Virtual Old Kamakura 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Hoan-ji Temple

 

     Hoan-ji Temple was founded by Priest Ryosen on October 3, 1445, and was revived by Priest Chiso in 1508.  It means the temple was once abandoned or became priest-less for some time between 1445 and 1508.  Why?

     First of all, the South and North Courts Period in Japan lasted from 1336 to 1392.  During the period, the institutional changes in the manorial system that formed the bedrock of the income of nobles and warriors alike decisively altered the status of the various social groups.  Even after the period, some undermined groups tried to revive themselves under the name of South Courts, the loser.  On September 23, 1443, a group intruded into the Inner Imperial Palace and took away 2 of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial Regalia of Japan: the sword and the jewel.  The unstable society might have had people look to Buddhism.

     Without any dramatic tradition or a Buddhist image by a famous historical figure, the temple might have been forgotten by people.

     At the turn of the 16th century, when Hoan-ji Temple was revived, Ise Sozui (1456-1519) came from Kyoto to the Kanto Region to make a Warring-States-Period hero there.  He first got based in Izu Province, and then invaded the eastern provinces castle by castle. He captured the Odawara Castle in Sagami Province in 1495, won in the Battle of Tashikawanohara against the Uesugi Clan on September 27, 1504, captured the Gongenyama Castle in Musashi Province in 1510, the Okazaki Castle in the center of Sagami Province in 1512, and the Misaki Castle at the tip of the Miura Peninsula in 1516.  Of course, there were winners and losers.  Some losers might have looked to Buddhism for salvation; some winners for justification.

     After the Warring States Period, there came the Pax Tokugawa.  Didn’t people need to look to Buddhism for salvation?  I don’t know.  Anyway, the Tokugawa Shogunate established the danka system, and every citizen in Japan was supposed to belong to a Buddhist temple.  Accordingly, the number of temples increased.  The Ekadasamukha statue in Hoan-ji Temple has been looking at people with its 11 affectionate faces.

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