Virtual Yokohama City 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Tamon-in Temple

     Wakamiya-Hachiman-gu Shrine in Honmoku was founded far before the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate.

     The start of Hachiman-gu Shrine was Usa-Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kyushu.  The shrine has 3 megaliths deep in the precincts.  One day, Hondawake appeared or descended and became the god of the shrine.  Next, Hondawake was invited to Iwashimizu-Hachiman-gu Shrine near Kyoto.  From Iwashimizu-Hachiman-gu Shrine, Hondawake was further invited to Tsurugaoia-Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kamakura.  It is unknown if Hondawake in Honmoku was invited from Tsurugaoka or directly from Iwashimizu.

     In 812, Tamon-in Temple was founded by Kukai (774-835) as a shrine temple of Honmoku Wakamiya-Hachiman-gu Shrine.  In 1263, the statue of Goddess Ohirume and that of Bhaisajyaguru were found in the sea.  The Ohirume statue was enshrined in Honmoku Wakamiya-Hachiman-gu Shrine and the Bhaisajyaguru statue was enshrined in Tamon-in Temple.

Priest Kanyo (?-1585) put Tamon-in Temple on equal status with Honmoku Wakamiya-Hachiman-gu Shrine.  In 1591, when the Tokugawa Clan granted the same amount of rice fields to the temple and the shrine.  When Priest Suden (1569-1633) was busy establishing the religious policy of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Priest Seison (?-1632) established the temple.  In 1639, the temple made the Acalanatha statue and replaced the Bhaisajyaguru statue as the main deity.  With his face expressing extreme wrath, Acala might have appealed more in the samurai world.

     Interestingly enough, the temple has a Dakini hall.  A Dakini is a type of sacred female spirit in Hinduism and Buddhism. The term can also be applied to human women with a certain amount of spiritual development.  the Dakini figure disseminated into Japanese culture from Shingon Buddhism, evolving into the Dakini-ten, becoming linked to the fox iconography.

Address: 2-16 Honmoku Motomachi, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0822

Phone: 045-621-2382