Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Kongo-in Temple

     Hojo Ujiteru (1542-1590) started building Hachioji Castle in 1571, and moved from Takigawa Castle in 1587.  As its castle town developed, Priest Shinsei founded Myoo-in Temple in Uenohara in 1576, and enshrined an Acalanatha statue.  Meanwhile, someone else enshrined the statue of Kukai nearby.

     After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) moved to Edo in 1591, and ordered Okubo Nagayasu (1545-1613) to rule Hachioji.

     Following the land rezoning by Nagayasu, Priest Kakujo merged the 2 temples, enshrined the Acalanatha and Kukai statues, and founded Kongo-in Temple in 1631.

     All the buildings were reduced to ashes in World War II.

     The Nakajima Aircraft Company made fighter aircrafts in the Musashi Plant.  As the plant was bombed by the U.S. Air Force, they built an underground plant in Hachioji, which was targeted by the air force next.  At 20:55 on August 1, 1945, an air-raid alert was issued in Hachioji City.  After 00:00 the following morning, 169 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses raided the city, dropping 1600 tons of incendiary bombs for about 2 hours.  2.9 out of 3.5 square kilometers of urban area was burned including Kongo-in Temple.  

Address: 3 9-2 Uenomachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0902

Phone: 042-622-9540