Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Chofuku-ji Temple

     Chofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Shokei (?-1625) and was revived by Priest Raiei (?-1679).  Did it decline within only half a century?

     It seems that Shokei built a hermitage for himself as a caretaker of Tosu-Kannon-do Hall on the hill at the back of Chofuku-ji Temple today.  The hall enshrined the 1,000-armed Sahasrabhuja statue.  Raiei might have changed the hermitage a temple.

     Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), the third shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, dissolved many clans to strengthen the power of the shogunate.  This increased the number of masterless and jobless samurai and destabilized society.  To restabilize the society, he strengthened the danka system.  Every citizen was supposed to belong to a Buddhist temple.  That was a business opportunity for would-be priests.  Raiei took full advantage of the opportunity.

     The temple also has an Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of other 6 metamorphoses.  The statue was one of the three that were carved by Date Tsunamune (1640-1711), who was the third lord of the Sendai Domain.  He was removed from office and placed under house arrest in Edo under the charges of public drunkenness and debauchery in 1660.  He devoted his time to the arts for half a century till his death in 1711.  He studued painting under Kano Tan’yu (1602-1674).  He also mastered calligraphy, tanka poetry, and Maki-e lacquerware.  He also learned to  forge Japanese swords.  A number of his works are on display at The Miyagi Museum of Art today.  He was a dilettante.  His replacement, however, didn’t solve anything, and the domain was to experience the Date Disturbance for a decade. 

     Chofuku-ji Temple is famous for its bush clovers.  It has about 3,000 of them in its 429 acres of garden.

Address: 2722 Kawaguchimachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 193-0801

Phone: 042-654-4418