Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #27 Chogen-ji Temple

     Kannon-in Temple was founded by Gyoki (668-749), who carved its deity, the statue of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces.  The statue is about 55 centimeters tall.  Priest Jitsuen (?-1738) revived the temple and changed its name into Chogen-ji.

     The main deity of the temple, the Mahavairocana statue, was presented in 1513 by Priest Inyu (1435-1519), who worked hard to re-spread Shingon Buddhism in the area.

     Inyu (1435-1519) 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.

     Buddhism had come to Japan in the 6th century.  At first, it was the state religion and formed the Six Schools of Nara Buddhism.  But it was spread among ordinary people across Japan in some ways or others, including through the efforts by earnest and enthusiastic priests like Gyoki.  Locally, it might have become some folk beliefs.  As samurais gained the social hegemony, especially after the Kamakura Period, they needed new ideologies and, that is, new Buddhism.  Some outstanding priests established new Buddhist schools or sects.  Some others reorganized folk-belief hermitages into their schools or sects as Inyu did.  And that was the way Inyu survived the upheaval.

Address: 214 Kamikawaicho, Asahi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 241-0802Phone: 045-921-2580