[Entrance to the Myokendo]
As stars were important for ship navigators, Myoken was worshiped by sailors. He was also seen as the guardian of horses and so more generally as a deity assisting in safe journeys. As his name means “wondrous seeing,” he became on top of that a healer of eye disease. Myoken was strongly associated with the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, apparently because he once appeared to Nichiren, coming down from the sky and landing on the branch of a tree in right front of the saint. Sometimes Myoken is depicted standing on a turtle with his sword held over his head.
[Lion dog to the right with the mouth open]
There was no statue visible in the small Myoken Hall we visited, and we came for the komainu, the lion-dogs of the shrine. These are rare because they are made of ceramic, produced in Inbe famous for its Bizen ware. They date from 1855 and are just over 70 centimeters tall. Their expressions are very delicately molded.
[Lion dog to the left with the mouth closed]
Next to the temple stood a small hall with ema, votive plates hanging under the eaves. Most of the pictures had completely faded away, only those in the front were still visible. I like the one with the three-dimensional horse, especially as it reminds me of the origin of ema, which started after all literally as “pictures of horses.”
[Ema hall with the 3D horse picture]