Virtual Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Fukuzen-in Temple

 

     A man whose posthumous name was Tsuen (?-1460) built a hermitage.  Reiko (?-1532) changed it into a temple in 1521.  It is unknown whether it was Tsuen or Reiko who named the hermitage or temple Fukuzen-in first.  Reishun revived it in 1599.

     The general drought happened across Japan, starting from March, 1459.  It ended in September, 1459. The drought continued in smaller scale until May, 1460.  It is unknown whether Tsuen built the hermitage before the drought or in the middle of it.

     Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519) came from Kyoto to Suruga Province in 1469 to make a Warring-States-Period hero, and actually carried out his plan.  He occupied Izu Province first and then Sagami Province.  After Shinkuro's death in 1519, Shinkuro's son, Ujitsuna (1487-1541) continued the realization of the plan.  He first invaded Musashi Province through its southwestern corner.  In 1523, Ujitsuna changed his family name from Ise to Hojo, employing the brand name in the Kanto Region.  As a part of his branding strategy, he also built big temples and shrines.  People followed what the top did, and they built small temples and shrines.  Reiko might have been one of them.

     In 1590, the Later Hojo Clan collapsed.  When Hachioji Castle fell, most of Hachioji samurai and locals killed themselves by the sword or by throwing themselves into the nearby waterfall, Goshuden Fall.  It was said that the death toll rose to 3,000, and that the stream turned red for 3 days.  When Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved to Edo next year, he organized the Hachioji Corps of the Thousand with the ex-vassals of the Takeda Clan, which had been destroyed in 1582.  In other words, Ieyasu fulfilled the void of the 3,000 with them.  Hachioji became something like a colony of the remnant of the Takeda Clan.  It is unknown whether Reishun was  a survivor of the 3,000 or a newcomer from Kai Province.

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