Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Fumon-ji Temple

     Tradition has it that Gyoki (668-749) carved an Arya Avalokitesvar statue in 747 and put it in a hermitage in a mountain, which later became Fumon-ji Temple.  It used to be called the Rock Face  Avalokitesvar.  The temple was moved to the present place in 1844, and the statue was further moved to Shomon-ji Temple in 1917.

     Shomon-ji Temple was founded by Sanada Gengo (?-?), who fought for the Ashikaga Shogunate in the Yuki War in 1440.  Who fought agains who in the Yuki War?

     Ashikaga Harutora was born on June 13, 1394.  At the age of 9, he entered Seiren-in Temple, on June 21, 1403.  On March 4, 1408, he became a priest, and was named Gien.  Ashikaga Yoshikazu (1407-1425) and Yoshimochi (1386-1428) died of a disease one after another, and the shogunate became vacant.  Chief vassals assembled at Iwashimizu-Hachiman-gu Shrine and decided the next shogun by lot on January 17, 1428.  And Gien became the sixth shogun, Yoshinori (1394-1441), who assassinated his political opponents one after another.

     Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), the deputy shogun in Kamakura, was forced to commit suicide by Yoshinori, the then shogun.  Yuki Ujitomo (1402-1441) sheltered Mochiuji’s 2 sons, Shuno-maru and Yasuo-maru, in his castle, and rebelled against Yoshinori in 1440.  That was the Yuki War.

     On April 16, 1441, Ujitomo's castle fell and he and his eldest son were killed in the fights.  Shuno-maru and Yasuo-maru were arrested and were to be transferred to Kyoto.  But on their way, at Tarui, Mino Province, they were killed, with their death poems left:

“Summer weeds,

Their flowers blooming in Aono Field

Who knows their future?” (Shuno-maru)

“Who knows the future?

Our lives are to be limited today

Here away from home.” (Yasuo-maru)

     Anyway, Sanada Gengo jumped on the band wagon from Sanada County, Shinano Province.  His family settled in the Mihara area, ruled the territory, and made Shibun-ji Temple their family temple.

     The precincts of Shibun-ji Temple had been a holy place for a long time.  It is said that a certain people had moved from the Miura Peninsula in the 12th century with their ritual of bone collecting.  In the back of the temple, there still lies the Cave of the Ancestors, which had been turned into the cave grave for the ancestors of the Sanada Family.

     The tradition of the temple says that Masaki Yoritada (1551-1622) turned the temple into the family temple of the Masaki Family in 1574 to pray for the comfort of his lamented father in the other world.  But it’s impossible.  Yoritada’s father, Tokitada (1521-1576), tried to get independent from the Satomi Clan, and sent his second son, Yoritada, to the Hojo Clan as a hostage.  In 1575, the eldest son, Tokimichi, died.  In 1576, Tokitada also died, and Yoritada was sent back to Awa Province by 1577.  So, if it was in 1574 that the conversion was carried out, it must have been either Tokitada or Tokimichi who did it.  If it was Yoritada who turned Shibun-ji into their family temple, he must have done so after 1577, unless Yoritada and the Hojo Clan predicted (or planned?) the sudden death of the two. 

Address: 270 Wadacho Nakamihara, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2716

Phone: 0470-47-3728

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Ishimi-do Temple

 

     Ishimi-do Temple used to be on a rocky islet off the beach.  It was moved to the present place by the middle 19th century.

    Tradition has it that Gyoki (668-749) carved the statue of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, in 993.  It was moved to Kongo-in Temple nearby in 1872, 4 years after the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order was issued by the Meiji Restoration Government in 1868, but was returned to Ishimi-do Temple in 1882.

Address: 2260-1 Kaisuka, Kamogawa, Chiba 296-0004

Phone: 04-7092-1793

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Seicho-ji Temple

 

     Seicho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Fushigi in 771.  He found an oak tree radiating 1,000 rays of light.  He carved Akasagarbha out of the tree, and performed ascetic practices in front of it for 21 days.

     In 836, Priest Ennin (794-864) visited the precincts, and carried out ascetic practices in front of the statue.  Since then, the temple belonged to the Tiantai School of Buddhism.

     Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222 in Tojo County, Awa Province. When he became 12 years old, he entered Seicho-ji Temple and learned basic Buddhism theories.  When he turned 16, he entered the Buddhist priesthood in the temple.

     Accordingly, Seicho-ji Temple became one of the 4 most important holy places for the Nichiren Buddhist Schools, along with Tanjo-ji, Ikegami-Honmon-ji, and Kuon-ji Temples.  Nichiren was born where Tanjo-ji Temple is located today, and died in Ikegami-Honmon-ji Temple.  Kuon-ji Temple is, as you may know, the headquarters of the Nichiren Sect.

As a Tiantai School temple, Seicho-ji Temple used to forbid the Nichiren Sect people to come in the precincts.  But, in 1920, it lifted the prohibition.  And, what is more, it converted itself to a Nichiren Sect in 1949.

Address: 322-1 Kiyosumi, Kamogawa, Chiba 299-5505

Phone: 04-7094-0525

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #16 Sekigan-ji Temple

 

     Sekigan-ji Temple used to be located along the ridge of the Mineoka Mountain District  in the Boso Hill Range in the southern part of Chiba Prefecture.  Its main deity was the statue of Ekadasamukha, who had 11 faces, which was carved by Kukai (774-835), according to tradition.

The temple was burned down in old times, and was rebuilt on the Kannon Height.  It was burned down again in the first half of the 18th century, and was rebuilt again in the latter half of the century.

     In 1900, the temple was burned down again together with the Ekadasamukha statue.  The temple was merged with Saifuku-in Temple nearby in 1906.  In 1907, a new Avalokitesvar hall was built in the precincts of Saifuku-in Temple, which was renamed Shogen-ji then.  Mysteriously, or mistakenly, it was an Arya Avalokitesvar statue that was enshrined in the hall then .  In 2010, the mistake, whether it was intentional or unintentional, was corrected and an Ekadasamukha statue was newly enshrined in the hall.

Address: 374 Shimo-Kohara, Kamogawa, Chiba 296-0102

Phone: 04-7097-0183

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Shofuku-ji Temple

 

     Tradition puts it that the statue of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces, was carved by Gyoki (668-749).  It used to be enshrined in Shofuku-ji Temple by the top of Mt. Osugi.  The temple precincts including the top of the mountain used to be holy ground for Shugendo;a sect of Esoteric Buddhism.  On its golden days, there should have been many Yamabushi, Japanese mountain ascetic hermits, performing sadhana.

     Shugendo was forbidden in 1872 by the Meiji Restoration Government, who regarded the sect unacceptable because of its amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism.  Without families who had graves in the precincts, that is without periodical income, the temple declined.

     The Ekadasamukha statue was first moved to Joko-in Temple in Heguri-naka in 1914, and then to Kosho-ji Temple in 1918.

     If you climb up to Mt. Osugi, you can still find the leftovers: stone steps, a stone washbasin, stone monuments, and even a substitute stone statue of Ekadasamukha.  They are accompanied with wallows of wild boars.

The summer grass,

'Tis all thats left,

Of Ancient warriors' dream.

(composed by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), and translated by Nitobe Inazo (1862-1933))

Kosho-ji Temple

Address: 1162-1 Yamada, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2203

Phone: 0470-58-0242

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Shinsho-ji Temple

    

     Shinsho-ji Temple used to be the shrine temple of Heguriten Shrine, which is located at the foot of Mt. Iyo, which is the only mountain with a peak in Chiba Prefecture, while other mountains in the prefecture have gentle figures.  Mt. Iyo had been a holy spot to pray for rain even before Hosokawa Kiyouji (?-1362) invited Tenjin, the deification of Sugawara Michizane (845-903), from Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto to build Heguriten Shrine in 1353.

The Gods and Buddhas Separation Order was issued by the Meiji Restoration Government in 1868.  And Shinsho-ji Temple was abolished in 1872.

Address: 405 Hegurinaka, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2204

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Chokoku-ji Temple

 

     Tradition has it that Chokoku-ji Temple was founded by Gyoki (668-749).  It used to be located at the top of Mt. Kannon nearby, and was moved to the present place in 1846.

     Satomi Yoshizane (1412-1488) was based in the Takida Castle.  Anzai Kagetsura (?-?) was based in Tateyama.  A famine hit the territory of Yoshizane.  Kagetsuna made the best use of the opportunity and laid siege to the Takida Castle.  Yoshizane was cornered and whined to his dog, Hachifusa, “If you hunt Kagetsuna’s head for me, I will give my daughter, Fuse, to you.”  Thus and thus, Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848) started his masterpiece, The Eight Dog Chronicles, Tale of Eight Dogs, or Biographies of Eight Dogs.

     You can climb up to the site of the Takida Castle from Chokoku-ji Temple.

Address: 486-1 Shimotakida, Minamiboso, Chiba 294-0805

Phone: 0470-36-2678

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Fukuman-ji Temple

     Fukuman-ji Temple is located at the foot of Mt. Tomi, which is 349.5 meters high, and which was the first important setting of The Eight Dog Chronicles, Tale of Eight Dogs, or Biographies of Eight Dogs by Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848).  In the cave halfway up the mountain, Princess Fuse and Dog Hachifusa lived together.    And later the 8 dog samurais retired in the mountain.

     One of the hiking routes to Mt. Tomi starts from the temple.  Another route starts from the cave.

Address: 569 Godo, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2221

Phone: 0470-57-2846 

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #11 Kondo-ji Temple

    

     Tradition has it that Kondo-ji Temple was founded at Kohagizaka in 709 by Gyoki (668-749).  He also caved an Arya Avalokitesvar statue, and built a hall 160 meters square to enshrine it.  Hundreds of years had passed, and the temple had gotten buried under a field of grass.

     In 1280, Priest Genjo noticed golden light beamed from Kohagizaka and that a white cloud was emanating.  The light and cloud led the priest to where the temple used to be.  He plowed the grass there and found a gilt copper statue of Arya Avalokitesvar.  He bundled bush clovers to build pillars, put a thatched roof on them, and enshrined the Arya Avalokitesvar statue there.

     Um, It’s a religious miracle that a carved (=wooden) image transformed itself into a copper one.  The mysterious transformation caused the temple to be named Kondo-ji (literally Gilt Copper Temple).

     In 1448, villagers built a wooden building to enshrine the statue.

     The statue might have a miracle power to be rediscovered.  In 1938, it was stolen.  Years later, it was found in Saitama Prefecture.

     The power might have effects even on the other temple property.  The temple bell was casted by Fujiwara Tadanao in 1789.  It was delivered to the government during World War II.  In 1983, it was miraculously found in Chosei-ji Tempe, Yamanashi Prefecture, and was returned to Kondo-ji Temple.

Address: 1241 Kamisakuma, Kyonan, Awa District, Chiba 299-2113

Phone: 0470-55-8303

Trees in the town.

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Ojo-ji Temple

 

Ojo-ji Temple was founded at the top of Mt. Kannon in 1017 by Genshin (942-1017).  He also carved the Arya Avalokitesvar statue for the temple.

Years had passed, Ojo-ji Temple was abolished, and the statue was moved to Mitsugon-in Temple at the foot of the mountain.

Address: 1977 Kamisakuma, Kyonan, Awa District, Chiba 299-2113

0470-55-8303

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Shinpuku-ji Temple

 

     Shinpuku-ji Temple was founded in 850’s by Ennin (794-864).  Its original Avalokitesvar statue had been carved by Gyoki (668-749).  The temple was burned down in fire in 1555, in the midst of the Warring States Period, but was rebuilt in 1669-1673 by villagers when Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641-1680) was stably ruling the country, at the cost of reducing the savings of the Tokugawa Shogunate to no less than one fifth.  He also drove home to people that every person must belong to a temple.

     In 1673, Priest Honsei invited a sculptor from Kyoto to have him carve a statue of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six.

     The precincts has itabi, which was erected in 1316.

     The Kanto Region used to have unique religious monuments: Itabi.  Itabi is a type of a stone monument or a Japanese pagoda.  It has the flattened-shape body with a flat triangular-or-pyramidal-shape top, and is supposed to have been used as a stone grave monument, a pagoda, or a stupa for remembrance.  The pagoda body can include images (tengai decoration, flower vases, censer, candlestick), sanskrit characters in a circle above a lotus decoration, poetic and religious texts, the commemoration date, zodiac signs and information about the builder and the reason for the creation of the itabi.  The itabi is placed directly in the ground or on a platform.

     Itabi were used in medieval Buddhism from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) to the early Edo Period (1603-1868), or from the early 13th century to the 17th century.  There are many itabi in the Kanto region, and they can be classified into 2 groups: the Musashi Province type, which were carved out of green-schist rocks from Chichibu County,  and the Shimousa Province type, which was carved out of black-schist rock from Mt. Tsukuba in Hitachi Province.  They spread to other parts of Japan as the Kanto samurais were dispatched to those places to strengthen the power of the Kamakura Shogunate.

     Awa Province has only a few itabi and the itabi in Shinpuku-ji Temple was made of green schist.  That suggests a powerful samurai family or tow might have moved from Musashi Province to Awa Province, following the Satomi Clan.

Address: 637 Okatabira, Kyonan, Awa District, Chiba 299-1903

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Nihon-ji Temple

 

     Nihon-ji Temple was founded in 725 by Gyoki (668–749) as a Hosso Sect temple. Tradition has it that the temple was visited by Roben (689–774), a monk of the Kegon sect and the founder of Todai-ji Temple in Nara, and later by Kukai (774–835), the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism. In 857, Ennin (794–864) visited the temple and transferred it to the Tendai school of Buddhism.

     In 1271, the area came under the control of the Nikaido Clan, and Nihon-ji Temple was burned during a local conflict in 1331, when the Genko Incident broke out countrywide between the Kamakura Shogunate and Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339).  The emperor succeeded in turning down the shogunate, but was turned down by another shogunate, the Muromachi Shogunate.  Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), the founder and first shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, rebuilt Nihon-ji Temple.

    At the end of the 16th century, Nihon-ji Temple came under the protection of the Satomi Clan. In 1647, the temple was transferred to the Soto Zen Sect, and Nihon-ji became a center of ascetic Zen practices in the territory of the Satomi Clan. Nihon-ji came under the control of Enmei-ji, a temple in present-day Minamiboso. During the Warring States Period, the temple fell into decline and even into ruin.

     In 1774, the priest Guden, the 9th chief Hoso priest of Nihon-ji Temple, carried out a large-scale revival of the temple complex. In 1774, Guden relocated the temple buildings to the southern side of the middle of Mt. Nokogiri, which was, accordingly, transformed into a sacred mountain. The Nihon-ji Giant Buddha Statue was built in this period, as well as the 1,553 Arhat stone statues.

     Nihon-ji Temple suffered much destruction during the anti-Buddhist movement (1868-1874) after the Meiji Restoration. Many of the structures of the temple complex in the precincts were destroyed.  Many of the Arhat statues were also beheaded in this period.

     In 1916, the restoration of the temple complex of Nihon-ji Temple began. A major earthquake in November 1939, however, again damaged the temple. The main hall, statues, and treasured Buddhist articles were lost in a fire.

     In 1989, the government of India presented Nihon-ji Temple with a sapling from the Bodhi Tree, wishing for the world peace.

Address: 184 Motona, Kyonan, Awa District, Chiba 299-2100

Phone: 0470-55-1103

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #7 Tennei-ji Temple

 

     Tennei-ji Temple was founded by Nikaido Yukimori (1181-1253), who was the executive director of the Mandokoro.  During the Kamakura Shogunate, the Mandokoro governed administration and finance.  The position of executive director, serving also as the treasurer, was held by the Nikaido Clan since Yukimori’s father, Yukimitsu (1164-1219).  The temple originally belonged to the Vinaya School.

     In 1352, Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) invited Priest Ingen (1295-1374) and turned it to the Linji School.  The main deity was the Gautama Siddhartha statue, which had been brought by a Chan priest from Dingning-si Temple, China.

     The temple also has the statue of Sahasrabhuja, who has 1,000 arms.  In 1655, the temple was burned down but the statue remained unburnt.  Since then, the statue became famous for answering prayers against fire.

Address: 3180 Shimosakuma, Kyonan, Awa District, Chiba 299-2115

Phone: 0470-55-0639 

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Hase-dera Temple

 

     Emperor Toyosakurahiko (701-756) built Hase-dera Temple in Nara in 727.  He also built new Hase-dera Temples in other provinces.  Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura was built in 736.  Tradition has it that Gyoki (668-749) carved 2 statues of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces, for Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura.  One of the two was brought here by Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), and Ashikaga Yoshimochi (1386-1428) built another Hase-dera Temple here.

     Hase-dera Temple is located on a hillside overlooking the Katsuyama Fishing Harbor.  Because of the location, the temple was once washed away by the flood caused by the 1703 Genroku Earthquake.

     It was rebuilt in 1728, but was burned down in fire in 1830.

     It was rebuilt in 1844, but was destroyed in a typhoon in 1871.  The present temple was rebuilt in 1881.  How tough the temple is!

Address: 409 Katsuyama, Kyonancho, Chiba 299-2117  

Phone: 0470-55-3109

The Return of the Princess

 

 

     The fleet left Joga-jima Island before the dawn broke.  Masaki Michitsuna was sitting in a boat at the most front of the fleet.  With no moon in the sky, the sea totally sank in the darkness.  Yet, he had a clear image of Yumi-ga-hama Beach along Kamakura in his mind.  He was also sure his crews could get to the beach even with their eyes closed.

     Satomi Yoshihiro was sitting on another boat in the middle of the fleet.  He had fought as the lord of Awa Province against Hojo Ujiyasu after he came of age.  He had brought the largest territory for the province.  He had hidden his true motivation deep in his mind nearly 2 decades.  However, all his men seemed to have known his secret dream since earlier days.  Without knowing his secret dream, who dare to get engaged in this half-reckless intrusion into the heart of Kamakura, the longtime capital of samurais?  Kamakura was also located deep in the territory of Hojo Ujiyasu’s.  The intrusion could turn into a suicide attack.

     The fleet got to the beach.  All the boats landed but a couple were floating in the sea to watch out for a possible attack from the sea.  Landed men moved into Kamakura, with only several left to guard the boats.  As they intruded deeper into Kamakura, a couple of men were left at each corner to watch out and to secure their withdrawal route. Finally, about half of the army reached their destination.  Were they attacking the samurai office in Kamakura?  No.  Were they robbing famous shrines or temples?  No.  They silently invaded a small peaceful temple at the foot of a hill.

     An old nun who got up early as usual noticed the invasion of rough and impolite men, and screamed, “How dare you raid a nun temple?  Don’t you know who reside here?”

     Yoshihiro bowed to the old lady, and just moved on.  He came in the main hall of the temple.  A young nun was, as if she had predicted it, silently sitting in front of the deity, her guardian statue of Avalokitesvara, which she had inherited from her late father, who had been killed in a battle by Ujiyasu.  She had been in Kamakura as a captive.

     Yoshihiro went down on his hands and knees.

     “You see me for the first time in 18 years, Princess.  I am Yoshihiro.  Do you recognize me?”

     The young nun kept silent.

     Yoshihiro continued, “I have a favor to ask you.  We don’t have time.  Ujiyasu’s samurais will notice our intrusion in a moment.  Will you come back to Awa with me?”

     She remembered the promise he had made.  It was when they were no more than young children.  18 years had passed.  And she was nearly thirty years old.  She was going to reason him into leaving her in Kamakura and retreating from the city quickly.  She moved her lips.  Instead, against her will, she heard herself saying, “Yes, I will.”

 

     Yoshihiro and his men dashed back to the beach with Nun Seigaku and the old nun, who had been her nurse since her infancy and who was carrying the guardian deity of the princess with her, on wooden shutters.  By that time, some samurais in Kamakura had noticed something unusual was happening somewhere in the town, but the first thing they did in a hurry was to strengthen the guard of the samurai office.  And that let Yoshihiro gain time.

     When Awa crews got back to the beach, Michitsuna very loudly announced, “If a single arrow of theirs were to hurt Nun Seigaku even slightly, I have to kill myself to apologize to my lord, Yoshihiro.  Do you all understand it?”

     “Yes, sir.”  And they pushed their boats into the sea quickly.

     The first boat left the beach with the nuns and the deity aboard.  The boats which had been floating in the sea gathered around it quickly to make themselves a shield against arrows, if any.  They were rowing their boats very compactly, yet flew out to sea off the beach swiftly.

     By that time, the sun had risen and some Kamakura samurais had realized the intrusion from the sea.  They were hurrying to the beach on their horses.

     The other boats from Awa left the beach by twos and threes, with Michitsuna’s and a couple of others as the tail of the fleet.  They shot arrows against the beach so that Kamakura samurais couldn’t approach the sea easily.  By the time Kamakura samurais started shooting arrows in an organized way, theirs futilely hit the waves.

     Of course, Kamakura had some boats.  But who dare sail out of the port?  Their foes were those they called the Awa Pirates.

 

     It was still a little past noon.  Nun Seigaku was quietly sitting aboard a ship.  She had transferred from a battle boat to a comfortable ship in Joga-jima Island.  And she was sailing across the strait between the territory of the Hojo Clan and that of the Satomi Clan.

     She left her quiet reasonable days in Kamakura.  She was vaguely remembering her childhood days.  Almost all her memories were filled with battles and flights.  Yet, she was surprised to find herself peaceful and hopeful.  As peaceful as the sea.  As hopeful as the blue sky over her.  The hills of Awa Province were approaching her.

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Kozen-ji Temple

 

     Kozen-ji Temple was founded in 1345 by Muso Soseki (1275-1351), who was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer.  He was the most famous monk of his time.  The precincts have the stone stupa of Chikoin, the posthumous name of the wife of Satomi Yoshihiro (1530-1578).  The statue is dated 1576, but Chikoin is supposed to have died much earlier.

      When the Satomi Clan was building up its hegemony in Awa Province, the Kanto region at large was plunging into another epoch under the Muromachi Shogunate.  Kanto Deputy Shogun used to be based at Kamakura.  The fourth Kanto Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), turned against the central shogunate in Kyoto in 1423.  He was defeated, and his son, Shigeuji (1434-1497), got based at Koga in Shimousa Province.  The central shogunate sent Ashikaga Masatomo (1435-1491) to Kanto, appointing him as a new deputy shogun in Kanto, but he couldn’t enter Kamakura, obstructed by some powerful Kanto samurais, and got based at Horigoe in Izu Province.  That is, the Kanto deputy shogunate was divided into 2.

     In 1517, when Ashikaga Takamoto (?-1535) was Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun, his younger brother, Yoshiaki(1493?-1538), turned against Takamoto, and got based at Oyumi in Shimousa Province.  That is, the Kanto deputy shogunate got divided into 3.  Meanwhile, the Uesugi Clan, which was hereditary for the butler-ship of the Kanto Deputy Shogun, was keeping its own authority.  In short, Kanto got into a mess.  And, to make the matters worse, Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519) came from Kyoto to make a warring-states-period hero, and joined in the mess.

      In 1523, Ise Ujitsuna (1487-1541), the son of Shinkuro, changed his surname to Hojo (known as Later Hojo).  In 1532, as Ujitsuna was joining forces with Ashikaga Takamoto, Kanto Deputy Shogun in Koga, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Kanto Deputy Shogun in Oyumi, was becoming the only choice for Satomi Yoshitoyo (?-1534) to face the Later Hojo Clan together.  In 1534, however, or as a result, Satomi Yoshitaka (1507?-1574), Yoshitoyo’s cousin, launched coup d’etat against Yoshitoyo with the help of Ujitsuna.

     However, Yoshitaka was always under the pressure of Oyumi Kanto Deputy Shogun, and went over to Yoshiaki’s side.  In 1538, Oyumi and Koga Kanto Deputy Shoguns clashed against each other in Konodai.  Yoshiaki was killed in the battle, and Koga’s side won.  The biggest winner in the battle was Hojo Ujitsuna.  He made Takamoto his puppet, and grabbed the hegemony over all the southern part of Kanto but Awa Province.  The minor second winner of the battle was, ironically enough, Yoshitaka, who belonged to the loser’s side.  He could secure Awa Province at least, and could get rid of Oyumi Kanto Deputy Shogun, who had been a pain in the neck.  In the aftermath of the battle, the Later Hojo Clan and the Satomi Clan were to fight against each other head-to-head.

     After Ashikaga Yoshiaki and his first son, Yoshizumi (?-1538), were killed in the battle, his younger children flew to Awa Province, counting on the protection of Satomi Yoshitaka.  It was during those days that Yoshitaka’s first son, Yoshihiro (1530-1578), and Ashikaga Yoshiaki’s first daughter met.  Later, however, Yoshiaki's second and third sons were sent to Sekido-ji Temple in Kazusa Province and his 3 daughters were sent to Taihei-ji Temple in Kamakura.  It means they became under the patronage, or the supervision, of the Later Hojo Clan.

     At the age of 8 or 9, Satomi Yoshihiro was determined.

     After coming of age, Yoshihiro kept fighting fiercely and aggressively against the Later Hojo Clan.  He continued fighting for some 18 years.  Finally, in 1556, he succeeded in intruding into Kamakura temporarily.  He saw Ashikaga Yoshiaki’s first daughter, who was Nun Shogaku (?-1576?) at the time.  She had been determined too.  With her noble bloodline as a young lady of the Ashikaga Clan, the shogunate clan, she could have got married with a son of a powerful family as her younger sister did.  The younger sister got married to Uesugi Norihiro (?-1551), the Butler or Regent of Kanto Deputy Shogun.  Instead, Shogaku turned a nun in Taihei-ji Temple, and had waited for nearly 2 decades.  Yoshihiro was 26 years old.  She might have been older than him.  Yoshihiro asked Nun Shogaku to come back to Awa Province, and she accepted his proposal.  Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), the then head of the Later Hojo Clan, criticized their attempt “incomprehensible” but all he could do was to destroy Taihei-ji Temple.

     Yoshihiro married her as his lawful wife.  You might wonder why his samurais supported his romantic but rather selfish motivation.  He realized the largest territory for them.  Not bad in the Warring States Period.

     Some Yoshihiro’s samurais had their own motivation to advance to Kamakura at the groin of the Miura Peninsula.  By that time Ashikaga Yoshiaki was killed, the Hojo Clan had destroyed the Miura Clan, and organized their own sea forces.  Some of the Miura Sea Forces fled to Awa Province, and got hired by the Satomi Clan’s vassals, such as Masaki Michitsuna (1492?-1533).  Or Michitsuna himself might have been a surviving retainer of Miura’s.  Anyway, from that time on, the Izu Sea Forces of the Hojo Clan and the Satomi Sea Forces were to face each other head-to-head across the Edo and Sagami Bays.  

It was the Satomi Sea Forces that occupied Jogashima Island at the tip of the Miura Peninsula to make it an advanced base to intrude into Kamakura by sea.  They also let Nun Shogaku sail across the Uraga Channel to Awa Province safely.  Seeing their spectacular performance, all Hojo Ujiyasu could do was complaining and destroying a temple in his own territory for revenge.

     For the descendants of the Miura Sea Forces, fighting back into the Miura Peninsula was not just homesickness.  They showed that they were the most powerful sea forces in Kanto.

     Later, however, presumably after her death, Yoshihiro accepted  a peace treaty with the Later Hojo Clan.  He had lost his fierce and aggressive motivation to fight against the Later Hojo Clan.  Hojo Ujiyasu also might have found the treaty comprehensible.

Address: 275 Tomiuracho Haraoka, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2403

Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Shinsho-ji Temple

 

     Empress Asukabe (701-760) asked Gyoki (668-749) to carve 2 statues of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, to have easy delivery of Prince Motoi (727-’28).  One was enshrined in Obitoke-dera Temple, Nara, and the other was floated in Tatsuta River.  The latter was found off Tomiura, Awa Province by Aoki Masakatsu, who founded Shinsho-ji Temple and enshrined the statue.

     The temple is surrounded with cliffs which have old cave graves or the Cave of the Patriarchs.  As we can find many cave graves in and around Kamakura, so we can guess there used to be bone-collecting-type of a burial ritual practiced across the gateway of the Tokyo Bay.  Hundreds of kilometers off the bay, there runs the Black Current, which might have brought about the burial ritual from Taiwan or Ryukyu.

     The Japanese Archipelago has 34,600 kilometers of shoreline, which is shorter than America’s 56,700 kilometers but longer than Brazil’s 5,760 kilometers.  The islands are washed by the Black and Tsushima Currents from the south and by the Kuril Current from the north.

     The Black Current starts off Philippines, flows northward between the Formosa Island and the Ryukyu Islands, and, turning northeastward, passes between the Ryukyu Islands and the Kyushu Island toward the south coasts of the Shikoku and Honshu Islands, transporting warm, tropical water.  The current brings not only tropical water but also fish, corals, seeds of tropical plants such as coconuts, blocks of dead aromatic trees, and culturally, sometimes even militarily, advanced alien people as well.

     Furukawa Shoken (1726-1807) was a geographer in the latter half of the Edo Period.  He compiled topographies based on his own observation, and also integrated information based on hearsay into memorandums.  “The Memorandum of Hachijo” was a latter case, and was about the Izu Islands including Hachijo Island.  The memorandum was published in 1794, and he mentioned the Black Current in it.

     “The Black Current looks as if an ink stone were rubbed on the surface of the sea.  As hundreds of swirls are mysteriously flowing past, whoever sees the current feels just dazzled.”

     Tachibana Nankei (1753-1805) was a doctor of Chinese medicine in Kyoto, and made rounds of visits to various parts of Japan intermittently from 1782 to 1788.  He published travel essays from 1795 to 1798, which would be collectively called “Journey to the East and to the West” later.  In one of the essays, he recorded a scratch of hearsay information on the Black Current.

     “They say that about 5.5 hundred kilometers off the Izu Peninsula, there are desert islands in the south.  The sea around the islands is called the Black Current.  The current is tens of kilometers wide, and runs like a large river, raging and rolling.

     “Furthermore, if you sail out southeast off Awa and Kazusa Provinces too far, you are washed away east and shall never come back, as the current turns eastward away from our islands.”

     It means Awa Province is the northernmost province that is washed by the Black Current.   The province is just across the gateway of the Edo Bay from Kamakura.

Address: 173 Aoki, Tomiuracho, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2416

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.

Trees in the town.