Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Joju-in Temple

      Edo-stationed royal princes, who were actually held hostage by the Tokugawa Shogunate, were to visit Gangyo-ji Temple.

     Through the Tokugawa Period, one of royal princes entered the Buddhist priesthood under the title Rinnoji-no-miya. He served as abbot of Rin'o-ji Temple in Nikko and Kan'ei-ji Temple in Edo.  The Tokugawa Shogunate counted them as hostages and planned to set one of them up as their own emperor in case the Imperial Court became hostile agains the Tokugawa Shogunate.  The plan worked somehow once.

     During the unrest of the Boshin War (1868-1869) to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, Prince Yoshihisa (1847-1895) fled north with the survivors of those who supported the Tokugawa Shogunate, and became Emperor Tobu, whose planned era name was believed to have been either Taisei or Enju.

     Following the Meiji Restoration, in 1873 Emperor Meiji recalled all imperial princes currently serving as Buddhist priests back to secular status. That same year, Prince Yoshihisa became the second head of the new princely house of Kitashirakawa-no-miya.

     During the Tokugawa Period, Rinnoji-no-miya visited Gangyo-ji Temple on February 2 every year.

Prince Yoshihisa became Rinnoji-no-miya in May, 1867.  In January, 1868, the Battle of Toba-Fushimi broke out as the first fight of the Boshin War.  On February 21, he left Edo to Shizuoka to have peace negotiations with Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (1835-1895).  On May 25, he boarded Warship Chogei-maru and fled north.  Did he have a chance to visit Gangyo-ji Temple?

     Why was Gangyo-ji Temple so important as to have been visited by Edo-stationed royal princes?  It’s not clear but there could have been 2 reasons.

     When Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) was defeated in the Battle of Ishibashi-yama in 1180, he fled to Awa Province.  On his way, he stayed at Gyogan-ji Temple and prayed to the statue of Sahasrabhuja, who has 1,000 arms, for victory.  On the night, he dreamt the dream to bring the whole country under his control.  The Tokugawa Clan belonged to the Minamoto Clan in a broad sense.  The temple might have been important for the clan.

     When Ota Dokan built the Edo Castle, Priest Sonkei (?-1632) conducted a religious ceremony to purify the ground.  And he founded Gyogan-ji Temple.  The temple might have been important for the castle.

The temple was believed to have been founded either by Saicho (766-822) or by Ennin (794-864).  The Sahasrabhuja statue was believed to have been carved by Priest Genshin (942-1017).

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