahigashi (河東碧梧桐) also deserve recognition. Writers following the early-twentieth century movement known as free-form or free-style haiku ("shinkeiko"; 新傾向) composed haiku lacking both the traditional 5-7-5 syllabic rule and the requisite seasonal word (季語; "kigo"). Santoka began regularly contributing poetry to Seisensui’s haiku magazine Soun (『層雲』; "Layered Clouds"). By 1916 he became an editor. That same year, however, was marked by the bankruptcy of his father's sake brewery after two years of spoiled stock. The family lost all that remained of their once great fortune. His father fled into hiding and Santoka moved his family to Kumamoto City on the southern island of Kyushu, where plans to open a second-hand bookstore soon materialized into the opening of a picture frame shop. Two years later, plagued by debt, Santoka’s younger brother Jiro (二郎) committed suicide. Then Santoka’s grandmother Tsuru (ツル) died. In 1919, at the age of thirty-seven, Santoka left his family in order to find a job in Tokyo. In 1920, following her parents’ wishes, Santoka divorced his wife. His father died soon after. Santoka proved no more reliable at working a steady job than he had at going to college, and though he did secure a permanent position as a librarian in 1920, by 1922 he was again unemployed due to another “nervous breakdown.” He stayed in Tokyo long enough to experience the Great Kanto Earthquake (関東大震災), after which he was apparently jailed as a suspect Communist. Soon after being released, he returned to Kumamoto City where he helped Sakino keep shop. In 1924, an extremely drunk Santoka jumped in front of an oncoming train in what may have been a suicide attempt. The train managed to stop just inches from him, and he was brought by a newspaper reporter to the Soto (曹洞宗) Zen temple Hoon-ji Temple (報恩禅寺; 千体佛), where the head priest Gian Mochizuki (望月 義庵) welcomed him to the Zen fraternity. The Zen life seemed to work for Santoka: by the next year at the age of forty-two he was ordained in the Soto sect. In 1926, after a year spent as caretaker of Mitori Kannon-do Temple in Kumamoto, Santoka set out on the first of many walking trips. He was away for three years. Part of this time was spent completing the eighty-eight temple pilgrimage circuit on Shikoku Island (四国霊場八十八カ所遍路). He visited the gravesite of a deceased friend and follower of Seisensui Ogiwara (荻原井泉水), Hosai Ozaki (尾崎放哉, 1885-1926). In 1929 he returned briefly to Kumamoto to visit Sakino and publish some more haiku in Soun (『層雲』). He also began a publication of his own, Sambaku (『三八九-さんぱく-日記』), named after his boardinghouse. Soon, however, he was back on the road. During his trips, Santoka wore his priest’s robe and a large bamboo hat known as a kasa (笠) to keep off the sun. He had one bowl, which he used both for alms-getting and for eating. To survive, he went from house to house to beg. Begging (托鉢; "takahatsu") is an important part of practice for monks in Japan, but, considering that Santoka was not a member of a monastery while he journeyed, begging just for his own needs, he was often regarded with disdain and on a few occasions even questioned by the police. A day’s earnings would go toward a room at a guesthouse, food, and sake. In 1932, Santoka settled down for a time at a cottage in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He named it “Gochu-an” after a verse in the Lotus Sutra. While there, he published his first book of poems Hachi no Ko (『鉢の子』; “Rice Bowl Child”). He lived on the contributions of friends and admirers, whatever he could grow in his garden, and money sent from his son Ken. In 1934 he set off again on a walking trip, but soon grew seriously ill and had to return home. He attempted suicide but lived. In 1936, he again began to walk, intent on following the trail of the famous haiku poet Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉, 1644-1694) as described in Oku no Hosomichi ("The Narrow Road to the Interior"). He returned to Gochu-an after eight months. In 1938, Gochu-an (其中庵) became unfit for habitation, and after another walking trip, Santoka settled down at Miki-ji Temple (御幸寺) near Dogo-Onsen on December 15, 1939 (昭和14年), building himself a hermitage called Isso-an (一草庵) in the precinct. On October 10, 1940 Santoka died in his sleep, aged 57. He had published seven collections of poems and numerous editions of Sambaku (known as Diaries of Santoka;『山頭火日記』). (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") See also the Matsuyama City page. |
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(Sunday 11 March) JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station (JR新山口駅), 1294 Shimogo, Ogori, Yamguchi City (山口市小郡下郷1294). Until 2003 it was called as Ogori Station (小郡駅). | |
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(Sunday 11 March) Monument dedicated to Santoka Taneda in front of the north exit of JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station, 1294 Shimogo, Ogori, Yamguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 13 March) Statue of Santoka Taneda in front of the south exit of JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station, 1294 Shimogo, Ogori, Yamguchi City | |
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(Tuesday 13 March) Statue of Santoka Taneda in front of the south exit of JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station, 1294 Shimogo, Ogori, Yamguchi City | |
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(Wednesday 14 March) Restaurant Santoka (味処 山頭火), the south exit of JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station, 1294 Shimogo, Ogori, Yamguchi City |
