Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Fukusho-ji Temple

 

     In June, 1185, Tada Yukitsuna, the head of the Tada-Minamoto Family, was disgraced and was banished from Tada Manor by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199).  The local samurai in the manor who had been vassals of the Minamoto Clan at large since Minamoto Mitsunaka (912-997) were granted their territories as indirect vassals of the Kamakura Shogunate.  They were appointed to guard Tada-in Temple, the ancestral mausoleum of the Minamoto Clan.  They were called Tadain Gokenin.  Gokenin usually means direct vassals of the Kamakura Shogunate, so Tadain Gokenin were sometimes mentioned as Sanjo Gokenin.  Sanjo literally means Scattered Territories.

     When the ceremony for the construction of the main hall of Tada-in Temple was held on April 12th, 1278, Tadain Gokenin were Ima Kichizaemon, Kukuchi Hyoenojo, Shiokawa Saemonnojo, Tai Tachibana Umanojo, Yama Tonma, Yasu Fukuma, Morimoto Hyoenojo, Orichika Tota, Imakita Miyata, Takaoka Genshiro, Takaoka Kishirotaro, Nishi Tomizaemon, Taira Sanjiro, Takaoka Genji, Yamamoto Sakontaro, Sato Saburo, Itani Satota, Ishimichi Shinji, Ishimichi Kogenji, Tahara Kishiro, Noma Shiro, Noma Kurojiro, Yoshikawa Hangandai, Ogaki Umanojo, Harada Saemonnojo, and Sasori Hachiro.  Tsukinami Village was mentioned in the document about the ceremony.  The village was also mentioned in a Tada-in Temple document on October 13th, 1316, that the village provided 6 guards.  The village was mentioned again in the Tada-in Temple document dated April 8th, 1368.  According to a document dated July 25th, 1375, 93 families of Tsukinami Village paid some money for the construction of the Hokke-do, Jogyo-do, and Jizo-do Halls of Tada-in Temple.  In 1431, Hirase Saburozaemonnojo and Nakaike Shinzaemonnojo of Tsukinami Village were attacked by the Shogunate Forces from Settsu and Tanba Provinces and surrendered.  It was, however, decided on June 18th that their teritories in the village shouldn't be confiscated.

     It is unknown why the Hirase and Nakaike Families weren't included in the 1278 members.  Perhaps, their ancestors were just absent from the ceremony.  Their middle ancestors might have changed their family names.  There could have been some up-side-downs in the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392).

Address: Teranoue 9, Tsukunami, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0222

Phone: 072-768-0345

Sanuki no Suke’s Diary (0)

The May sky is clouded, and the farmers' clothes, soaked in the rain as they plant rice, look like they'll never dry.  These already dreary days, but my peaceful village life, bring back memories of the past and present more than usual, making me feel somehow melancholic.  I step out onto the veranda and look outside, and the clouds and sky are dark and overcast, as if pitying me.  Seeing this, I nod in agreement with Murasaki Shikibu (976-1036), who wrote:

The clouds must be the cremation smokes

Of my beloved

They miss me and pity me.

My heart seems to grow dark.  Just like the poem of Tachibana Toshitsuna (1028-1094), my tears flow continually:

The May rain sprinkles

On the eaves and on the sweet flags

To make their dew.

The mountain cuckoo sings as if speaking to me, and the short summer night fades away—as the night passes, I recall memories of the distant past, and tears flow uncontrollably.

When I think back, I served my lord, Emperor Horikawa, admiring the flowers in spring and the maple leaves in autumn, gazing at the moonlit sky, accompanying him on snowy mornings, and serving him closely for eight years. During that time, there were always many wonderful events, and I will never forget the early morning worship services and the sound of the flute being played at dusk. Hoping that this would help ease my sadness, I continued writing down all the things I remember, until my eyes became blurred with tears and I could no longer see the tip of my pen. My tears dripped into the water on the inkstone, smearing the lines of my writing and making them unreadable. I wrote in the hope that writing like this would somehow ease my sadness but it’s just like seeing the bright moon over Mt. Senicide.  The situation didn't let my sadness go, and it was truly unbearable.

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Tentaku-ji Temple

 

     The central part of Inagawa-cho used to be called Yanai-zu, which is called Ki-zu (literally Wood Port) today, and which might have been a point to gather wood and to send them out through the river.  Yanaizu-in Temple was founded by Gyoki(668-749) as one of the 49 temples founded by him in Yamato, Kawachi, and Izumi Provinces.  Gyoki (668-749) helped build Todai-ji Temple.  Tentaku-ji Temple is said to have succeeded Yanaizu-in Temple.  The temple's precincts have a stone garden lantern dated 1403, one year before the foundation of Gozu-Tenno-sha Shrine nearby.  Gozu was invited from Hiromine Shrine.

     Kizu Village was first documented in 1368 as it "donated" money to Tada-in Temple.

     Gozu chose to be born as a son of Mudang as a part of the syncretism of Buddhism. The son had a bull head, and grew up to find no bride to get married with. One day, he set out on a journey to find a bride. In brief, at last, he got married to a daughter of Naga, who lived in the ocean. Gozu might have had the power to control water as a natural process.  Gozu was first enshrined at Hiromine Shrine in today’s Himeji. 

     Anyway, Kizu Village became religious enough, or rich enough, to found a shrine and build garden lanterns for a temple.  That is, the people there were, at least partially, released from the exploitation of central powerful nobles and samurai.

Address: Teragaichi-8 Kizu, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0225

Phone: 072-768-0200

 

Hiromine Shrine

Address: 52 Hiromineyama, Himeji, Hyogo 670-0891

Phone: 079-288-4777

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #16 Shomyo-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Shomyo-ji Temple was founded in Tochihara Village, Kawabe County, Settsu Province.

     The central part of Inagawa-cho used to be called Yanai-zu, which is called Ki-zu (literally Wood Port) today, and which might have been a point to gather wood and to send them out through the river.  Gyoki (668-749), who helped build Todai-ji Temple, is said to have built Yanaizu-in Temple there, whose successor could be Tentaku-ji Temple today.  When the Tada Silver and Copper mines supplied copper to build the Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple, they might have provided some wood to the mines.

     Yanai-zu was listed in the Wamyo Ruijusho, namely Japanese Names for Things Classified and Annotated, which was a Japanese dictionary compiled in 938, and which lists Japanese place names from south to north.

     Komoo Village, which was located in the south of Tochihara Village and in the north of Kizu, was first documented in 1368.  Hachiman Shrine was founded in Tochihara Village in 1490.  Tochihara Village could have been organized during the Kamakura Period or later.

Ina River runs from north to south, and has carvatures just before it reaches Kizu.  Each carvature has place name with -mawari, which literally means to turn: Inuimawari Hayashita, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0226; Donomawari Tochihara, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0221; and Tanakamawari Tochihara, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0221, from north to south.  Each carvature has a hill.  Kuromanpu Tunnel was dug between Inuimawari and Kizu in 1881, and Akamanpu Tunnerl was dug through Donomawari in 1909.  Akamanpu Tunnel was filled and a cut was dug beside the tunnel decades ago.

     Anyway, Shomyo-ji Temple was founded in one of the hardest parts for water transportation through the Ina River.  After those difficult parts, wood might have been gathered in Yanaizu and was forwarded to the sea.

Address: Donomawari-1-1 Tochihara, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0221

Phone: 072-768-0036

Hachiman Shrine

Tanakamawari-23 Tochihara, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0221

Kuromanpu Tunnel

Address: Minamiyama, Hayashita, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0226

Phone: 072-766-8707

Akamanpu Tunnel Site

Address: Tochihara, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0221

Phone: 072-766-8707

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Anraku-ji Temple

 

     Anraku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Shikei in Sasao Village, kwabe County, Settsu Province, in 1428.

     Sasao Village was first documented as Sasahara Village in Keicho Kuni Ezu, Provincial Maps in Keicho Era (1596-1615), which was drawn by the Tokugawa Shogunate, based on the survey ordered to domains in September, 1605.  In 1617, the village was mentioned as Sasao.  In 1627, when the village came to be ruled by Aoki Shigekane (1607-1682), the second lord of the Asada Domain, its name's reading was recorded s Sasau.

     For your information, Aoki Kazushige (1551-1628) was born in Mino Province as the eldest son of Shigenao (1528-1614), who first served Toki Yorinori (1502-1582), the Guradian Samurai of Mino Province, and then Saito Toshimasa (1494-1556), who exiled Yorinori.  For unknown reasons, Kazushige left his father and initially served Imagawa Ujizane (1538-1615) in Suruga Province.

     In the Battle of Niisaka, Kazushige fought with a spear and took the enemy's head, receiving a gold reward.  When the Takeda and the Tokugawa forces invaded Suruga Province at the time of the downfall of the Imagawa Clan in 1568, he was injured in combat, and then lived in seclusion in Kakegawa, Totomi Province.

     In 1570, Kazushige served Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616).  In the Battle of Anegawa in June, he killed Takamoto (?-1570), the son of Magara Naotaka (1536-1570), the general of the Asakura Clan, and was given a wakizashi, a short sword, as a reward.

     In the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, Kazushige was sent to defend Takatenjin Castle as a reinforcement together with Honda Toshihisa (?-1603).  At Mikatagahara, his younger brother, Atsumi Shigetsune, was killed in fighting back against the Takeda forces.  In the same year, Kazushige fled from the Tokugawa Family and served Niwa Nagahide (1535-1585), a senior vassal of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), whom his father, Shigenao, served.

     As a vassal of the Niwa Family, he participated in the Battle of Yamazaki in 1582 and the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583.  After Nagahide's death in 1585, he served Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), became a messenger, and was later selected for the Life Guard of Hideyoshi.  In the same year, he was given a fief in Teshima County, Settsu Province, and was given additional small territories in Shitsuki, Asaguchi, and Oda Counties, Bitchu Province, and in Shufu County, Iyo Province.  His fief in total became big enough for him to be called a feudal lord.  He was based in Asada Residence.

     Sasao Village and others were exchanged for the small territory in Iyo Province in 1627.

Address: Dodani−14, Sasao, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0227

Phone: 072-768-0737

Asada Domain Residence Site

Address: 3 Chome-2 Hotarugaike Nakamachi, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0033

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Jobutsu-ji Temple

 

     Jobutsu-ji Temple was founded in 990, 3 years after Minamoto Mitsunaka (912-997) became a Buddhist monk.  Tradition suggests that his entering Buddhism had something to do with the foundation of the temple.  Fujiwara Sanesuke (957-1046) wrote in his diary, Shoyu-ki, "Such a man who had been renounced from killing people developed the bodhisattva mindset and became a monk."

     Jobutsu-ji Temple was revived by Priest Gyudo in 1578.  That means it could have been damaged, destroyed, or abolished during the Warring States Period (1467-1568).

     Jobutsu-ji Temple has the wooden sculptures by the Nakai Gonji Lineage.  They are supposed to be the easternmost ones by them.

     The Nakai Gonji Lineage was founded by Nakai Dogen (?-1698), a shrine carpenter from the Tanba-Kashiwara Domain (today's Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture), and was active as carvers for shrines and temples from the 4th Gonji Kimine (1722-1787) to the 9th Sadatane (1872-1958).  The name Gonji lineage comes from the fact that the 6th Gonji Masatada took the name Gonji.  Some say that they are descended from Nakai Masakiyo (1565-1619), a shrine carpenter employed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  Masakiyo worked on Nikko Toshogu Shrine and Edo Castle, but the details of the lineage's origins are unknown.  It is estimated that there are about 300 surviving works, such as gables and balustrades carved with sacred animals such as dragons, kirin, Chinese lions, and bake, mainly in Tanba, Tango, and Tajima  Provinces, including parts of Harima and Settsu Provinces.

     The 6th Gonji Tachibana Masasada (1780-1855) carved dragons and a crane for Jobutsu-ji Temple.

     For your information, the 10th generation Takeo (?-1988) worked as a shrine carpenter until before World War II.  He then ran a seal engraving shop.  The 11th Mitsuo (1941-) runs a seal engraving shop in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture and isn't a shrine carpenter.

Address: Hirose−8, Shimizu, Inagawa, Hyogo 666-0214

Phone: 072-769-0652

Nakai Engraving Shop

Address: 744 Honmachi, Miyazu, Kyoto 626-0018

Phone: 0772-22-2598

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Tosen-ji Temple

 

     Tosen-ji Temple was founded at the beginning of the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) by the Hirao Family, who invited Jisho, the 7th priest of Yotaku-ji Temple, which had been founded around 1370.

     Who were the Hirao Family?

     Saiin had Yoda Manor in Chiisagata County, Shinano Province.  Saiin were female relatives of the Emperors, and they served as High Priestesses in Kami-Kamo and Shimo-Kamo Shrines.  Minamoto Tametomo (1005-1075) fought in the Former Nine Years' War, which was fought in Mutsu Province from 1051 to 1062.  For his military achievements, he was appointed to be the zuryo in Shinano Province after the war.  In the meanwhile, presumably before 1053, he lived in Ina County, Shinano Province.  He is supposed to become a county officer there.  His 6th son, Tamezane, lived in the Yoda Manor and called his family Yoda.  When Minamoto Yoshinaka (1154-1184) raised an army to fight the Taira Clan in 1180, he was based in Yoda Castle.  The Yoda Family followed Yoshinaka to Kyoto.  After Yoshinaka was killed by the other Minamoto forces in 1184, the Yoda Family lost the Yoda Manor and scattered across provinces.  Some of them called themselves the Hirao Family and settled in Kawabe County, Settsu Province.  It is unknown whether they called themselves Hirao before they followed Yoshinaka or after Yoshinaka's death. 

     Tametomo's father was Tamemitsu.  Tamemitsu's father was Mitsukuni, who built his residence in Shukuno (today's Shukuno, Nose, Toyono District, Osaka 563-0341), Nose County.  Mitsukuni's father was Mitsusuke, whose eldest brother was Mitsunaka.  The Hirao Family might have relied on their blood relationship and local ties.

     Tosen-ji Temple could have been damaged, destroyed, or abolished during the Warring States Period (1467-1568).  It was revived in 1597, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) carried out his 2nd invasion of Korea.  The wood in the area could have sold well to build warships.

Address: Tsuboguchihayashi 3, Nijoji, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0211

Phone: 072-769-0011

Yotaku-ji Temple

Address: 210 Eitakuji, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1502

Phone: 079-566-0401

Yoda Castle Ruins

Address: Mitakedo, Ueda, Nagano 386-0412

Kamigamo Shrine

Address: 339 Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8047

Phone: 075-781-0011

Shimogamo Shrine

Address: 59 Shimogamo Izumikawacho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-0807

Phone: 075-781-0010

Sanuki no Suke's Diary

 

     The Diary of Sanuki no Suke (Sanuki no Suke's Diary) is a literary diary written by Fujiwara Nagako (1079-?), whose job title was Sanuki no Suke, and who served Emperor Horikawa (1079-1107) in the late Heian period (794–1185). It consists of 2 volumes.

     The 1st volume is a matter-of-fact record of nursing care for Emperor Horikawa, for whom she served as a court lady, spanning one month from June 20th, 1107, when he fell ill, to July 19th, when he passed away.  It frankly depicts the sadness and pessimism of the emperor as his condition worsened day by day and he faced death, as well as the fluctuating emotions of the author, who was by his side and felt his sadness and pessimism firsthand.

     The 2nd volume, while centered around a year or so from October, 1107, to Emperor Toba's Daijosai Ceremony, a kind of Royal harvest festival, in 1108, is a chaotic composition that significantly intertwines the present and the past.  Having hesitantly accepted a request from Retired Emperor Shirakawa (1053-1129) to return to service under the young Emperor Toba (1103-1156), the author vividly expressed her passionate yearning for the late emperor as she looked back on her days at court, which she was constantly reminded of.

     The 1st volume is thought to have been completed shortly after Emperor Horikawa's death, while the 2nd volume was completed around Autumn, 1109, once the author's service to Emperor Toba had come to an end.  The Honcho Shoseki Mokuroku, or the Japanese Book Catalog, compiled in the late Kamakura Period (1185-1333), lists this diary as to have 3 volumes, which suggests the possibility that a separate volume, lost somewhere before or after the 2nd volume, might have existed.

Trees In the Town

Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Jousho-ji Temple

 

     According to the present 14th head priest, Fujiwara Hiromichi, Josho-ji Temple was founded over 5 centuries ago .

Address: Furukado-20 Kamakura, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0202

Phone: 050-1860-7061