Virtual Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Koami-ji Temple

 

     Tradition has it that Koami-ji Temple was founded in 710 by Gyoki (668-749).  At the age of 12?  Unbelievable.

Many priests and monks, including Roben (689-774), Kukai (774-835), and   Ennin (794-864), practiced Vajrayana in the precincts.  In 1286, Mononobe Kunimitsu casted a Buddhist temple bell for the temple.  The Mononobe Family, whose business was casting and molding, used to be based in Tannan County, Kawachi Province.  When the Great Buddha of Kamakura was made in 1252, they moved to there, and resided in the Mori Manor in Sagami Province after the construction.

     The temple declined once, but was revived in 1475 by Priest Soshu, supported by Satomi Yoshizane (1412-1488), who was the founder of the Satomi Clan in Awa Province.

     In the hill to the north of the temple, there lie 2 caves, which presumably used to be the Cave of the Ancestors, cave graves of the ancient local people.

Address: 859 Idenoo, Tateyama, Chiba 294-0026

Phone: 0470-23-7226