Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #28 Sanbutsu-ji Temple

     It is unknown when and how Kannon-ji Temple, which is now Sanbutsu-ji Temple, was founded.  Kannon-ji Temple used to belong to Shingon Buddhism.  The Arya Avalokitesvara statue was carved in the 12th century.  The temple also has the Amitabha and the Ksitigarbha statues, which might have belonged to the other temples.  In 1603, Priest Tenyo consolidate the 3 temples into one, named it Sanbutsu-ji (literally 3 Buddhas temple), and converted it into the Pure Land Sect.

     The Takuma-Uesugi Clan’s history is not well known.  The founder, Uesugi Shigekane (?-?), had an elder brother, Shigeyoshi, who was forced to commit suicide in 1349 with Hatakeyama Tadamune (?-1350) and the other 51 followers and family members.  The mass suicide caused the Kanno Incident (1350-1352).  Shigekane survived the incident, and became the vassal of the first Kamakura Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Motouji (1340-1367).  Eventually, the Uesugi Clan splitter up into 5 hyphenated clans: The Takuma-Uesugi, the Inugake-Uesugi, the Yamauchi-Uesugi, the Ogitani-Uesugi, and the Fukaya-Uesugi Clans.  Their names came from where they used to live in Kamakura.

     Later, Takuma-Uesugi Norinao (?-1438) supported the 4th Kamakura Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), only to be killed in the Eikyo War in 1438.  After the war, the Takuma-Uesugi Clan weakened.

In the Chokyo War (1487-1505), the Yamauchi-Uesugi and the Ogitani-Uesugi Clans conflicted with each other, involving the Inugake-Uesugi and the Takuma-Uesugi Clans.  Through the war, however, whole the hyphenated Uesugi Clans spelled the downfall.

     Uesugi Tomosada (1525-1546), the last head of the Ogigaya-Uesugi Clan, was killed in the Siege of Kawagoe Castle, and the clan died out.  Uesugi Norimasa (1523-1579), the last head of the Yamauchi-Uesugi Clan, sold the brand name, Uesugi, to Nagao Kagetora (1530-1578), who is more known as Uesugi Kenshin.

     The Takuma-Uesugi Clan did spell the downfall, too.  They became no more than a powerful family in Musashi Province, threw away their pride, and chose to live just as the Takuma Family.  The descendants became a vassal of the Later Hojo Clan, and then that of the Tokugawa Clan.  They survived.  In one way or another, they survived.

One of the descendants Takuma Chikatoyo (?-1624), who was a hatamoto or a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa Shogunate,  supported the foundation of Sanbutsu-ji Temple, with his grave left in the precincts.  Another relic in the temple shows the Takuma Family emblem, which looked somewhat like that of the Uesugi Clan.  Their pride?

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