Virtual Buso 48 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Chotoku-ji Temple

 

     In the 1520's, Nakazato Heijuro and Hozan Ryocho were living in Shinano Province, which was located to the west of Kai Province.  In Kai Province, Takeda Nobutora (1494-1574) unified the Takeda Family in 1508.  He unified Kai Province in 1522, and started invading Shinano Province, which was still in the age of rival chiefs.  Heijuro and Ryocho had to make the ultimate choice between one of Shinano local chiefs and Nobutora, who was not so popular even among Kai local samurai and who was later dismissed by his own son.  Anyway, to the east of Kai Province, in Sagami Province, Ise Shinkuro (1456-1519) was realizing his Warring-States-Period dream.

     Shinkuro moved from Kyoto to Suruga Province to make a Warring-States-Period hero.  In 1493, he invaded Izu Province and made it his own territory, getting independent from the Imagawa Clan in Suruga Province. Since then, he moved eastward and seized Sagami Province by the end of 1510’s.  Even before the unification of the province, Shinkuro was capturing Musashi Province castle by castle.  His son, Ujitsuma (1487-1541), was based in Odawara Castle.  In 1518, Ujitsuna succeeded Shinkuro.

     In 1523, Ujitsuna changed his family name to Hojo, a brand name in the Kanto Region.  To the eyes of Heijuro and Ryocho, the Later Hojo Clan looked dazzling.

     In 1524, Nobutora committed an act of aggression on the Okumimata area in Aiko County, Sagami Province.  The area was one of the mountainous areas along the border between the 2 provinces.  In 1525, Nobutora tried to seize Tsukui Castle there.  Since then, the two armies confronted each other along the border.

     Heijuro and Ryocho used a chance, escaped to the territory of the Later Hojo Clan, and excused themselves for switching sides for praying for the comfort of the dead in the other world.

     Ryocho built a hermitage at the foot of a cliff, and Heijuro cultivated the wilderness around the hermitage.  Ryocho’ son, Kogan, and grand son, Zenryo, kept the hermitage.  Heijuro’s offsprings kept calling themselves Heijuro and pursued their Warring-States-Period dream, which ultimately didn’t come true.

     In the meantime, the Later Hojo Clan was destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) in 1590.  The Toyotomi Clan was destroyed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) in 1615.  A Warring-States-Period frenzy was gone, and the Pax Tokugawa came.

     The Nakayama Family became a village head from generation to generation throughout the Edo Period and their descendants still live in the area.  The hermitage was buried by a landslip, and was rebuilt in its present place.  

     2 centuries later, the Kanto Region had another frenzy, whose evidence Chotoku-ji Temple still keeps:  The precincts have a stone statue, one of Tokuhon Nianfo Statues.

     Monk Tokuhon (1758-1818) was born in Hidaka County, Kii Province.  At the age of 18, he stopped lying even at night.  At the age of 27, he became a monk and practiced Mokujiki or grain avoidance.  In 1814, he visited Edo, and then carried out enlightenment activities around the Kanto Region.  He stroke a gong and a wooden gong alternately and chanted very loud.  His chanting style became a fad.  Building a stone statue with his handwriting carved became trendy.  Mtasumoto City in Nagano Prefecture alone has 73 of them.  Nagano Prefecture has 181 in total.  In Kanagawa prefecture, Hiratsuka City has 28, and Sagamihara City has 14.  Kanagawa Prefecture may have more than 150 in total.  In the 1820’s, the Bakumatsu (the-end-of-the-Tokugawa-Shogunate) heroes were born one after another.  People might have been waiting for the next frenzy, modernization.

Address: 756 Oshima, Midori Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0135

Phone: 042-761-9594