Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #8 Soko-ji Temple

     It is unknown when Soko-ji Temple was founded, but, according to a written record on Izu Islands, when they founded Sofuku-ji Temple in 1440 in Hachijo Island, they invited a priest from Soko-ji Temple.

     Soko-ji Temple was built on the site of Kannon Fort, which had been built by Mamiya Shirozaemon.  The fort was along the same ridge with Gongenyama Castle.  Mamiya Hikojiro and the family members fought for the Ueda Family, indirectly for the Later Hojo Clan, against the Yamanouchi-Uesugi and Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clans in 1510.

     Later, Mamiya Yasutoshi (1518-1590) became a vassal of the Later Hojo Clan and managed the Izu Sea Forces.

     What was the Izu Sea Forces?

     The Izu Peninsula almost solely composed Izu Province, along with other tiny islands.  It had many headlands and coves, and seemed like a smaller version of Kii Province, which lay along the southern coast of the Kii Peninsula.  As Kii Province had sea people, so did Izu Province.  During the Warring States Period, those sea people were organized as sea forces by the Hojo Clan.  So, the Izu Sea Forces were sometimes called Hojo Sea Forces.  After the collapse of the clan, those sea forces all returned to fishing or farming.

     Here, let me introduce two of the several families which belonged to the Izu Sea Forces.

     The Shimizu Family’s ancestry is not clear.  Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519), who would be called Hojo Soun after his death, moved from Kyoto to Suruga Province in 1469, established himself as the lord of Kosokuji Castle in 1487, and formed a small but independent domain around the castle.  In 1491, he unified Izu Province.  The Shimizu Family was presumed to be composed of Shinkuro’s vassal and a local powerful family through marriage or something.

     Shimizu Yasuhide (1532-1591) was one of 5 chief retainers under Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), Ise Shinkuro’s grandson.  The five chief retainers used different colors of banners; yellow, red, blue, white, and black.  Ysuhide’s banners were in a white color.  The Shimizu Family had been based in Kanoyazaki Castle, and Yasuhide was additionally stationed at Shimoda Castle in 1588 or 1589 to build up a defense against Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598).  Shimoda Port was one of the most important ports along the Eastern Sea Region, and played an important role even at the end of the Edo Period.  Yasuhide was the number 1 among the Izu Sea Forces.

     In 1590, Shimoda Castle was attacked by Hideyoshi’s navy; which was composed of the troop of 2,500 of Chosokabe Motochika (1538-1599), the troop of 1,500 of Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600),  the troop of 1,300 of Wakisaka Yasuharu (1554-1626), and more.  Yasuhide surrendered the castle and gave in on April the 23rd, after holding it for over 50 days with the troop of 600.

     The Suzuki Family, another relatively well-documented component of Izu Sea Forces, originated from the ancient Hozumi Clan.  The founder of the clan was Nigihayahi (?-?), who arrived at Kawachi Province and entered Yamato Province, preceding the eastward military expedition of Emperor Jinmu (?-585 BC?), the legendary first Emperor of Japan.

     Generations and generations later, Hozumi Kunioki (?-?) was a kind of a priest under a kind of bishop in Kumano Hayatama Taisha Shrine in Muro County, Kii Province.  His second son, Motoyuki (865-926), moved to Kaifu County in the same province, made a priest of Fujishiro Shrine, and started calling themselves Suzuki.

     Suzuki Shigezane (?-?) was the 16th priest of the Shrine.  The position had been handed down by the Suzuki Family for generations.  His first son, Shigetomo (?-?), was ordered by Hojo Takatoki (1303-1333), the 14th and last Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, to fight against Prince Moriyoshi (1308-1335), the son of Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339), who attempted to seize power from the shogunate, and actually attacked the prince in Kumano, Kii Province.  By ill chance, the shogunate collapsed in 1333, and Shigetomo got into a difficult situation.

     In 1336, Shigetomo got away to Izu Province with about 30 of his vassals by sea, and barricaded themselves in Enashi Village there.  In the same year, the Kenmu Restoration Regime under Emperor Go-Daigo collapsed, and Shigetomo returned to Kii Province.

     On November the 30th, 1351, the battle between Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) and his younger brother, Tadayoshi (1306-1352) broke out around the Satta Pass in Suruga Province at the dawn of the Muromachi Shogunate under the Ashikaga Clan, Shigetomo took Tadayoshi’s side.  By another ill chance, on January the 5th, 1352, Tadayoshi surrendered to Takauji, was confined to Jomyo-ji Temple in Kamakura, and died a sudden death on February the 26th.

     No matter whether Tadayoshi died of a disease or was poisoned to death as “Taiheiki” (“Chronicle of Great Pease”, a Japanese historical military epic written in the late 14th century) writes, Shigetomo fled to Enashi Village again to live there until his death.  Thus the Suzuki Family in Enashi started, and the head of the Suzuki Family in Fujishiro was succeeded to by Shigetomo’s younger brother, Shigetsune (?-?).

     Shigetomo, however, outlived Ashikaga Takauji as well as Tadayoshi.

     Ashikaga Motouji (1340-1397), Takauji’s 4th son, strived for the establishment of the control and governance over Kanto Region as a kind of Deputy Shogun based in Kamakura.  Shigetomo served Motouji, and in 1367, was appointed as an admiral in Izu and Sagami Provinces by Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the son of Motouji and the second Deputy Shogun in Kamakura.

    In 1491, Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519) unified Izu Province.  When he attacked Kanto Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Chachamaru (?-1491), Suzuki Shigemune(?-?), the head of the Suzuki Family in Enashi at that time, took Shinkuro’s side.  According to a scratch of the family records which survived a huge tsunami in 1498, Shigemune might have had communication with Shintaro even before Shintaro’s raid into Izu Province.

     When Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) attacked the Hojo Clan, which Shintaro started, in 1590, Shigemune’s grandson, Shigeaki (?-?) was killed in a defensive battle about Nirayama Castle, his great grandson, Shigeharu (?-?), was killed in another defensive battle about Odawara Castle.  Shigeharu’s younger brother, Shigeuji (1576-1645), fled far North to Koyase Village, Nukanobu County, Mutsu Province, the northernmost province at that time, with 7 samurais, 24 followers, and his mother, who was one of the four daughters of Hojo Ujimasa (1538-1590), who surrendered his castle, Odawara Castle, to Hideyoshi and committed harakiri suicide himself.

     Kajiwara Kagemune (?-?) was effectively a Fleet Admiral of Hojo Sea Forces, although he was not one of native Izu Sea People.  He was from Arida County, Kii Province, and used to be a sea trader.  In one document, he was even mentioned as a pirate.

     Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571) permitted him trading between Kii and Sagami provinces and virtually hired him as a kind of guest samurai.  Kagemune was said to have brought an atake-bune warship to Kanto first.  Only Kii Province, which was abundant in woods, could supply atake-bune in the 16th century.

     The Hojo Clan left some documents and records.  Hojo Ujiyasu wrote to Kagemune asking him to stay in Izu Province for the maritime defense there.  When the Hojo Clan fought against the Satomi Clan in Kazusa Province, the success of Kii people was recorded.  Kagemune also signed many trading documents and contracts published by the Hojo Clan along with Ando Ryosei (?-?), an old vassal of the clan.

     Ando Ryosei served the three generations of the Hojo Clan, Ujiyasu (1515-1571), Ujimasa (1538-1590), and Ujinao (1562-1591), as a treasurer magistrate.  According to one record, he became a magistrate by 1563.  He jointly edited the list of estates and obligations under the clan.  Official square wooden measuring cups used in Hojo's domain were nicknamed "ando cups" after him.  They were widely believed to have been worked out by Ryosei.  His name was last recorded in September, 1589, when Tama River flooded, and, consequently, conflicts over boundaries broke out.  Ryosei was sent there as an inspector.  It is not known whether he lived another year to witness the last days of the clan or not.

     When the Hojo Clan was attacked by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) in 1590, Kajiwara Kagemune had an atake-bune warship with 50 samurais and 50 oarsmen aboard, equipped with a cannon.  Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600), an admiral of Hideyoshi's, on the other hand, had 6 atake-bune warships, each with 200 oarsmen and 3 50-meter-ranged cannons.

     After the war, Hojo Ujimasa, the son of Ujiyasu, committed a harakiri suicide, and Ujimasa's son, Ujinao was placed under house arrest in Mt. Koya in Kii Province.  Presumably, Kagemune returned to Kii.  His name can be last recognized in a thank-you letter from Ujinao to Kagemune for 50 mackerels in 1591.

     Let’s get back to talking about the Mamiya Family.

     Mamiya Nobutaka (1553-1584), was also the captain of the sea forces, and fought for Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  He was killed in the 1584 Siege of Kanie, which was fought between Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  The Kuki Sea Forces was on Hideyoshi’s side and had a large warship called Atakebune.

     Mamiya Rinzo (1775-1844), who explored Sakhalin, was their descendant.

     As the fort’s name shows, the site might have been Kannon precincts from the older times.  The Kannon statue is about 18-centimeter tall, and is said to have made by Visvakarman.  It means by a foreigner craftsman.

     When the Port of Yokohama was opened to foreign countires, James Curtis Hepburn (1815–1911) stayed in the temple.  He was an American physician and Christian missionary.  He is known for the Hepburn romanization system, which transcribed the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet.  He also published a Japanese–English dictionary.

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