Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 An’yo-ji Temple

 

     An’yo-ji Temple was founded by Ennin (794-864) in 859.  Priest Sonkai revived the temple in 1296 under a royal command.  The temple was the shrine temple of the Musashi General Shrine.  When a newly appointed governor arrived in the province to which he was appointed to work, he was to visit all the shrines in the province.  To make such a long journey or pilgrimage short, they built a general shrine near the provincial capital.  Reviving the shrine temple of a general shrine meant to show respect to the nominal ancient royal centralized government system.

     Who wanted to show the respect for what reason?

     On April 22, 1293, Taira Yoritsuna (1241-1293), the Butler of the Hojo Clan, was killed by his lord, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311) in the chaos caused by the Kamakura Earthquake, which itself killed 23,024 people.  Sadatoki replaced Yoritsuna with Hojo Munekata (1278-1305), who belonged to a branch family of the Hojo Clan.  However, Munekata was suspected of having an ambition to become the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate and killed by Sadatoki.  Munekata’s child  was put in a cage and was sank in the sea.

     The temple was revived on one of those days when Sadatoki was trying to revive the power of the head family of the Hojo Clan.  Sadatoki might have asked Emperor Go-Fukakusa (1243-1304) to issue the command to secure the bond between the Emperor and himself.

     Actually, Sadatoki had invited the 6th son of the Emperor, Prince Hisaaki (1276-1328), as the 8th shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate to replace the 7th shogun, Prince Koreyasu (1264-1326), who was born in Kamakura as the son of the 6th shogun, Prince Munetaka (1242-1274).

     The Emperor started Jimyoin-to, the pro-samurai royal branch family line.  Sadatoki’s efforts to strengthen his personal tie with the Emperor produced the pro-samurai faction within the Royal family members.  Years later, the faction, ironically enough, supported the Ashikaga Clan to establish the Ashikaga Shogunate, replacing the Kamakura Shogunate, which was actually ruled by the Hojo Clan.

     The temple enshrines the wooden statue of Ryogen (912-985).  His statue is the most popular among those of priests, and  we have 35 of them nationwide.

Address: 1 Chome−17−10 Honmachi, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0027

Phone: 042-361-2248