Virtual Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Iwaya-do Temple

 

     Iwaya-do Temple was built by Nakata Kaganokami. One day, Yagami River flooded, causing a landslip in Hiyoshi.  There appeared a Avalokitesvara statue, which was about 60 centimeters tall.  In the spot, Kaganokami built a small building to enshrine the statue.

     Who was Nakata Kaganokami?

     First of all, a samurai in the Warring States period usually had 4 names: a childhood name, an adulthood name (from a historical reason, usually categorized as a posthumous name), a post name, and, after his death, a posthumous Buddhist name.  It means that while he was alive, people around him usually used one of the first 3 names.  Even when he was grown up, his old friends and relatives sometimes called him with his childhood name.

     Kaganokami, literally meant the guardian samurai of Kaga Province, was a post name.  It is unknown whether it was given by his lord or was chosen by himself and for himself.  A warlord gave his vassals such a post name probably with his unifying the whole of Japan in his mind.  As a consequence, some independent samurai picked up such a name in rivalry.

     As the Later Hojo Clan increased their territoy from Sagami Province into Musashi Province, Nakata Kaganokami changed his lord from Ota Yasutsugu (1531-1581) to Hojo Ujimasa (1538-1590).

     Then, what was Nakata Kaganokami?

     According to the paper "A Trend of Lord Nakata at Yagami in the Age of Wars" (Dr. Masahiro Morimoto, 2000, Departmental Bulletin Paper of Keio University), Nakata Kaganokami was an efficient revenue officer.

     Sometime after 1570, Hojo Ujimitsu (?-1590) became the lord of Kozukue Castle.  In 1584, he started the land survey of the Kozukue Domain.  In 1585, Nakata Kaganokami surveyed Onda Village, dispatching his vassals to the village, and brilliantly doubled the tax on the area.  He must have been good at calculation.

     In 1587, Kaganokami sent his vassal, Shibasaki Tajima, to Kami-Maruko Village for the land survey.  There, he also doubled the tax revenue.  He was an efficient manager.

     He kept doing the job till 1590, when the Later Hojo Clan was destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598).

     Nakata Kaganokimi had a fort-like mansion in Yagami Village, and founded temples and shrines in the area.  The site of the mansion had an ancient tumulus.  The admittance into the tumulus was a taboo even in modern times.  Nakata Kaganokami was in the center of politico-economic and spiritual lives of the people in Yagami Village.

     Good luck came by cuffing.  In 1590, Odawara Castle fell, Nakata Kaganokami fled back to Yagami Village, losing his job.  He was said to die of indignation or to kill himself in violent anger, and was buried in Hofuku-ji Temple in 1590.

     His son, Tozaemon, moved to Kawashima Village, built Shokan-ji Temple, buried part of his father’s ashes there, inviting Priest Shugyu (?-1688).  Tozaemon also moved the fort-like mansion to Kawashima Village, and dug a trench around it.  He became the village head there.

     Why in Kawashima, not in Yagami?  An efficient revenue officer might have had avengers.

Address: 5 Chome-18 Hiyoshi, Kohoku Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-0061

Phone: 045-561-7038