Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #22 Ozen-ji Temple

     In 757, Avalokitesvara appeared in the dream of Empress Koren (718-770) and said to her, “I’m in Musashi Province.”  The empress commanded the search.  They found a golden 5-centimeter tall Arya Avalokitesvara statue in Nihonmatsu Village, Tsuzuki County, Musashi Province.  They built a temple and enshrined the statue there.  The temple’s name?  Nobody knows.

     In 917, Emperor Daigo (885-930) gave it a new temple name, Ozen-ji.  In 1333, when Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) attacked Kamakura, the temple was burned down.  In 1370, it was rebuilt.

     The temple has a by-story.  In 1214, a sweet Japanese persimmon happened to be found in nearby woods.  It was the first sweet persimmon ever found in Japan.  In 1333, when Priest Tokai was trying to rebuild the burnt-down temple, he rediscovered the sweet persimmon, and advised nearby famers to graft its branches onto their astringent persimmon trees.  The persimmon was named Zenjimaru.  In 1921, they raised about 9,000 persimmon trees and produced 938 tons of persimmons, to ship them as far as Nagoya.  In the 19th century, Zenjimaru was topped by Fuyu.

     Ozen-ji Temple still grows the original Zenjimaru persimmon tree in the precincts.

Address: 940 Ozenji, Asao Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 215-0013Phone: 044-966-5135