Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #9 Keiun-ji Temple

     On July 2, 1479, a burning chariot visited Zojo-ji Temple to pick up Priest Onyo.  That Onyo had founded Keiun-ji Temple in 1447.  What is a burning chariot?  It was believed to be an apparition who steals a corpse from a funeral or a cemetery.  When the Port of Yokohama was opened to foreign countries, the temple was used as the consulate of France, and Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt (1817-1881) stayed there.

     Keiun-ji Temple has another story:

Urashima Taro visited the Underwater Dragon Palace in 478, and came back to his hometown in 825.  On his departure from the palace, the princess gave him a mysterious box and a Kannon statue.  When he got back to his hometown, his parents had (of course) already passed away.  In front of their grave, he shed a lot of tears, which petrified into a stone.  The stone is called “namida-ishi" (a tear stone), and is kept in Jobutsu-ji Temple near Keiun-ji Temple even today.  Taro built a hermitage by the grave to enshrine the statue.  That was the start of Kanfukuju-ji Temple, whose nickname was Urashima-ji.  “Kanfukuju” means to observe longevity.

     In the spring of 1867, a conflagration hit Kanagawa Town.  The fire spread to Kanfukuju-ji Temple, and the statue was moved to Keiun-ji Temple in the aftermath.  The temple succeeded the nick name “Urashima-ji” too.

Address: 18-2 Kanagawahoncho, Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 221-0046
Phone: 045-441-8310