Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Bansho-in Koun-ji Temple

      Bansho-in Temple was founded by Imagawa Chotoku (?-1625) in 1574.

Chotoku was the third son of Yoshimoto (1519-1560), who was killed by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) on his way of the military advance to Kyoto.

     Bansho-in Temple was first located near the Hanzo Gate of the Edo Castle.  Later, it was moved to Tamachi, to Tsukudohachiman-cho, and to a couple of others.  It was finally removed to the present place in 1914, but was burned down in the fire in 1917.

     Koun-ji Temple was founded by Nagai Naomasa (1587-1668).

     When Naomasa was 11 years old, his father, Naokatsu (1563-1626), was working and fighting for Tokugawa Nobuyasu (1559-1579).  Then, Nobuyasu's father Ieyasu (1543-1616) was forced by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) to have Nobuyasu commit harakiri suicide.  Naokatsu and his family became masterless and jobless.  2 years before the death of Nobunaga, the family was employed by Ieyasu. 

     Even when Naomasa’s father became masterless and jobless, his grandfather, Osada Shigemoto (1504-1593), kept working and fighting for Ieyasu in Ohama, Mikawa Province.  Ohama Port used to be a strategically important point to command the Mikawa Bay.  In 1582, Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide(1528-1582), and Ieyasu had to escape back to Mikawa Province.  It was Shigemoto who offered a ship to pick him up.

Ohama is mentioned in the Wamyo Ruijusho (namely Japanese Names for Things Classified and Annotated),  which was a Japanese dictionary compiled in 938.

     At first, Koun-ji Temple was located just out of the Sakurada Gate of the Edo Castle.  As the castle was expanded, the temple was moved to Mita, and then was removed to the present place in 1922, when Japan withdrew its troops from the Siberian intervention.

     Bansho-in and Koun-ji Temple were merged in 1948, when Aisin Gioro Xianyu (1907-1948) executed by shooting as a traitor by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China.  I don’t know which temple used to be the original member of Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

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