Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #26 Kango-ji Temple

     Kango-ji Temple was founded by Priest Inyu (1435-1519), who was born in Kubo Village (Miho Town today), Tsuzuki County, Musashi Province.  Till recently, there was a well whose water was used to give Inyu his first bath.  That means he was born as a baby of a powerful family.  He entered the Buddhist priesthood in his early childhood.  The mildest reason might have been he was the second or the third son of a powerful samurai.  The gravest reason could have been his father and elder brothers were killed but he was too young to kill.  Actually, in 1438, when he was 3 years old, the Eikyo War broke out between Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439) and Uesugi Norizane (1410-1466) in the Kanto Region today.  Anyway, later, Inyu studied at Sanne-ji Temple in Musashi Province from 1459 till 1469, and continued to study at Muryoko-in Temple in Mt. Koya from 1469 till 1474.  He moved back to the Kanto Region by 1480, when he taught Nishinoin-Ryu Genyu-Gata Koya-Sojo Lineage in Kango-ji Temple, and Nishinoin-Ryu Nozen-Gata Koya-Sojo Lineage in Hosho-ji Temple.

     He loved reading.  When he was out, he would sit on a bull, with a small desk on a saddle and a scroll of sutra hung on the horns.  He also loved teaching and writing textbooks.  During his life, he authored over 60 books including Sempo Inton Sho, which compiled the doctrines of the Shingon Buddhism, and Ryobu Mandala Shisho, which was the most important textbook on Mandala in Japan till the Meiji Era.  He died in Kango-ji Temple on August 15, 1519, with his five-ring-stupa-type grave left in the temple.  He devoted his whole life to reading, teaching, and writing, as though to avert his eyes from the outside world.

     The Onin War broke out in 1467, when Inyu was still studying at Sannen-ji Temple, and lasted till 1478, 4 years after he returned to Musashi Province.  After the war, the outside world fell down into the Warring States Period.  And that was the way Inyu survived the upheaval.

     The main deity is the Arya Avalokitesvara sitting statue, which is said to have been carved by a legendary Buddhist sculptor, Kasuga.  Kasuga is said to have worked in Kawachi Province.  Legend has it that he carved Buddhism images and statues day and night.  One day, the villagers noticed his carving something other than Buddhism images.  It became a big crane statue.  Next morning, the villagers found nobody in his house, but a big bird flying to the east in the morning glow, with something or someone on its back.

Address: 677-9 Koyamacho, Midori Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-0023Phone: 045-931-1714