Virtual Yokohama City 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Komyo-ji Temple

     There used to be Ishikawa Kannon-do Temple with the Arya Avalokitesvara statue at Ishikawa Village along the south bank of Shukan-minato Inlet.  The inlet was reclaimed after 1656, and part of the reclaimed land became a foreign settlement after Yokohama was designated one of treaty ports on July 1, 1859.  Thereafter, the population in Yokohama increased.

     In October, 1878, Priest Genshin in Komyo-ji Temple, Kamakura, took over Ishikawa Kannon-do Temple, had Priestess Myoin administer it, organized a Kannon association, and started propagation.  Being near the international port, the area soon became too noisy.  He moved the temple a little bit uptown to Hatsunecho in March, 1885, sponsored by Yoshida Kenzo (1849-1889).

     Kenzo was born in Echizen Province in 1849 as a son of a samurai.  In 1864, he defected from the Echizen Domain, and studied medicine in Osaka and English in Nagasaki.  In 1866, he stowed away to UK on a British warship.  He returned to Japan in 1868, and worked for Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited in Yokohama.

     In 1871, he started his own business, and became a leading businessman in Yokohama.  He also financially supported the Liberal Party (Japan,1881).  Hatsunechou became lined with stores, looking even rather like an entertainment district.  Priest Genshin moved the temple further uptown to the present place in October, 1888, sponsored by Kenzo and Koro Kohachi (1836-1917).  

     Kohachi was born in Echizen Province in 1836 as a son of a farmer.  He started at the bottom of the social ladder, working for a laundry and as a rickshaw man, he suddenly succeeded in shadow banking.  He also supported Kenzo in his supporting the Liberal Party.

     On March 27, 1899, the temple name officially became Komyo-ji.  On April 25, 1913, it inherited the Amitabha statue as the main deity from Kagaku-in Temple, a branch temple within Zojo-ji Temple at Shiba, Tokyo.  Zojo-ji is a good brand name to push ahead with propagation.  Even after the replacement, the Arya Avalokitesvara statue was kept in the temple.  It even survived the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923.

Address: 66 Kanoedai, Minami Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 232-0008Phone: 045-231-5875