Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Zento-in Temple

     Oe Hiromoto (1148-1225) was a lower-ranking official in Kyoto, moved to Kamakura to support Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), and succeeded as a samurai.  Hiromoto’s 2nd son, Tokihiro (?-1241), started the Nagai Family in the Nagai Manor in Dewa Province.  He did well in Kamakura and Kyoto, and became a Guardian Samurai of Bingo Province.

     The Yokoyama Family was one of the Musashi Seven Corps, and was based in the Hachioji area.  The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing.  In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming.  That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms.  The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale samurai families.  By marriage, those samurai families composed 7 corps on the plateaus in the province.

     After the Yokoyama Family was destroyed in 1213, a member of the Nagai Family moved to the area and built Katayama Castle.  In 1400, Priest Kaigen, a member of the family, built a hermitage and named it Zenko-an.  At the turn of the 17th century, Priest Rintetsu (?-1617) changed it a temple and renamed it Zento-in.

     The precincts have 2 itabi, and one of them was built by Tsuchibashi Yoshisada in 1400.

     Tradition says that the temple’s 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue was presented by Mori Daizen Dayu, who is supposed to be one of the descendants of Oe Hiromoto (1148-1225).  Hiromoto’s 4th son, Suemitsu (1202-1247), was based in the Mori Manor, Aiko County, Sagami Province, and started the Mori Family.  11 generations later, the family produced Motonari (1497-1571), who became one of the most powerful warlords in Western Japan.  After Motonari's son, Takamoto (1523-1563), the heads of the clan called themselves Daizen Dayu according to the occasion.  The Mori Clan lasted for 14 generations in the Edo Period, and it was unrecorded which Daizen Dayu presented the statue.

Address: 17-19 Honcho, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0066

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