Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Hatara-Kannon-do Temple

 

     Hatara-Kannon-do Temple was first built by Matsudaira Hirotsuna sometime in the Northern and Southern Courts period (1336-1392).  He had left Mikawa Province with the Arya Avalokitesvara statue on his back and settled in Aihara Village.  He might have sought refugee from the local struggles caused by the conflict between the two courts.

     In the case of Virtual Kanesawa 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Kinzan-ji Temple, a man from Awa Province was wandering around with the Arya Avalokitesvara statue on his back.  He got to Yabeno and settled, built a hermitage, and enshrined the statue.  That was the start of Kinzan-ji Temple.

     In the case of Virtual Kanesawa 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Manzo-ji Temple, Monk Jinsei came to Miyashita Village, Kuraki County, Sagami Province from Ninna-ji Temple in Kyoto, with the Ksitigarbha statue on his back, in 1099, when the Fujiwara Clan’s regency was declining and cloistered rule or monastery administration was about to start.  In Ninna-ji Temple, Priest Shoshin became the head priest, which had been hereditary for the descendants of Emperor Uda (867-931).  Some change might have caused Jinsei to leave the temple to the east.  The Kanesawa area was supplying another good shelter for a fugitive, other than Yabeno Village, where #22 Kinzan-ji Temple used to be located.

     Anyway, "going east" was often rephrased “going down” in Japanese.  People tended to seek refuge in the eastern provinces.

     When the Tokugawa Shogunate started, the family changed their name to Matsuhira, contraindicating the same family name the Tokugawa Clan used.

     The temple was damaged when Hachioji Castle was seized in 1590, and was renewed in 1596.  It burned down in 1848, and was rebuilt soon.  It was destroyed in a typhoon in 1880, and was reconstructed in 1915.

Address: 4394 Aiharamachi, Machida, Tokyo 194-0211