Virtual Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Yoshu-in Temple

 

     About 2 decades before the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan, Kawabe Iemon moved to Kuji Village, and founded Yoshu-in Temple in 1582 by inviting Priest Kichizan(?-1604).

Who was Kawabe Iemon?

     According to their family tree, Kiyotada was from Satsuma Province.  At the age of 12, he was first adopted by the Ijuin Family in Satsuma.  Then, at the age of 15, he was adopted by Shimazu Family in Shinano Province, who were one of the branch families of the Shimazu Clan in Satsuma.  One of his descendants moved to Sagami Province, became a vassal of the Later Hojo Clan, settled along Tama River, and started calling themselves Kawabe (namely Riverside).  After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan, they became farmers there, without never going back to Satsuma Province.

     Tama River flooded and washed away the temple buildings in 1863, when the family’s homeland, Satsuma, recklessly and rashly fought against the British Empire.  The temple was burned down in 1867, when Satsuma successfully forced the Tokugawa Shogunate to return the state governance to the royal court.

     Did the Kawabe Family in Kuji Village feel something over the historical events?

Address: 3 Chome-10-32 Kuji, Takatsu Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 213-0032

Phone: 044-822-3560