Kakuta Haruo---Decoding Japan---

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Location: Sakai, Osaka, Japan

Monday, March 18, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Jichi-in Temple

 

     The Kamachi Family ruled Kominato Port in Akumi County, Dewa Province.  They invited Priest Rigen from Eitoku-ji Temple, which was founded by Priest Doai, who was from Dewa Province, in Isawa County, Mutsu Province, to found Jichi-in Temple in 1395.  Rigen was a second son of a branch of the Kasai Family and was from Isawa County.

     In 1189, after destroying the Northern Fujiwara Clan, Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) appointed Kasai Kiyoshige (1161-1238) as Mutsu General Magistrate on September 22nd, and returned to Kamakura on the 28th.  In Mutsu Province, the land of the samurai who had been subordinate to the Northern Fujiwara Clan was confiscated, and many samurai from the Kanto Region, including Kiyoshige, were given the position of manor steward.

     The Kamachi Family was destroyed on October 7th, 1445, presumably by the Yusa Family, who were based in Yusa Manor in the same county.  The Yusa Family had been a steward of the manor which was owned by the Fujiwara Clan in Kyoto.  The Yusa Family also destroyed the Tojoji Family, or the Sakata Family, in 1466.  There is, however, a possibility that the Kamachi Family was destroyed by the Ando Pirates, who had built the Tosui-kan Office in Sakata Port in 1274 supposedly to handle trading along the western coasts of the Japanese Archipelago and even across the Sea of Japan.  Tosui literally means Eastern Water.  Why did the Ando Pirates use the phrase Eastern along the western coast?  If you see the office from the Asian Continent's point of view, the naming sounds very reasonable.

     Nichiren (1222-1282), a Buddhist priest, wrote an autobiography in 1276 on his behaviors from 1268 to 1275.  In the autobiography, he mentioned Ando Goro, a legendary founder of the Ando Pirates.  According to Nichiren’s narration, Goro was beheaded by Ezo.  His narration sounded that the case was widely known among the readers.

     Who were the Ando Pirates and Ezo?

     Archaeologically speaking, the Satsumon Culture spread in the northern part of Honshu Island, the southern part of Hokkaido Island, and Sakhalin.  The Okhotsk Culture spread from the Amur River region to Sakhalin, northern Hokkaido Island and other lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk.  The two cultures were coexisting, maybe in peace or maybe in rivalry.  It was at that time that the iron culture started spreading northward from Honshu Island.  The spread of the iron culture meant the spread of iron arms.  And it was at that time that the Mongol Empire was invading the Amur River basin.  The empire had, as a matter of course, the most advanced weapons at the time.  Peoples with iron culture and the empire were competing against each other for natural resources in the Amur River basin:  mainly hides and fur of Amur tigers and Amur leopards and probably feathers of hawks and eagles.

     In 1263, the Mongol Empire took control of the lower reaches of the Amur River, subjugating the Jurchen and other peoples. The empire encountered the iron-culture people in Sakhalin a year later, in 1264.  In 1265, the iron-culture peoples attacked and killed some local people who had allied with the empire.  The two were to clash against each other in Sakhalin.  The empire sent out an expedition to Sakhalin to subjugate the iron-culture peoples in1273, but they failed to make it across the strait.  In 1284, waiting for the strait freezing over, the empire crossed the strait in the winter.  In 1285, the empire deployed a troop strength of 10,000 and attacked the iron-culture people.  In 1286, the empire deployed 10,000 soldiers and 1,000 ships and overwhelmed the iron-culture people.  They reached the southernmost tip of Sakhalin, and built a castle there.  Although they were once defeated, the iron-culture peoples kept trying to advance into the Amur River basin on the continent in 1296, 1297, and 1305.  In 1297, they crossed the sea into the lower reaches of the Amur River, and tried to abduct hawk hunters.  As hawk and eagle feathers used to be typical exports from north to Japan, they were trying to gain control over exporting the feathers.  They finally became obedient to the empire by paying tribute of hides and fur to the empire.  Paying tribute also meant a kind of barter trading for them.

     Who were iron-culture peoples?  They might have been those who belonged to the Satsumon Culture, the Okhotsk Culture, and probably Japanese, more specifically the Ando Pirates, which might have been formed by the mixture of Balhae, Tiei, Emishi, Ainu, and Japanese people.  Then, what happened around the iron-culture peoples?

     In 1305, the Kagen Rebellion, or the Rebellion of Hojo Munekata (1278-1305), broke out at Kamakura, the samurai capital in Japan.  It was armed infighting within the Hojo Clan, who were actual rulers of the Kamakura Shogunate.  It ceased within 3 months, but shook the foundation of the clan’s authority and power.  The iron-culture peoples in northern Honshu and Hokkaido might have found the Mongol Empire to be better trading partner.

     If the Ando Pirates were trading bear hides, they were trading with the people in Hokkaido, and Ando Goro might have been killed by the people there.  If they were trading tiger and leopard hides, they were trading with some people in the continent, and Goro might have been killed by Mongolians.

     In 1308, when the iron-culture people and the Mongolian Empire compromised with each other, Prince Moriyoshi was born in Japan, who would be later one of the major leaders to end the Kamakura Shogunate.

     In 1263, Kubilai Khan, the fifth ruler of the Mongol Empire, took control of the lower reaches of the Amur River, subjugating the Jurchen and Nanai peoples as well as the Nivkh, who dwelt near the mouth of the Amur and across the strait on Sakhalin. According to the Yuan Shi, the official history of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty China, Kubilai’s army conquered the Kugi people of Sakhalin a year later, in 1264. The history claims that the Mongols attacked the Kugi when the Gilimi people, who had already submitted to the Mongol armies, complained that the Kugi had invaded their territory.  Kugi might have been either Ainu or Japanese.

     Gilimi was the Sinicized pronunciation of Gillemi, the name that the Nanai people of the lower Amur used to refer to the people who called themselves the Nivkh.  (The Russians who explored the region in the seventeenth century called them the Gilyak.)  Even today there are still approximately 4,500 Nivkh around the mouth of the Amur and in northern Sakhalin.

     Kugi was the Sinicized pronunciation of Kughi, the Nivkh name for the Ainu.  Among the Tungus peoples of the lower Amur, the name was pronounced Kuyi, a pronunciation that was borrowed into Chinese and written Kui during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).  Approximately 2,500 Ainu lived on southern Sakhalin during the second half of the Edo Period (1603–1868).  From 1905 to 1945, when southern Sakhalin was under Japanese control, the Ainu population was about 1,500.

     In the 1320’s, Ando Suenaga was based in Fukaura Port and his cousin, Ando Suehisa, was based in today’s Aomori City.  They were rivals within the Ando Pirates, and it was Suenaga, who controlled Tosa Port, and, accordingly, who was more interested in the direct trade with the Mongol Empire.  Suehisa, according to the geographical location of his stronghold, preferred the transit trade through Ainu or Kugi people.  To make the matter worse, the Hojo Clan appointed Suehisa local administrator in Ezo.  The rivalry became rebellion.

     It was recorded that Kudo Sadasuke, who was from Suruga Province, was dispatched in 1326 to suppress the revolt of the Ando Pirates.  He arrested Suenaga, but it didn’t solve any problem.  Utsunomiya Takasada, who was from Kozuke Province, and Oda Haruhisa (1300-1352), who was from Hitachi Province, were dispatched in 1327.  That solved no troubles again, and finally in 1328, "reconciliation between Suehisa and Suenaga" was reached.  The Hojo Clan was forced to admit that Hisanaga was ruling Fukaura and surrounding areas.  The Hojo Clan exposed their incompetence to handle the situation as the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate.  In 1333, the shogunate collapsed as well as the regency.

     In 1570 and 1583, the Ando Family invaded Sakata Port.  As they withdrew quite soon, their purposes weren't to rule the area or own rice fields surrounding the port.  They might have just tried to eliminate those who stood in their way.  For them, securing their searoute was what mattered.

     After the collapse of the Kamachi Family, people in Kominato moved to Sakata Port little by little, and Jichi-in Temple also moved to Jichiin-koji Alley, Sakata, in 1459.  In 1570, it moved to Taku-machi Town, today's Nakamachi.  In 1759, it was moved again to its present place.  Why did the temple move so often?  The Mogami River flooded once every 7 years during the Edo Period.  Some floods even caused its watercourse to change.  The watercourse was also artificially changed to control floods.  In addition, gales sometimes caused great fires.  All things are in flux.

     In 1714, Priest Tosui composed a Buddhist tanka poem for Jichi-in Temple:

An saint's walking stick

Grew up to be an old cherry tree.

We can rely on its thriving forever!

     Two hundred and ten years later, however, we can see no such cherry tree.  Existence is void; void is existence.


Address: 1 Chome-4-38 Hiyoshicho, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0037

Phone: 0234-24-1164


Eitoku-ji Temple

Address: Monzen-1 Nagasakae, Kanegasaki, Isawa District, Iwate 029-4505

Phone: 0197-44-3171


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Dainichi-bo Temple

 

     Prince Hachiko (542–641) was the 3rd son of Emperor Hatsusebe (553-592).  When the emperor was assassinated by Soga Umako (551-626), the prince fled north.  There, he entered the Three Mountains of Ideha: Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan, and Mount Yudono.  He invested the rest of his life in religious pursuits there, and was regarded as the founder of the mountain asceticism there.

     Mount Yudono was prohibited to women, and Dainichi-bo Temple was founded for women to worship Mount Yudono.

     Shindo Nizaemon was born at Ecchusan in Oami Village, Tagawa County, Dewa Province.  At the age of 20, he became a Buddhist monk.  He practiced various religious austerities including Mokujiki.  Moku means wood and jiki means to eat.  He ate only fruits and nuts.  Accordingly, his fat and water was reduced to the barest minimum.

     Mt. Asama erupted on July 8th, 1783.  The volcano's devastation exacerbated what was already known as the Great Tenmei Famine, which had started in 1782.  An additional 20,000 more deaths were caused by the famine.  The population of Japan decreased by 920,000 across Japan between 1780 and 1786.  The Tohoku Region was hit hardest due to the cold weather caused by the devastation.  The population there is estimated to be 2.68 million in 1750, but was reduced to 2.37 million in 1786.

     Nizaemon, or Priest Nyokai by the time, decided to become a Buddha in his own body at the age of 96 to relieve and salvage people from sufferings.  He had to become a mummy without being emalmed.  He further reduced his fat and water, entered a coffin, and was buried under the ground.  After 1000 days, presumably in 1786, he was dug out.  It took them 4 more decades to return to the population before the famine.

     Even today, Nizaemon is still in Dainichi-bo Temple and changes his clothes every 6 years.  He will change his clothes on June 1st, 2026.

Buddha has shown himself in various forms.

In each form, he has made a vow.

Depend and rely on the vows from the bottom of your heart.


Address: Nyudo-11 Oami, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0531

Phone: 0235-54-6301


Saturday, March 16, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Jizo-in Temple

 

     According to tradition, Komonoimi Shrine was founded in Omonyama sometime between 539 and 571, far before the foundation of Ideha County on November 14th, 708, or the establishment of Ideha Province on October 27th, 712.  If the tradition tells the truth, the shrine could have been founded either by so-called northern foreigners or by colonists from Japan.  In 719, the shrine was moved to its present place.  Later, it was renamed Suginoo Shrine.

     It is unknown when Jizo-in Temple was founded as Suginoo Shrine's shrine temple.  Tradition says that the renaming of the shrine and the foundation of the temple was done at the same time.  The shrine used to have 6 shrine temples but the other 5 temples were abolished after the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868.

     There used to be 5-6 Omonoimi Shrines in Akumi County, Ideha Province.

I visited Jizo-in Temple

In my previous life.

I'm delighted to be born and visit it again.


Address: Biwagawara-97 Umamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-1125

Phone: 0235-22-3611


Suginoo Shrine

Address: Miyanokoshi-169 Umamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-1125

Phone: 0235-33-0044


Omonoimi Shrine

Address: Sannomiya-48 Yamadate, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6712

Phone: 0234-52-2700


Omonoimi Shrine

Address: Nakamurako-178 Tobishima, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0281


Tobisawa Shrine (Ex-Omonoimi Shrine)

Address: Tatenokoshi-88 Fumoto, Sakata, Yamagata 999-8231

Phone: 0234-64-3013


Tsurugiryu Shrine (Ex-Omonoimi Shrine)

Address: Kamito-2 Toyama, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8523


Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #7 Hoko-in Temple

 

     Kasuga Shrine, the guardian deity of the Fujiwara Clan, was founded along Kurokawa River in Ideha Province in 807.  Tradition says that Fujiwara Tsunetsugu (796-840) was the governor of the province and that he founded the temple.  It wasn't, however, recorded that he was ever appointed to be the governor of the province.  Fun'ya Watamaro (765-823) was appointed to be the governor in 801 to help Sakanoue Tamuramaro  (758-811) subjugate the rebellion in Mutsu Province.  An officer who belonged to the Fujiwara Clan could have been dispatched to Ideha Province to manage its administration.  He could have founded the shrine.  Hoko-in Temple was founded in 853 as its shrine temple.  The same or another member of the clan could have founded the temple in the name of Tsunetsugu, who had been appointed as the ambassador of the Japanese mission to Tang China in 834 for the 2 generations in a row after his father, Kadonomaro (755-818).  That was a very exceptional measure and that shows Tsunetsugu was the pride of the clan.

Black River is so black

As if to dye Budhhist robes black.

As if its waves show the fruit of Buddhism.


Address: Miyanoshita-290 Kurokawa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0311

Phone: 0235-57-3866


Thursday, March 14, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Kosho-ji Temple

 

     In the Shonai area, people believed that the souls of the dead stayed in a nearby grove for a while.  They visited their nearby groves with flowers and offerings for the repose of both the related and unrelated souls.  After the souls were purified and cleansed in the groves, they went up higher into Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan, or Mt. Yudono, and calmed down.

     The hill behind Kosho-ji Temple is known as the second most famous grove of that kind.

     Priest Juho claimed that he was led by an albino fox with a golden tail to the hill, and founded the temple there in 861.  As a fox is known as an errand or a messenger of Inari Shrine, he built Inari Shrine as the temple's sanctuary.  As a result, the temple exceptionally preserves its style of the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism even after the Meiji Restoration: Countless red gateways lead you from the Buddhist main hall to the Shinto shrine where Dakini is enshrined.

     The priest had his own Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha image enshrined in the main hall, and enshrined Sarasvati in addition for some reason.

Stars and the moon light the temple

Where you shall clearly see

the teachings and enlightenment of Buddhism.

     Juho could have brought Buddhism and Shinto to the area where its indigenous people might have had their own religion.

     It is unknown what the priest said implied whether foxes actually lived in the hill or the people with a fox as their totem lived there.  It is supposed to have been in those days, the 9th century,  when Dewa was still pronounced Ideha, that the population in the area increased and Tagawa and Akumi Counties were established.  In 721, Ideha Province had been separated from Echigo Province, which itself had been separated from Koshi Province in 697.


Address: Nakazato-47 Mikazawa, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-6602

Phone: 0234-56-2533


Kasuga Shrine

Address: Miyanoshita-271 Kurokawa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0311

Phone: 0235-57-3019


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Yoju-ji Temple

 

     Hojo Tokiyori (1227-1263), who was the 5th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, dispatched 3 samurai as judiciary and military officers.  Umezu Sanetaka built Soegawa Fort halfway up Mt. Omori from Soegawa Village to carry out his mission.  He also founded Kegon-ji Temple in the mountain.

     In March, 1451, Priest Zejun (?-1461) moved the temple to its present place at the foot of the mountain.

Any and every one has a spirit

To wish.  However,

It's delightful to have a deep wish.


Address: Ikenawashiro-40 Soegawa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 999-7652

Phone: 0235-26-8877


Soegawa Fort Ruines



Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Chogen-ji Temple

 

      The 5th priest of Chogon-ji Temple, Soan, built a hermitage in Kariyanome Village, Tagawa County, Dewa Province, in May, 1593.  The village was developed where the road between Tsurugaoka Castle and Mount Haguro crossed Kurose River.  Under the religion policy of the Tokugawa Shogunate, every villager was supposed to belong to an official Buddhist temple.  Presumably, the hermitage was changed into a temple to meet villagers' needs.

     The village had Fukuchi Shrine, which enshrines Goddess Ukanomitama as the divinity of agriculture.  The shrine enshrined Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, as Ukanomitama's original divinity.  In other words, they believed Arya Avalokitesvara expressed itself as Ukanomitama in Japan.  As the temple's sango is Fukuchisan, it might have been the shrine temple of Fukuchi Shrine.  After the Meiji Restoration, the Arya Avalokitesvara statue was moved to Chogen-ji Temple.

People's wishes are as deep as the river runs.

It's very reliable for them

That Avalokitesvara promised to relieve everyone.


Address: 32 Takasaka, Kariyanome, Haguromachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0163

Phone: 0235-62-2004


Chogon-ji Temple

Address: Shimotamoto-233 Haguromachi Ushiroda, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0157

Phone: 0235-62-2546


Fukuchi Shrine

Address: Minamigawara-146-1 Haguromachi Kariyanome, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0163


Monday, March 11, 2024

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Zenko-ji Temple

 

     Zenko-ji Temple was founded in Mikazawa Village, Tagawa County, Dewa Province, in 1688 by Kurita Den'emon (1614~1690).

     Murakami Tamekuni's son, Kankaku, became the chief priest of Kenko-ji Temple, which became Togakushi Srine after the Meiji Restoration, lived in Kurita Village, Mizuuchi County, Shinano Province, and called his family Kurita.  Under the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333), they became powerful samurai and also managed Zenko-ji Temple.  Until the Warring States Period (1467-1568), they were subject to the Murakami Family.  In 1553, however, Murakami Yoshikiyo (1501-1573) was defeated by Takeda Harunobu (1521-1573) and fled to Echigo Province.  Kurita Eiju became subject to the Takeda Clan and became the commander of 60 foot soldiers.

     In 1555, Kurita Kankyu (1551-1581) took the main deity of Zenko-ji Temple and moved to Kai Province.  Kai Zenko-ji Temple was founded in 1558 to enshrine the deity.

     In March, 1582, the Takeda Clan was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), and Kurita Kunitoki (?-1600) fled to Echigo Province and served Uesugi Terutora (1530-1578).

     Terutora's adopted son, Kagekatsu (1556-1623) was transfered to Aizu, Mutsu Province, and Kunitoki also became the lord of Omori Castle in Shinobu County there.  When Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) came to subjugate Kagekatsu in 1600, Kunitoki insisted on making peace with Ieyasu.  His proposal was not accepted and he left for Shinano Province with his family and other pacifists.  He and his party of over 150 people were killed by Kagekatsu at Fushiogami in Shinobu County.  A branch of the family, however, managed to escape to Dewa Province with the deity, believe it or not.  The Tang Sancai guardian dog that is enshrined in the Kannon-do hall is said to have crossed the sea with the main deity which had been given to Soga Iname (506-570) from Korea.  The Tang Dynasty lasted from 618 to 907.  Those traditions or legends are incompatible.

     Priest Tosui, the organizer of the Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, composed a Buddhist tanka poem for Zenko-ji Temple:


As I go up the stairs

I pray as good deeds

Buddha will surely answer to them.


Address: Miyata-2 Mikazawa, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-6602

Phone: 0234-56-2533


Togakushi Shrine

Address: Chusha-3506 Togakushi, Nagano, 381-4101

Phone: 026-254-2001


Zenko-ji Temple

Address: 491-I, Motoyoshicho Nagano, 380-0851

Phone: 026-234-3591


Kai Zenko-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-36-1 Zenkoji, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-0806

Phone: 055-233-7570


Omori Castle Ruines

Address: Honmaru Omori, Fukushima, 960-1101