Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Muryo-ji Temple

     Muryo-ji Temple used to be the shrine temple of Tsukudo-Hachiman Shrine.

     At the beginning of the 9th century, an old man was living here.  He had had deep faith in Hachiman.  One day, Hachiman appeared in the dream of the old man, and told him that a divine signal would be given to him.  Next morning, a white cloud hung over the pine tree in his yard and a white dove was sitting on the branch.  A dove was widely believed to be a messenger of Hachiman.  The old man decorated the tree with a sacred straw festoon.

     As Hachiman had syncretized with Buddhism, and had become Hachiman Great Bodhisattva by the 9th century, when Saicho (767-822) visited the area  after 816, he was impressed with the pine tree and its story, and carved the Amitabha statue.  The soil of Usa-Hachiman Shrine, the very original first shrine for Hachiman, in Tsukushi Province, was brought to the precincts, and the shrine was came to be called Tsukudo-Hachiman Shrine.  Tsukudo literally means Tsukushi soil.

     Because of the syncretism, the shrine also had its shrine temple, Muryo-ji.

     After the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868, Muryo-ji Temple was abolished.

Address: ２-1 Tsukudohachimancho, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo 162-0815