Virtual Yokohama City 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Hongaku-ji Temple

     Legend has it that Eisai (1141-1215) founded Hongaku-ji Temple in 1226.  Simply inconsistent.  Maybe, it was the followers of Eisai who founded the temple.  Eisai studied in China and belonged to Linji Sect of Chan (or Zen in Japanese) Buddhism, and the temple belonged to the sect at first.

     The flames of war struck the temple in 1510.

     Ueda Masatada's ancestors were members of one of the Musashi Seven Corps.  The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing.  In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming.  That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms.  The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale samurai families.  By marriage, those samurai families composed 7 corps on the plateaus in the province.

     Masatada had been fighting for the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clan.  He fought hard in the Chokyo War (1487-1505), won in local fights, and succeeded in occupying the Kanagawa Port, which had been ruled by their opponent, the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Clan.  Unluckily, in the broader war situation, the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clan surrendered, and Masatada had to return the port to the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Clan.  Luckily, Ise Sozui (1456-1519) was extending his military power into Sagami Province and had occupied the western half of the province already.  In response to Sozui’s tactics, Masatada raised an army in Gongenyama Castle near the border between Sagami and Musashi Provinces.  Unluckily, the castle was near Hongaku-ji Temple, which was badly damaged in the fights.  Masatada?  The Yamanouchi-Uesugi and Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clans united and defeated Sozui.  Masatada escaped to Sozui’s new stronghold, Odawara Castle, and died of a disease there.

     The Ise Family became the Later Hojo Clan, and occupied almost all the Kanto Region.  But they were defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), and his son, Hideyori (1593-1615), was killed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  Pax Tokugawa realized, and lasted for 2 centuries.  On one of those peaceful days, Yajirobe and Kitahachi, the 2 main characters in the comic book, Tokaidochu Hizakurige (known as Shank’s Mare in English), had a drink, enjoying the magnificent sea view from a Kanagawa Town near the temple.

     Time flies.  On one of the turbulent last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, on July 4, 1859, Hongaku-ji Temple was requisitioned as the U.S. Consulate in Kanagawa.  They militarily appreciated the magnificent sea view from the temple.  If you want to know the details on the day, please check what Joseph Heco wrote.  He was born in Kansai, and made a sightseeing trip to Edo one day.  On his way back, his boat was wrecked and he was picked up by the American freighter Aukland.  He was sent to San Francisco, and became an interpreter. 

     Let’s get back to the temple.  Even today, you can find some parts of it painted in black, red, green, and white.  The consulate staff might have preferred the colors to the beauty through a sense of austerity and antiquity.  Whether you like the colors or not, that was the first use of paint in Japan.  And, in July, Japan Painting Contractors Association holds a memorial service annually.

Address: 1-2 Takashimadai, Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 221-0833Phone: 045-322-0191