Famous scenic spots
This is the database of famous scenic spots in INBE, AWA.
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Hyakumanben Kuyoshi
Located 100m north of the torii gate at the entrance to the trailhead for Mt. Kotsu, this 2m high natural stone monument has “Komyo Shingon Hyakumanben Ishibumi” (Komyo Mantra Million Times Monument) carved into it. Stone monuments like this one can be found in 17 places around Yamakawa, on street corners and on the grounds of temples.
It is thought that each area where one of these kuyoishi monuments are erected was the location of a Buddhist study group called a kochu. Followers of the Shingon Sect built these monuments to commemorate reciting the Komyo mantra a million times, carving the Sanskrit character for Dainichi Nyorai at the top, and the characters for million or one million under that, and the date it was erected. Many were made around 1804–1829 (the Bunka-Bunsei period), and some are from the early Meiji period (around 1870), but they are all intended for prayers and religious worship.
At Kiraina in the Seratsume Yahata Mishima area of Yamakawa, there is still a kouchuu called Daishikou. There were once 26 households in the kochu but now there are only about ten that continue to meet regularly. Most of the kochu in the town are thought to have disbanded over the long years, but here alone the group continues, and every month on the 24th on the old calendar, they commemorate the legacy of Kobo Daishi and they used to gather at the Daishian in Mishima to pray for prevention of epidemics during the Ox days of summer while also praying for the spirits of ancestors.
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