Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Jofuku-ji Temple

     The Asakura Family used to live in Asakura, Yamato Province.  A family head in the middle of the 13th century didn’t have his heir.  He prayed to the 1000-armed Sahasrabhuja statue for a baby boy day and night and finally got one.  Several years later, the father was charged and was banished to Sue County, Kazusa Province, with his family.  The father soon died, and the mother sent the boy to a temple.  The boy was given a Buddhist name, Kokei.  Kokei deeply meditated on Chan and also believed in Sahasrabhuja due to his fated birth.

     One night, a foreigner appeared in his dream and told him to go on a pilgrimage to find a good Sahasrabhuja statue.  When he visited Ongata Village in Hachioji, he found an extraordinary Sahasrabhuja statue.  He asked a leading elder of the village about the statue.  The old man told him it had been carved by Gyoki (668-749).  Kokei believed it to be the answer to the holy dream, stayed in the village, and prayed to the statue day and night.  The locals heard of the story and came to visit the statue often, especially to be blessed with children.  The temple flourished in 1270’s.

     More than 2 centuries had passed, Oishi Sadahisa (1491-1549), the lord of Takiyama Castle, was sorry for having no son.  He prayed to the statue and got a baby boy.

     In 1521, Sadahisa, who was a vassal of Uesugi Tomosada (1525-1546), built Takigawa Castle in preparation against the invasion of the Later Hojo Clan, who had unified Sagami Province by 1516.

     In 1524, the Later Hojo Clan advanced on Musashi Province, the domain of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clan.  On their way to Kawagoe Castle, the stronghold of Tomosada, who was practically the last head of the clan, the Later Hojo Clan's army set fire on Takigawa Castle on December 14, and Jofuku-ji Temple burned down.  The battles over Kawagoe Castle repeated till 1546, when both the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi and Yamauchi-Uesugi Clans were defeated by the Later Hojo Clan.

     After 1546, Sadahisa dumped the Uesugi Clans to Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571) and adopted Ujiyasu’s third son Ujiteru (1542-1590) as the husband of his daughter, Hisa (?-1590).  The Oishi Family was half taken over by the Later Hojo Clan.  Sadahisa retired to Tokura Castle.

It might have been after Ujiteru moved in Hachioji that Priest Choson (?-1561) revived the temple.

     On June 22, 1590, Maeda Toshiie set fire on Takigawa Castle.  This time, the priest of Shinpuku-ji Temple in Ongata Village used tact, negotiated with Toshiie, and got out of trouble.  Jofuku-ji Temple also narrowly escaped from burning down again.

Address: 3259 Shimoongatamachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0154

Phone: 042-651-3351