Virtual Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Saimyo-ji Temple

 

     When Kukai (774-835) studied in China between 804 and 806, he stayed in Ximing-si Temple.  The Chinese characters for Ximing are pronounced Saimyo in Japanese.

     According to oral tradition, Kukai visited the area and ordered Taihan (778-?), one of his disciples, to found a temple there.  Really?

     After his coming back to Japan, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from noted monks of the time named Tokuitsu in Aizu, Dewa Province, Kochi and Kitoku in Shimotsuke Province, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogues between them proved constructive and Kukai dispatched his disciples to those provinces and let the monks there copy the scriptures Kukai had brought back from China.  The monks in the Eastern Provinces, who were belonging to the Nara Schools at the time, took greater interest in esoteric practice.

     It is doubtful that Kukai and Taihan, one of Kukai’s leading disciples, actually visited the area.  But it is probable that other Kukai’s disciples visited the area and founded Saimyo-ji Temple.

     The tradition or legend, however, actually attracted some historical figures.

     Hojo Tokimune (1227-1263), the 5th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, caught dysentery on November 3, 1256, and became a priest in Saimyo-ji Temple on 23.

     Another oral tradition says that Saimyo-Ji Temple used to be located in Arima Village nearby.  The village had a wonder-working spring, which is said to have been found by En Ozunu (634-706) in December, 647.  In 738, Princess Abe (718-770), who became Empress Koken in 749, got sick and her father, Emperor Shomu (701-756) prayed for her recovery to the spring.  The water healed the princess and the emperor ordered to build a temple by the spring, Saimyo-ji Temple.  The historical figures in the Eastern Provinces such as Minamoto Yoriyoshi (998-1082), Minamoto Yoshiie (1039-1106), and Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1149) are said to have healed themselves in the spring.  Hojo Tokiyori might have soaked himself in the spring.

     After the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate and the Hojo Clan, the leftovers of the clan hided out in the temple, and moved it to the present location, the tradition continued.

     Yet, (New?) Saimyo-ji Temple attracted another historic figure, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  On his trip back and forth between Edo and Kyoto, he either stayed or took a rest in Kosugi Village.  After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, in 1608 in particular, Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632), the second shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, built a palatial mansion.  And the area came to be called Kosugigoten, namely Kosugi Palace.

     The temple also attracted some other minor historical characters.

     In 1638, Hasegawa Tangonokami somebody-or-other presented a Japanese flat round hollow metal slit gong to the temple.  He could have been a distant relative of Hasegawa Nobutame (1745-1795).  Don’t you know him?  Please read Onihei Hankacho by Ikenami Shotaro (1923-1990).

     The Royal Priest in Ninna-ji Temple presented a curtain with his symbol in 1806.

     The site of Old Saimyo-ji Temple?  In August, 1257, the Great Shoka earthquake hit the southern part of the Kanto Region, and caused the spring dry up.  Later, in 1963, Yasuoka Takashi was thinking of the relocation of his factory in Minato Ward, Tokyo.  On June 21, he had a divine dream even in the 20th century.  As the result of the dream analysis, he got to Higashi-Arima, Miyamae Ward, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.  On July 27, 1970, he was digging a well for the plant, and muddy blue water gushed out.  After half a year, the water became clear.  When he prepared the bath with the water, it turned dark red.  The water healed rheumatism of his wife, Yaeko.  In April, 1972, he started a spa business.

Address: 1-1906 Kosugigotencho, Nakahara Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-0068

Phone: 044-722-4524