Deep Tada-sho 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

Ryoku (?-1710), a Buddhist priest whose Buddhist memorial tablet is kept in Ten’nyu-ji Temple, organized Deep Tada-sho 33 Kannon Pilgrimage on May 18, 1694.  3 centuries later, Ikeda Shigeyoshi rediscovered the pilgrimage, and published a book on it in 1994.

In the southern part of Inagawa-cho Town, the Tamba Belt, which was composed 150-250 million years ago, is exposed.  In the northern half, the Arima Belt, which was formed with volcanic ashes and lava caused by the volcanic activities 70-75 million years ago, covers the Tamba Belt.  When the lava contacted or penetrated the Tamba Belt, they formed hydrothermal deposits which became the veins of the Tada Silver and Copper Mine.  Before humans arrived, both the belts were densely covered with forests.  Accordingly, the main human industries there have been forestry and mining.

In the mythical times, the god of Sumiyoshi Shrine incarnated as a young man, and sent wood through the Ina River to build the shrine building.  His brilliant figure charmed the goddesses of the Rivers Ina and Muko.  The two fought hard to be his wife.  The Ina Goddess threw stones against the Muko Goddess, defeated her, and extracted all the dropwort along the Muko River.  Hence, the Ina River has dropwort but no big stones, and the Muko River has big stones but no dropwort.  The legend suggests that the Ina River was used to send wood even from the prehistoric times.

In legendary times, Okinagatarashi, a legendary empress, was said to have made a military expedition to Silla in the Korean Peninsula.  A historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla) recorded 14 organized piracies by Wa, the Japanese kingdom, by the end of the 4th century, and Okinagatarashi’s expedition to Silla might have been one of those piracies.  For her expedition, Okinagatarashi counted on the arts of shipbuilding and those of navigation of the people living along the north coast of today’s Osaka Bay. When she was going to leave Japan, she followed the suggestion of the local people living around today’s Amagasaki City and built warships with Japanese cedars in the upper reaches of today’s Ina River.  It could have been with the ceder trees in the Tada area that Okinagatarashi had built her warships.

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 building 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.  

In the 8th century, there lived the Yanaizu-muraji Family, who governed the forestry there.  The wood was sent presumably through the Ina River to Itami, and was processed by the Ina-be Family there.

Even today, the forests cover 80% of Inagawa-cho.

In Japan, the local administration system with provinces and counties was organized under the central government in the 7th century.  At first, there only used to be Kawabe County under Settsu Province.  In the 8th century, Nose County got independent from Kawabe County.  It was those days that copper mines were developed in the area.

In 708, the first copper was mined in Chichibu, Musashi Province.  Only a couple of decades later, before the middle of the century, copper mining started in Tada.  Legend says it that the copper mined in Tada was used for the Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple.  Legend has it that Minamoto Mitsunaka (?-997) started living in Tada, and also mined copper there.  The oldest written records date back only to 1037, when the mining-copper office was organized at Noma, Nose County, Settsu Province.  They started keeping books there.

The mine workers and refining manufacturers formed a town in Ginzan-cho.  The life expectancy of mine workers in the Edo Period was said to be a little over thirty because of mine cave-in and flash flood accidents.  They placed their faith and devotion on Kanro-ji and Kannon-ji Temples in the town.  The town used to have a samurai office, a theater, a high-class restaurant, a kimono fabric shop, a fishmonger's, and 4 guard boxes.

In the middle of the 13th century, Jizo Bodhisattva appeared in the dream of Taira Masahira (?-1272), and said, "Make a bell and a bell tower for Mibu-dera Temple as it doesn't have any."  Masahira collected donations from men and women, from the rich and the poor, and from the high-ranking and the low-ranking.  To answer his asking, Tada Silver and Copper Mines contributed 10 kilograms of copper.  The bell and the bell tower was built in 1262.

Why Mibu-dera Temple in Kyoto?   There used to be a government position called Mibu Kanmuke (or Mibu Secretariat).  Since the 8th century, the Otsugi Clan had succeeded the position until the Meiji Restoration.  Mibu-dera Temple is known as the headquarter of Shinsengumi, or the Newly Selected Squad, at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, but it also has 2 graves for Mibu Kanmuke.

In the late 16th century, the mines came to produce silver as well as copper, and became under the direct control of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  They also output  lead, azurite, and cinnabar.  Those days, azurite was equivalent to gold.  Kano Sanraku (1559-1635) was awarded the concession to mine the pigment from Hideyoshi, and the permission letter with a red seal put on it has been passed down in the town.  The mines produced 76 kilograms of silver in 1598.  Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, however, the mines produced 5.6 tons of silver in the 17th century.  The huge difference of the annual silver production has aroused suspicion among some treasure hunters.  They have believed that the Toyotomi Clan hid huge amount of silver somewhere deep in the mines and galleries to support their future revival.  Anyway, the area claimed to have 3,000 households, although there might have been some exaggeration.  Although the time, the place, and the social class were different, the average population of each samurai family in the Sendai Domain was 5.2 in 1869.  More than 15,000 people lived in the area?  The population of Japan has increased 4.9 times since then, and then there should be more than 73500 people living in Inagawa-cho Town today.  Instead, there are only 31,38.  In 1973, the mines were closed.

In the summer of 1772, Hiraga Gennai (1728-1779) visited the mines.  He was a naturalist and an inventor.  He was famous with his electriciteits.  He helped improve the drainage in the mines.  A century later, Akiyama Yoshinosuke (1819-?), a mine officer, still had electriciteit at home.

The mines came to produce less minerals.  In 1768, there were 86 houses including 36 rental houses, with the population of 309, 165 males and 144 females.  The town still bustled with 3 smelters, 5 secondhand shops, 2 rice stores, 2 liquor stores, 2 pawnshops, 2 blacksmiths, 2 hardware menders, 2 fishmonger’s, a haberdashery, an umbrella shop, and a doctor.

The Akiyama Family started working for the Tada Silver and Copper Mines in 1693, when Akiyama Takiemon was named appointed as a mining officer together with Fujii Katsuzaemon and Ichida Sakuzaemon.  Their job responsibilities?  In 1799, the Tada Silver and Copper Mines had more than 3,000 galleries including disused ones.  Yoshinosuke was an 8th descendant of Takiemon.  He started keeping a diary in 1865, which became important historical materials.

In the mean time, the production in the mines had decreased:  about 84 tons of copper at the beginning of the 18th century, and about 36 tons of copper in the 1710’s.  As the mines became less important, the Tokugawa Shogunate transferred the mineral right to the Takatsuki Domain in 1840.  After the Meiji Restoration, the concession was sold off to private sector.  Finally, in 1973, the mines were closed.

What does the forestry and mining have to do with the 33 Kannon pilgrimage there?  During the Edo Period, as the life of ordinary citizens improved, each province or domain came to have their own 33 Kannon pilgrimages.  Rich cities such as Edo, Osaka, and others came to have their own 33 Kannon pilgrimages.  Although the Inagawa-cho area was just part of Kawabe County, they still had their own, Deep Tada-sho 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, in such a remote mountainous area.