Virtual Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Senpuku-ji Temple

     Senpuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Giten, and was revived by Priest Chiken (?-1505).

     The Kyotoku War broke out in 1455, and lasted till 1483, when the Kanto Deputy Shogun in Koga and the Central Shogun in Kyoto concluded peace negotiations.  The Onin War around Kyoto ended indefinitely in 1485.  Peace at last?  No, the menaces of war lords were threatening old establishment.  Both Giten and Chiken lived and died in times of war.

     #25 Deity is the 21-centemeter-tall thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue, and #26 is the 23-centimeter-tall Arya Avalokitesvara statue.  The 2 statues were presented by Yamada Heishichi (?-1766).  Who was Heishichi?

     Yamada Heishichi was a farmer who suffered from persistent phlegm and coughs for more than a decade.  On August 14, 1754, he started chanting Avalokitesvara.  On April 19, 1755, he had a dream that Mt. Fuji gave him a subject to compose a tanka poem.  Since then, he climbed Mt. Fuji annually on July 1 for 6 years.  In April, 1755, he left for Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  In Kumano, he promised the god there to make 33 Avalokitesvara statues in his hometown.  When he came back home, he visited Yakuo-an Temple, his family temple, and reported the promise.  In March, 1758, he visited Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage.  In March, 1763, he realized that it was difficult to make 33 statues, and, instead, he started to visit 33 Avalokitesvara statues in Inage Manor.  That was the start of Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  He composed 34 tanka poems for the temples, and delivered tags to them.  He died on November 11, 1766.

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