Virtual Yokohama City 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Guzei-in Temple

     Guzei-in Temple was founded by Ishikawa Tokuemon in 1536.  We have another Ishikawa Tokuemon (1804-1889), who was the 11th head of the Ishikawa Family in Yokohama.  300 years had passed.  The first Tokuemon could have been the first head of the family.

     The Convention of Kanagawa or Kanagawa Treaty was the first treaty between the United States and the Tokugawa shogunate.  The treaty was signed on March 31, 1854 in Yokohama.  Matthew Perry (1794–1858) signed as American plenipotentiary, and Hayashi Akira (1800–1859) signed for the Japanese side.

     On April 6, 1854, Perry dropped in on Tokuemon.  Tokuemon first showed his beloved pine tree and then led Perry and others to the drawing room.  First, Tokuemon’s wife, Katsu, and his sister, Nobu, served tea and sweets.  And then sake and grilled rice cakes were treated.

     The temple buildings collapsed on September 1, 1923, in the Great Kanto Earthquake.  On March 15, 1926, the main hall, which was designed by Ito Chuta (1867-1954), was rebuilt.  Chuta was a Japanese architect, whose doctoral thesis was on the architecture of Horyu-ji Temple.

Address: 2 Chome-221 Mutsumicho, Minami Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 232-0041Phone: 045-731-2825