Fudarakusan-ji Temple

Fudarakusan-ji is a small Tendai Buddhist temple located in the city of Nachikatsuura, Higashimuro district, Wakayama prefecture, Japan, where it was established more than a thousand years ago. The temple is named after Fudaraku, the Japanese name for Mount Potalaka (the mythical dwelling of the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokitesvara).

Believing that Mount Potalaka was actually an island near the coast of Japan, the monks of Fudarakusan-ji were sometimes sent on suicide missions to enter the Buddhist Paradise and deliver their prayers as their last deed in life. This ritual was known as Fudaraku Tokai, which means “crossing the sea to Fudaraku,” and though it is often described as a self-sacrificing act for the purpose of human salvation, the monks were usually old men who, because of their age, were chosen for the divine journey, since they were slowly approaching death anyway.

By performing Fudaraku Tokai, the monks also hoped to achieve salvation. They became known as tokaisha, pilgrims of the sea. The boats used for the rituals were designed as miniature shrines, but they were actually built as coffins in which a single monk was sealed with nothing but a lantern and a month’s supply of food before he was sent out into the open ocean where his destiny awaited him. Using his poised mind and open heart as fuel, the monk was then guided by the gods to Fudaraku, where he would deliver his prayers on behalf of humanity.

However, the ritual itself was nothing but a symbolic event. The true journey to Fudaraku was death itself, so the monks would usually escape their floating prison while near the coast and drown themselves in the waves while their belief was still strong. Others would pull a plug and sink the boat while still inside its chamber, and some would even endure the entire trip and eventually die from thirst or starvation. In rare cases, the boat would find its way back to shore, as was the case in the 16th century, when a monk named Nisshu Shonin arrived on the Ryukyu Islands believing it to be Fudaraku.

Tales about monks escaping their floating prison prematurely also indicate that some of these old men were in fact terrified of dying and had no intention of giving up their lives. For example, a small island in the Nachi Bay called Konkobujima is named after a monk who decided to jump off the boat and swim to the island, where he was caught by his colleagues who forced him adrift once more against his will.

The so-called suicide ritual took place for hundreds of years, up until the late 19th century, and because of its significance in Japanese history, Fudarakusan-ji was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range in 2004. The temple itself is small, but right next to the main building stands a pavilion where a replica of a boat used in the Fudaraku Tokai ritual is put on display during the opening hours.

Entering Fudarakusan-ji Temple.
Nachikatsuura is located near the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula, in the southeastern tip of Wakayama Prefecture.

It faces the Pacific Ocean to the east.
The landscape is mountainous, with numerous hot springs. Parts of the city are within the limits of the Yoshino-Kumano National Park and are also within the Kumano area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range"

Water ablution pavilion (Chozuya).
Chozu-ya or temizu-ya is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as temizu or chozu (lit. 'hand-water'). The pavilion contains a large water-filled basin called a chozubachi ('hand water basin').

At shrines, these chozubachi are used by worshippers for washing their left hands, right hands, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine or shaden.
This symbolic purification is normal before worship and all manned shrines have this facility, as well as many Buddhist temples and some new religious houses of worship.
See more at Chōzuya - Wikipedia.

Kannon and Jizo statues.
Fudarakusan-ji name refers to Mount Potalaka, the mythical home of the goddess Kannon, to whom this temple is dedicated.

It is believed to have been founded in the 4th century by Ragyō Shōnin, a monk from India.
Guanyin (Chinese: Kuan-yin; Japanese: Kannon; Korean: Gwan-eum; Vietnamese: Quan Am) is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokitesvara.
Ksitigarbha (Chinese: Dizang; Japanese: Jizo; Korean: Jijang; Vietnamese: Dia Tang, Tibetan: sa yi snying po) is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk.
See more at Guanyin - Wikipedia and Kṣitigarbha - Wikipedia.

Fudarakusan-ji main hall.
The main deity enshrined is Senju Kannon (Thousand Hand Bodhisattva), who is believed to save people from distress.

This temple was formerly dedicated to Kumano Gongen.

Monument commemorating the crossing of the sea towards Paradise.
Buddhist priests sailing out into the southern sea in search of Kannon’s Southern Pure Land Paradise called Fudarakusan.