I have virtually walked the Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, in the Tama Estuary, and the Quasi-Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, in the middle reaches of the Tama River, and am going to virtually visit the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage along the upper stream of the river next.
The Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in March, 1933. In that year, on January 30, the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg, and, on March 27, Japan announced it would leave the League of Nations, following the Manchurian Incident of 1931, the establishment of Manchukuo, and the Lytton Report to the League of Nations condemning Japan's actions. Militarism was fast approaching when the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized.
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Jufuku-ji Temple
Jufuku-ji Temple is also the Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4.
According to oral tradition, there used to live a mountain hermit, a sennin in Japanese, in the ravine west of Suga Village, training himself in mountain asceticism. The valley came to be called Sengoku, namely Sennin Ravine.
The foundation of Jufuku-ji Temple has 2 stories.
One story starts with saying that the temple was founded by Prince Shotoku (574-622) in 598. Since then, many people have visited the temple, and, in 1179, they even started copying the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra by hand. Since then, the project has been undertaken for generations. The participants included even historic figures such as Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) and Benkei (?-1189). Before it was completed, some volumes got lost, and the rest was finally filled with printed volumes in 1370’s. Those who contributed the printed volumes included Koide Shigeoki (1663-1696), the 4th lord of the Toki Domain, Izumi Province.
The other story starts by talking about Minamoto Yoshiie(1039-1106).
Abe Yoriyoshi (?-1057), the chief of captive northern aliens in Mutsu Province, a part of Northeastern Japan, stalled taxes to the Imperial Court. Yoshiie's father, Yoriyoshi (988-1075), started suppressing the Abe Clan, in 1051. Yoshiie was traveling from Kawachi Province to Mutsu Province. He found an auditorium in Musashi Province, and stayed there for one night. That was the predecessor of today’s Kannon-do Hall in Jofuku-ji Temple.
Both stories talk about Priest Hokei, who revived the temple in the 1380’s, transferring it from the Tiantai Sect to the Linji School of Chan Buddhism. In 1382, Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the second Kanto Deputy Shogun, presented 3 grand buildings to the temple.
Its Avalokitesvara statue is a very unique one, which treads on a green pheasant. It was in front of this statue that Benkei copied the sutra.
The gorge and hills in which mountain hermits once lived have become an amusement park, Yomiuri Land, today.
https://www.yomiuriland.com/en/
Address: 1 Chome−14−1 Sugesengoku, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0006
Phone: 044-944-3212
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Choson-ji Temple
Choson-ji Temple was founded by Priest Nanju (?-1554). It is unknown who Nanju was.
In 1551, Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), the 3rd head of the Later Hojo Clan, took Hirai Castle in Kozuke Province from Uesugi Norimasa (1523-1579), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogun. The Later Hojo Clan had unified Sagami Province in the first 2 generations, and Ujiyasu was seeking to achieve hegemony in the Kanto Region.
Castle by castle, Ujiyasu pushed the front line eastward, and finally drove Norimasa away to Echigo Province in January, 1552. Yet, he still had to fight against the Utsunomiya Clan in Shimotsuke Province, the Satake Clan in Hitachi Province, and the Satomi Clan in Awa Province.
Presumably Nanju founded Choson-ji Temple after the front line had passed the area to the east.
Address: 3 Chome-4-12 Sugekitaura, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0008
Phone: 044-944-4927
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Saiko-ji Temple
Hase-zan Shoten-in Saiko-ji Temple used to be called just Shoten-in, which was a training center for Japanese mountain ascetics. It can date back at least to 1427. Priest Benjo (?-1673) transferred the temple to the Tiantai Sect. Benjo was the 57th head priest of Shindai-ji Temple.
The graveyard has 3 old itabi.
The oldest itabi was built sometime between 1342 and 1345. Ko Morofuyu (?-1351) assumed the role of the Kanto Butler of the Ashikaga Shogunate and started suppressing the Southern-Court samurai in the Kanto Region in 1338, and brought the region under control by 1343. The samurai buried under the itabi might have been killed in one of the related battles.
The second oldest one was built sometime between 1492 and 1501, and the newest one was built sometime between 1504 and 1521.
In 1488, the full-scale military conflict between the Yamauchi-Uesugi and Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clans started. The Uesugi Clan at large had exclusively produced the Regents of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate. By 1480’s, their power had exceeded the Kanto Deputy Shogun. The hegemony they had achieved, ironically enough, split the clan amongst themselves. To make the matter more complicated, Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519) invaded Izu Province to become a Warring-States-Period hero in 1493. By that time, the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Clan became inferior to the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Clan, and invited Shinkuro to Sagami and Musashi Provinces to fight together. In 1504, even the Imagawa Clan in Suruga Province entered the war, and the rest is history. The newer two were built, in short, at the beginning of the Warring States Period.
Kondo Isami (1834-1868) was born in Kamiishiwara Village, Musashi Province. He fought for the Tokugawa Shogunate, and killed many loyalists during the Meiji Restoration Period. After the collapse of the shogunate, Isami was accused of the murder of Sakamoto Ryoma (1835-1867) and was beheaded on May 17, 1868. After his execution, his headless body was brought over to Ryugenji Temple at today’s Osawa, Mitaka City, Tokyo Prefecture, by his nephew, Miyagawa Yugoro (1851-1933), and was buried there with his family. His head was exposed to the public in Kyoto and was buried in Hozo-ji Temple at Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. In Saiko-ji Temple, his cenotaph sitting image was built.
Address: 1 Chome−28−3 Kamiishiwara, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0035
Phone: 042-482-3320
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Keigen-ji Temple
Edo Shigenaga founded Tofuku-ji Temple in March, 1186, where Momiji-yama Hill was built in the Edo Castle later.
In 1451, Edo Shigekado was taken in by the wicked design of Ota Dokan (1432-1486), and was deceived to move the temple to where it is called Seijo today. As it burned down, the Edo Family removed the temple to Kitami. On July 12, 1468, a deluge hit the area, and the temple was rebuilt in its present place.
In 1540, Priest Kuyo transferred the temple from the Tiantai Sect to the Pure Land Sect, and renamed it Keigen-ji.
Edo Katsutada (1568-1628) worked and fought for the Later Hojo Clan, and, after the collapse of the clan in 1590, he was employed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). As Ieyasu moved to Edo Castle, Katsusada avoided using the family name Edo and started calling his family Kitami. He was appointed as a magistrate in Sakai in 1618, died in office on December 26, 1628, and was buried in Nanshu-ji Temple there.
Kitami Katsutada also presented his spear to the temple on August 19, 1626, about 1 year and 4 months before his death. The Edo Family had first worked and fought for the Kita Clan. As the Kita Clan had dumped the Kanto Deputy Shogunate for the Later Hojo clan, so had the Edo Family. After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan, Katsutada worked for Tokugawa Ieyasu, and, after Ieyasu's death, worked for Ieyasu’s son, Hidetada (1579-1632). After struggling to survive for decades, peace reigned in the country and over the Edo (Kitami) Family.
The precincts have an old itabi dated August, 1333. It’s unreadable whose itabi it is, but, in 1331, Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) raised an army to overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate, only to be exiled to Oki Island. In 1333, he escaped from the island, recovered his power, and finally destroyed the shogunate within the year. The itabi was built when the military situation was changing suddenly and rapidly. It is unknown which side the builder belonged to, and it is also unknowable whether it was built before his death or after, whether he had a feeling that he would be killed in one of coming battles, or if his family were mourning over his death.
Address: 4 Chome-17-1 Kitami, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0067
Phone: 03-3416-1221
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 An’yo-ji Temple
An’yo-ji Temple was founded by Ennin (794-864) in 859. Priest Sonkai revived the temple in 1296 under a royal command. The temple was the shrine temple of the Musashi General Shrine. When a newly appointed governor arrived in the province to which he was appointed to work, he was to visit all the shrines in the province. To make such a long journey or pilgrimage short, they built a general shrine near the provincial capital. Reviving the shrine temple of a general shrine meant to show respect to the nominal ancient royal centralized government system.
Who wanted to show respect for what reason?
On April 22, 1293, Taira Yoritsuna (1241-1293), the Butler of the Hojo Clan, was killed by his lord, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311) in the chaos caused by the Kamakura Earthquake, which itself killed 23,024 people. Sadatoki replaced Yoritsuna with Hojo Munekata (1278-1305), who belonged to a branch family of the Hojo Clan. However, Munekata was suspected of having an ambition to become the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate and was killed by Sadatoki. Munekata’s child was put in a cage and was sunk in the sea.
The temple was revived on one of those days when Sadatoki was trying to revive the power of the head family of the Hojo Clan. Sadatoki might have asked Emperor Go-Fukakusa (1243-1304) to issue the command to secure the bond between the Emperor and himself.
Actually, Sadatoki had invited the 6th son of the Emperor, Prince Hisaaki (1276-1328), as the 8th shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate to replace the 7th shogun, Prince Koreyasu (1264-1326), who was born in Kamakura as the son of the 6th shogun, Prince Munetaka (1242-1274).
The Emperor started Jimyoin-to, the pro-samurai royal branch family line. Sadatoki’s efforts to strengthen his personal tie with the Emperor produced the pro-samurai faction within the Royal family members. Years later, the faction, ironically enough, supported the Ashikaga Clan to establish the Ashikaga Shogunate, replacing the Kamakura Shogunate, which was actually ruled by the Hojo Clan.
The temple enshrines the wooden statue of Ryogen (912-985). His statue is the most popular among those of priests, and we have 35 of them nationwide.
Address: 1 Chome−17−10 Honmachi, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0027
Phone: 042-361-2248
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Kannon-ji Temple
Kannon-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kanchi. It is unknown when it was founded. The main deity is the statue of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six. The statue is said to have been carved by Ennin (794-864).
Kannon-ji Temple was revived by Priest Ryoden in 1668.
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, all the domain governments were to register their people. In 1664, the shogunate further ordered to add the information on people's religions. In 1665, the shogunate ordered the exclusion of the Nichiren Fuju-fuse School, which was a subsect of the Buddhist Nichiren Sect, from the registration. The people who had belonged to the school were forced to convert to other sects or schools. The registration system was completed in 1671.
Tightening control over people’s religions meant an opportunity for authorized Buddhist sects and schools to increase the number of their branch temples. Kannon-ji Temple was revived on one of those days. Ryoden took this opportunity, changed a small hall with a Cintamanicakra statue into a temple, and became a priest of the temple, without giving it a more decorative name.
Address: 3 Chome-20-54 Nakanoshima, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0012
Phone: 044-911-7599
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #7 Josho-ji Temple
Josho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kenchi (?-1502). Some say it was established in 1449, some others say in 1457, and the others say in 1497.
The temple burned down in February, 1520, and in April, 1624. The 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue is said to have been carved by Kasuga, a legendary Buddhist sculptor.
Kasuga is said to have worked in Kawachi Province. Legend has it that he carved Buddhist images and statues day and night. One day, the villagers noticed him carving something other than Buddhist images. It was a big crane statue. Next morning, the villagers found no one in his house, except a big bird flying to the east in the morning glow, with someone or something on its back.
So, it is unknown whether Kasuga carved the statue concerned in Kawachi, which he brought to Musashi Province on the back of the crane, or if he carved it in Musashi Province.
In the Edo Period, the Tama River used to flood about once every 6 years. One night, when it had been raining for days and nights, the river flooded and Shukugawara Village was about to be swept away. The villagers hurried to a nearby hill, and noticed a white rope stretching to them from a pine tree on the hilltop. Thanks to the rope, all the villagers evacuated. Next morning, they found a white snake at the root of the pine tree. They built a small shrine for the snake as an errand of Sarasvati, and named the tree Hanging-Rope Pine Tree. The tree has died, but you can find a picture of it drawn by Tosui in 1858.
Josho-ji Temple is also the 7th temple of the Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.
Address: 3 Chome-11-3 Shukugawara, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0021
Phone: 044-933-4678
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Taisho-ji Temple
Eiho-ji Temple used to be a shrine temple of Fudaten Shrine nearby, which was founded by 900. Fudaten literally means Cloth Plenty Heaven.
In 840, the third official history book, Nihon Koki, was compiled, which covered the years 792-833. Its volume 8 had an entry about a foreigner who washed ashore:
"In July, Autumn, 799, one man on a small boat drifted ashore in Mikawa Province. He wore full-length clothes, a loincloth, but not trousers. He covered his left shoulder with a piece of dark blue cloth, which looked like a Buddhist priest’s sash. He was about 20 years old, was about 167 centimeters tall, and had 10-centimeter-long ears. We couldn’t understand his language, nor could we identify his nationality. When Chinese people saw him, they said he was a Kunlun man. Later, he mastered Japanese, and said he was from India. He was always playing a one-string harp. His singing voice was always melancholy and sorrowful. When we checked his belongings, we found something like grass seeds. He said they were cotton seeds.”
In those days, Chinese people called those from South-East Asia Kunlun people. The man might have been blown eastward from somewhere in the South China Sea, and sailed on the Black Current as far as Mikawa Province.
According to tradition, it was a farmer along the Tama River who first succeeded in weaving cotton cloth in Japan. Accordingly, the area came to be called Chofu, namely Tax Cloth, if you believe it.
The Kunlun man taught Japanese people how to grow cotton plants, and they made it, just for a year. It was after the 16th century that Japanese people succeeded in growing cotton plants continuously. Until then, cotton cloth was luxury imported goods from China and Korea.
The oldest record of trading cotton seeds in Musashi Province dates back to 1521, and that of cotton cloth back to 1571. In 1574, Hojo Ujikuni (1541-1597) made a military rule to provide foot soldiers cotton clothes. That implies the spread of cotton cloth.
Priest Yuyo organized Eiho-ji Temple into the Shingon Sect.
It is unknown when and by whom Hosho-ji Temple was founded.
It is unknown when and by whom Fudo-in Temple was founded. Its written records list Priest Genshun (?-1590). The temple must have been founded before the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590. Its Acalanatha statue is said to have been carved by Roben (689-773), who established Todai-ji Temple in Nara.
In 1915, that is in the 4th year of the Taisho, the Eiho-ji, Hosho-ji, and Fudo-in Temples merged to form Taisho-ji Temple.
Address: 1 Chome−22−1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0021
Phone: 042-482-2370
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Zenryu-ji Temple
Oral tradition says that Zenryu-ji Temple was founded by Ennin (794-864). Priest Nissei (?-1576) transferred the temple from the Tiantai Sect to the Nichiren Sect. As it belonged to the Fuju-fuse Subsect, it was outlawed and, at least nominally, abolished in 1699 by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The subsect adheres to the idea that nothing could be received or given to those of other religions or other sects of Buddhism. Priest Nittoku revived the temple.
The precincts have Banshin-do Shrine, which enshrines 30 gods. They routinely are on day duty for a lunar-calendar month. The shrine was built by a daughter of Nakane Masamori (1588-1666), who is believed to be the manager of ninja employed and organized by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
The precincts also have Shichimen-do Shrine, which enshrines the Shichimen Goddess. Universally speaking, the goddess is either Sri-mahadevi or Sarasvati, who sits on a rock with a crown on her head. Domestically speaking, the goddess comes from Mt. Shichimen in Kai Province.
http://www.7okunoin.net/index.html
Why Shichimen Goddess is enshrined in Zenryu-ji Temple?
Nichiren was living in the hermitage in Minobu. He would often climb Mt. Minobu to look to the Boso Peninsula to recall his late father and mother.
One day in September, 1277, on his way back from the mountain, he sat on a rock to preach to his believers. A young lady was earnestly and enthusiastically listening to him.
Nanbu Sanenaga (1222-1297) and others wondered who she was, saying, “She is a stranger around here. Who is she?”
Nichiren noticed his believers became curious and said to her, “They are all wondering who you are. Why don’t you show yourself?”
Smiling, she replied, “Will you kindly give me some water?”
Nichiren picked up a pitcher and applied a drop of water on her. Instantly, she transformed herself into a dragon and said, “I am Goddess Shichimen from Mt. Shichimen. I reside in the unlucky direction of Mt. Minobu to protect and guard it. 1,500 years after Buddha’s death, I will protect and guard those who practice the Lotus Sutra and who chant the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra. I will ease their pain and give peace and contentment to them.” At that instant, she flew high away to Mt. Shichimen.
The sight moved the people there, and they came to tears with joy.
Since then till his death, Nichiren would often murmur, “I’d like to climb up Mt. Shichimen and pray to Goddess Shichimen someday.”
He couldn’t, but his most faithful apprentice, Nichiro, and Sanenaga did it for him 16 years after his death on September 19, 1297. Without any road or path, they followed the rocky ridge to Mt. Shichimen. At the top, there was a big rock. When they were taking a rest by the rock. The goddess appeared in front of them on the rock. They built a small shrine in front of the rock, and that was the start of the Mount Shichimen Inner Shrine. The shrine has made a lot of branch shrines since then. The franchise system of the goddess is fairly new in Japan, and we can trace back each history quite easily.
Address: 2474 Noborito, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0014
Phone: 044-911-2462
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Seikyo-ji Temple
Oda Tomoharu (1529-1582) used to live in Hitachi Province. For some reason, he left for Sagami Province with his mother, and was employed by the Later Hojo Clan. When Tomoharu’s descendant, Sadahisa (?-1616), was working and fighting for the clan in Hachioji Castle, whose castle lord was Hojo Ujiteru (1542-1590), he revived a Kannon-do building in Otsuka as Seikyo-ji Temple, whose main deity is the thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue, which had been carved by Unkei (?-1223).
After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590, Sadahisa and his son, Gentazaemon, stayed in Hachioji. Presumably they had some farmland in Otsuka. Later, Gentazaemon was employed by Matsudaira Tadayoshi (1580-1607), a younger brother of Tokugawa Hidetada(1579-1632), the second shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Tadayoshi died young, and Gentazaemon was employed by Tokugawa Yorifusa (1603-1661). As Yorifusa became the first lord of the Mito Domain in Hitachi Province, Gentazaimon moved with him to the province, his ancestor’s homeland, changing his name to Genzaemon for some reason.
The temple’s precincts have a salt-water pond, in which unique types of shijimi mussels inhabit. In the back of the temple, there stands a shrine, with its deity, a fragment of an iron pot which was used to produce salt. That is why the temple’s sango is Shiogama, literally Salt Pot.
Address: 378 Otsuka, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0352
Phone: 042-676-8801
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #11 Shinsho-ji Temple
Shinsho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Koi (?-1036) in the 1010’s, when the Fujiwara Clan was at the height of their prosperity in Kyoto. They had plenty of manors around the country. An archeological excavation showed there used to be Shinjihi-ji Temple, which was as big as Senso-ji Temple, in the Sekido-Village area at the time with a big village around it.
https://www.city.hino.lg.jp/shisei/profile/kokusai/note/nikki/1006606.html
The temple declined, and was revived by Raiyu (?-1297). Priest Zen’i (?-1606) revived the temple again and transferred it to the Shingon Sect.
In Japan in 1899, there were 91,077 people who had dysentery, and 23,189 died of it. It started in the Kanto Region in June. There, the number of people infected increased 9.7 times to 7,400 in July. It further increased 4.5 times to 33,493 in August. In September, 27,030, in October, 13,770, in November, 7,144, and finally came to an end in December. The epidemic repeated every summer. During those days, the Kannon-do Hall was used as an isolation hospital. In 1902, the epidemic drew to an end, and the building was burned.
Address: 1113 Ochikawa, Hino, Tokyo 191-0034
Phone: 042-591-1687
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Kannon-ji Temple
It is unknown when and by whom Kannon-ji Temple was founded. In 1844, when the temple needed repairs, the villagers formed an association to support it.
Address: 5 Chome−31−12 Sekito, Tama, Tokyo 206-0011
Phone: 042-375-7432
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Fukusho-ji Temple
Fukusho-ji Temple was founded in 1573 by Priest Eken, who communicated religious ideas with Priest Tenkai (1536-1643), who influenced the religious policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
At the top of the Temple’s death register, Nakane Masamori (1588-1666), who is believed to be the manager of ninja employed and organized by the Tokugawa Shogunate, was recorded. The precincts have his grave between those of Masamori (?-1718) and Masami (?-1766), his 3rd and 4th offsprings. Where did his 1st and 2nd offsprings, Masatomo (?-1696) and Masafuyu (?-1710), go?
Address: 5 Chome-3-1 Sugekitaura, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0008
Phone: 044-944-3426
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Ryuan-ji Temple
Ryuan-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kuyo in 1593, 3 years after the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan. It might have been founded to pray for the comfort of those who had been killed in battle, or to create a job as a priest for samurai who had become masterless and jobless.
The temple has a Ksitigarbha statue. Each family in the village enshrines the statue for a night at home in turn. Thus, it is called the one-night Ksitigarbha.
Address: 2 Chome-44-17 Shukugawara, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0021
Phone: 044-911-2365
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Ryugen-ji Temple
It is not recorded when Ryugen-ji Temple was founded. The temple has a Mahakala statue, which is said to have been carved by Saicho (767-822), and a statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of other 6 metamorphoses. The statue is said to have been carved by Ennin (794-864). It is unknown whether the foundation of the temple was contemporary with the two, or from the Medieval days.
Address: 3 Chome−11−25 Seki, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0022
Phone: 044-822-3076
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #16 Joraku-ji Temple
One oral tradition says Joraku-ji Temple was founded by Gyoki (668-749). Another says it was established by Ennin (794-864). Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841), who compiled the New Chorography on Musashi Province, turned both stories down as fantasies.
Priest Ryojun revived the temple in 1558, so the temple must have been founded by that time, presumably some generations before.
In 1546, Ashikaga Haruuji (1508-1560), the 4th Kanto Deputy Shogun in Koga, was defeated by Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), and was confined to Hatano Village, Sagami Province, in 1554. His son, Yoshiuji (1541-1583), became the 5th Kanto Deputy Shogun in Koga in 1552. He was a puppet of Ujiyasu. In 1554, his coming-of-age ceremony was held in Kasai Castle under the guardianship of Ujiyasu. In 1570, he finally moved to Koga Castle in the custody of Ujiyasu's 3rd son, Ujiteru (1542-1590). Joraku-ji Temple was revived when the ancien regime in the Kanto Region was coming to its end. It is unknown what Ryojun had in his mind. Sorrow for the past? The hope for the future? Or…..?
Address: 2117-2 Higashinaganuma, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0802
Phone: 042-377-7660
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Joen-ji Temple
It is unknown when and by whom Joen-ji Temple was founded. The Priest Ryoken (?-1679) revived it.
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, all the domain governments were to register their people. In 1664, the shogunate further ordered to add information on people's religions. The registration system was completed in 1671.
Tightening control over people’s religions meant an opportunity for authorized Buddhist sects and schools to increase the number of their branch temples. Joen-ji Temple was revived on one of those days. Ryoken took the opportunity, as Ryoden did in the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Kannon-ji Temple.
The Vajrapani statue is enshrined in the precincts. The statue was brought from Kannonkyo-ji Temple (Address: 298 Shibayama, Sambu District, Chiba 289-1619, Phone: 0479-77-0004), and is said to have been carved by Visvakarman.
The precincts also have the statue of Monk Tansho (1810-?), who was born in Utsunomiya and advocated for Kosho-nenbutsu in the area. In Kosho-nenbutsu, they loudly chant a prayer to Buddha, striking a Buddhist wooden drum. When they strike a drum, they raise a stick over their head, and strike the drum with all their might. They keep chanting for an hour. Kosho-nenbutsu’s center is Shinsho-ji Temple at Misaki, Isumi County, Chiba Prefecture. The performance was first propagated to Shindai-ji Temple in Chofu City today.
Address: 1 Chome−52−4 Shimoishiwara, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0034
Phone: 042-482-3611
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Myosho-in Temple
Tama County, Musashi Province, used to have many ancient burial mounds, which were built after the 4th century. Iruma Village had one. Kasumine Shrine used to be located at the foot of the tumulus, with Myosho-in Temple as its shrine temple. It is unknown when the shrine was founded. The temple was founded sometime between 1532 and 1558 by Priest Shukai.
Inaribo Sekizan (?-1735) ran a pawn shop in Yotsuya-Shio-machi, Edo. One day, he got a combination of 3 Buddhist images unclaimed, and thought that he would get worldly profit by enshrining the combination in a temple. He donated the statue to Myosho-in Temple in 1735.
The combination of the 3 Buddhist images became the main deity of the temple, which has Amitabha in the center, Avalokitesvara on the left, and Mahasthamaprapta on the right. They represent a very rare style: sitting with their left foot treading.
It is the temple’s thousand-armed 11-faced Ekadasamukha that is believed to have manifested itself as the god of Kasumine in Japan.
The temple was presented a thousand-armed thousand-eyed Sahasrabhuja statue in 1673.
Address: 2 Chome−１９−12 Irimacho, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0004
Phone: 03-3300-8979
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Gyokusen-ji Temple
Dairin-ji Temple was founded by Priest Jokei on the right bank of the Tama River in 634, enshrining Bhaisajyaguru and Manjusri statues. Years had passed and its buildings were ruined. Hojo Tokiyori (1227-1263), the 5th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, found the devastation on his walking tour all over the country, and financially supported rebuilding the temple. That “walking tour” part is a legend. He was such a popular statesman who built a welfare-warfare shogunate that he left many legends.
Anyway, years passed again, The temple went through the Warring States Period and the Tama River repeatedly flooded. Its Manjusri statue had gone.
Priest Son'yu (?-1551) moved Dairin-ji Temple to the left bank of the Tama River in 1504, and renamed it Gyokusen-ji Temple. The renovation was approved by Hojo Ujimasa (1538-1590) and 1 hectare of farmland was given to the temple. It was revived by Priest Nendo (?-1645), and was financially supported by a farmer called Kawai somebody-or-another.
When Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) was compiling the New Chorography on Musashi Province at the beginning of the 19th century, Ishigaya Atsukiyo (1801-1869) loaned 360-litter-rice-worth farmland to the temple. In 1837, Atsukiyo became “tsukaiban,” who carried out administrative inspections over the shogunate samurai who were working far from Edo. After Kotonobu’s death, Atsukiyo became an inspector in 1844, a magistrate of Sakai in 1849, a magistrate of Osaka in 1852, a financial magistrate of the shogunate in 1855, a magistrate of Edo in 1858.
He was unlucky. In 1858, the Ansei Purge against Imperial Loyalists started under Ii Naosuke (1815-1860), who was later assassinated by a band of samurai and ronin from the Mito Domain outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle. After the assassination, the tide of the politics reversed. Atsukiyo, who performed his duties, was dismissed from the occupation and was ordered to confine himself to his house. In September, 1864, the shogunate started the Choshu Expedition against the Mori Clan, one of the Loyalists.
The tide reversed again, and Atsukiyo was appointed to be a magistrate of the military academy in 1865. He retired in 1866. This time, he was lucky. In 1867, the Tokugawa Shogunate was overthrown, and he died a natural death in 1869.
The temple’s 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue is said to have been carved by Gyoki (668-749). Beside the statue, there stand the Nagarjuna and Vaisravana statues.
Address: 3 Chome-10-23 Higashiizumi, Komae, Tokyo 201-0014
Phone: 03-3480-2330
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Jizo-do Temple
Nothing is known about Jizo-do Temple.
If you want a temple-name card, you should ask at the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Taisho-ji Temple.
Address: 1 Chome−18 Kojimacho, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0026
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Kannon-in Temple
It is unknown when and by whom Kannon-in Temple was founded.
Address: 3 Chome−10−7 Shiraitodai, Fuchu, tokyo 183-0011
Phone: 042-361-6269
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Myokaku-ji Temple
Myokaku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Youn (?-1561), supported by Ahikaga Yoshiharu (1511-1550), the 12th shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate, who had never visited the Kanto Region.
Kato Tarozaemon revived Myokaku-ji Temple sometime between 1596 and 1611. Who was Kato Tarozaemon?
Ogasawara Mochinaga (1396-1462) participated in suppressing the Hida Revolt in 1411. In 1441, he made achievements in the Battle of Yuki and in suppressing the Kakitsu Rebellion. With those contributions for the Ashikaga Shogunate, he tried to make the head of the Ogasawara Clan, supported by Hatakeyama Mochikuni (1398-1455). Mochinaga's 3rd son, Morishige, worked and fought for the shogunate, living in Nagasaka Village near Kyoto. Morishige started calling themselves the Nagasaka Family. His 3rd son , Nobushige, was also working and fighting for the shogunate, living in Nagasaka Village. His son, Nobumasa (?-1572), for some reason, moved to Mikawa Province, and started fighting for Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (1511-1535). Nobumasa was such a good spear fighter that he was nicknamed “Bloodshed Spear.” He kept fighting for Kiyoyasu’s son, Hirotada (1526-1549), and even for his grandson, Ieyasu (1543-1616), who changed the family name to Tokugawa, and who unified Japan at the end of the Warring States Period.
Ogasawara Yasumoto (?-1573) lived in Kake Castle, and also fought for Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). He was killed in the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573. His first son, Yasutsugu, was killed in battle against the Later Hojo Clan in 1582.
In 1581, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), the then ruler of Japan, destroyed the Takeda Clan. On June 2, 1582, however, Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582), and the ex-territory of the Takeda Clan devolved into a state of anarchy. Countless revolts broke out by ex-vassals of the Takeda Clan, and the samurai who had been dispatched there by Nobunaga fled and came back to Kyoto. Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Later Hojo Clan were both seeking the territory. Yasutsugu might have been killed in one of those battles against the Later Hojo Clan.
Presumably, one of the Ogasawara Family moved to the Kanto Region, following Ieyasu, after 1590. The guardian Buddhist image of Nobumasa had been made out of agarwood and was 8 centimeters tall. The family members contained it in a 3-meter-tall Ekadasamukha statue and enshrined them in a hall which commanded a panoramic view of the Tama River, concealing the whole bloodshed there. Then arrived the Pax Tokugawa, or the Great Peace of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Ogasawara Yasukatsu (?-1641) survived and owned the right to collect tax and rule in Tanaka, Sawa, Mine Villages, Kawachi Province. In the 1740’s, Kato Tarozaemon moved to Mine Village. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate’s control, he must have migrated as a servant of the Ogasawara Family. In 1740’s, peasant uprisings frequently broke out, and the ruling classes needed practically and locally efficient managers, not idealistic and universal ones.
Of course, we can find other Kato Tarozaemon’s in history. One lived in Tsumagi village, Toki County, Mino Province, which is known for Mino ware. When the lord of Tsumagi Castle was ordered to make roof tiles for Edo Castle, this Kato Tarozaemon baked them. He is said to have been the founder of the ceramic industry in Tsumagi.
Keio University keeps a document mentioning Kato Tarozaemon dated January 16, 1690.
In the Kitainari-cho site, a piece of wood was found with the name Kato Tarozaemon written in black ink.
When the Battle of Komaki Nagakune was fought, the lord of Iwasaki Castle, Tanba Ujitsugu, was fighting for Tokugawa Ieyasu against Toyotomi Hideyosi (1536-1598). As Ujitsugu was fighting with Ieyasu in Komaki, his younger brother, Ujishige (1569-1584), was guarding the castle at the age of 15. Another Kato Tarozaemon, whose wife was the sister of Ujitsugu, was a member of the guard. Hideyoshi’s army was moving to Mikawa Province to make a surprise attack on Ieyasu’s homeland, ignoring Iwasaki Castle, which was no more than a fortress.
“To overlook them will bring eternal disgrace to us. Those in Komaki don’t know the advance of the enemy. If we fight and stop them, even if we are all to be killed in the battle, the news will reach to a liaison fortress nearby.” After letting the women and children go to Myoshin-ji Temple nearby, 239 men launched a pre-emptive strike against the enemy at 4 in the morning. At 5, a 2000-strong enemy force started attacking the main gate, and another 2000-strong besieged the back gate. Ujishige made 3 sorties, only to be killed. The fortress fell by 7. The enemy left there at 8, and when the 20-strong rescue corps arrived, they found 238 heads, including those of Ujishige’s younger brothers, Denshichiro and Shiroemon, placed side by side. Haruta Shokichi chased the enemy, and got back the head of Ujishige. Anyway, the heirs of Kato Tarozaemon inherited the name Tarozaemon ever since.
Which Kato Tarozaemon revived Myokaku-ji Temple sometime between 1596 and 1611? Or did we have another Kato Tarozaemon?
The former building for the 8-centimeter-tall 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue burned down in July, 1789. In 1796, a big faithful contributor appeared. He asked a Buddhist sculptor in Kamakura to make another Ekadasamukha statue and concealed the former one inside. Mmm, did it escape from burning down?
The precincts have an itabi, which is 1.12 meters tall and the oldest in Kawasaki City. Doshu built it on the middle day in the equinoctial week to pray for the comfort of Doshu himself in the other world before his death. Who was Doshu?
In 1455, the Kyotoku War broke out.
The Kyotoku War lasted for 28 years from 1454 till 1482. During the war, Ashikaga Shigeuji (1438-1497), the Deputy Shogun in Kamakura, relinquished Kamakura and moved to Koga in 1457. In 1458, the Muromachi Shogunate sent out another deputy shogun, Ashikaga Masatomo (1435-1491), from Kyoto for Kamakura, but he couldn’t enter Kamakura and stayed in Horikoshi, Izu Province. From then on, there were a Koga Deputy Shogun and a Horikoshi Deputy Shogun in the Kanto Region. On October 14, 1459, the 2 camps had a big battle at Ota Manor, Musashi Province. That was the start of the Warring States Period in the region.
Doshu might have had a very definite idea that he would be killed in battle before long. Whatever fate he might have had after the construction of the itabi, it is well-preserved enough to still have all the drawings, texts, and dates any itabi should have.
Myokaku-ji Temple also belongs to the Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage as the #5 temple.
Address: 2454 Yanokuchi, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0812
Phone: 042-377-6302
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Io-ji Temple
From October, 1708, to May, 1709, measles raged nationwide. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709), the 5th shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, died of it. A farmer in Omaru Village founded a temple to enshrine a statue of Bhaisajyaguru, who is the Buddha of healing and medicine. The statue is sitting and 79 centimeters tall, and has Suryaprabha and Candraprabha statues on its left and right, with the statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals surrounding the three; Kiṃbhira, Vajra, Mekhila, Antila, Anila, Santhila, Indala, Payila, Mahala, Cidala (Kimnara), Caundhula, and Vikala, which are to protect and guard Bhaisajyaguru.
The temple belonged to True Pure Land Buddhism at first, but was transferred to the Tiantai Sect by Priest Eijun in 1737.
Between the temple and the Tama River, there is a cluster of mounds.
Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) raised his army in Ikushina Shrine in Kozuke Province with 150-strong cavalry on May 8, 1333. He was to meet the 100,000-strong cavalry of the Kamakura Shogunate somewhere between Kozuke and Sagami Provinces. The shogunate had been established by the Minamoto Clan, beating down the Taira Clan, but had been controlled by the Hojo Clan, who were a branch clan of the Taira Clan, after the 4th shogun. The Nitta Family was one of the powerful branch families of the Minamoto Clan.
Yoshisada had pride in his bloodline and discontent against the Hojo Clan. When he arrived at the Tone River, the number of his cavalry increased to 7,000 strong. After crossing the river, the number jumped to 207,000. He defeated the garrisons of the Kamakura Shogunate along the Iruma River on May 11, and along the Kume River on the 12th. On the 15th, he carried out a forced crossing of the Tama River, the strategic point for both, in the face of the 100,000-strong cavalry of the shogunate. He outnumbered the shogunate, but his cavalry was not well-organized. He retreated to Horikane Village along the Iruma River.
On that night, Otawa Yoshikatsu entered the war for Yoshisada from the Miura Peninsula with 6,000-strong cavalry. At break of dawn the next day, Yoshisada and Yoshikatsu made another forced crossing with 10,000-strong cavalry at Bubai Riverbank, and defeated the shogunate’s, who were caught off guard. He finally seized and captured Kamakura on the 22nd.
After the war, he built a mound by Bubai Riverbank. The mound was one of those called Jusan Mounds, namely Thirteen Mounds. That type of mound cluster consisted of 13 mounds, usually a big one and 12 smaller ones. Those mound clusters spread across Japan from Iwate Prefecture in the north to Kagoshima Prefecture in the south. They once numbered over 300.
Some say 13 samurai were buried under a cluster. That might be the case with a couple of clusters, but it is almost unbelievable that there were more than 300 battle fields where just 13 samurai were killed. Above all, why don’t we have, say, clusters of less than 12 mounds, or more than 14 mounds?
Some others say the 13 mounds have something to do with the belief in the Thirteen Buddhas, who judge the dead certain days or years after the death: Acala after 7 days, Sakyamuni after 14 days, Manjushri after 21 days, Samantabhadra after 28 days, Ksitigarbha after 35 days, Maitreya after 42 days, Bhaisajyaguru after 49 days, Avalokitesvara after 100 days, Mahasthamaprapta after 1 year, Amitabha after 2 years, Akshobhya after 6 years, Vairocana after 12 years, and Akasagarbha after 32 years.
A folk tale tells us that they are the graves of a rat and 12 cats. Once upon a time, a monster started haunting a temple. The priest of the temple was very scared. One day, a traveler with 12 cats asked for lodging for the night. The priest told him the monster story but the traveler had no other choice. In the middle of the night, the monster appeared and the 12 cats bravely stood up against it. The battle lasted all night. At dawn, the priest and the traveler timidly and cautiously peeped outside and found a big dead rat. The traveller's 12 cats also died. The priest and the traveller built a big mound for the rat and small ones for the cats.
You can believe whichever you like.
The temple keeps a wooden bowl made with the technique of inlaying thin layers of pearl shells as a treasure. It was presented by a head of the village sometime. No more is known about the bowl.
Address: 1417 Omaru, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0801
Phone: 042-377-1568
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Hoon-ji Temple
It is unknown when and by whom Hoon-ji Temple was founded. The New Chorography on Musashi Province, which was compiled by Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) at the beginning of the 19th century, tells us that the main deity of the temple is Amitabha, but it is Acalanatha that is enshrined as its main deity today. Was there a revolution or devolution in the 2 centuries?
The 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue, which was said to have been carved by Gyoki (668-749), is enshrined in the temple.
Address: 1 Chome−47−2 Sumiyoshicho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0034
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Hosen-ji Temple
Inage Shigenari (?-1205) loved his wife so deeply that he built Gokuraku-ji Temple for her and became a Buddhist priest himself after her death in 1195.
Shigenari's aunt, Nun Sabukawa (1137-1228), was the wet nurse of Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate. Shigenari's wife was a younger sister of Hojo Masako (1157-1225), Yoritomo's wife. The strong relation with the shogunate family caught up Shigenari and his family in a fatal tragedy.
Hojo Tokimasa (1138-1215), Yoritomo's father-in-law, was appropriating the shogunate. To make himself more powerful, one day, Tokimasa framed Hatakeyama Shigetada (1164-1205), who was very influential within the shogunate.
On June 19, 1205, Shigetada left his hometown in Obusuma County, Musashi Province, with 130-strong cavalry to answer an emergency call from Kamakura. When he arrived at the Futamata River, what he faced was an army of tens of thousands strong. He realized he was trapped. Instead of retreating, he made up his mind to die with grace. It was his old friend, Adachi Kagemori (?-1248), who charged at him first.
Inage Shigenari was suspected to be Tokimasa's conspirator and was killed by Okawado Yukimoto (?-?) on June 23, and his family was destroyed. After Shigenari’s death, the temple declined.
Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) raised his army at Ikushina Shrine in Kozuke Province on May 8, 1333. He defeated the garrisons of the Kamakura Shogunate along the Iruma River on May 11, and along the Kume River on the 12th. On the 15th, he carried out a forced crossing of the Tama River, which ended in failure. He made another forced crossing the next morning and defeated the shogunate’s army. He finally seized and captured Kamakura on the 22nd. Gokuraku-ji Temple burned down in one of the battles.
About 2 centuries later, Sabota Masafusa, who was working and fighting for Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), rebuilt the temple in July, 1533, and renamed it Hosen-ji Temple. He himself carved 2 Bodhisattva statues and the statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals; Kiṃbhira, Vajra, Mekhila, Antila, Anila, Santhila, Indala, Payila, Mahala, Cidala (Kimnara), Caundhula, and Vikala for himself. Masafusa asked Priest Sonshin to maintain the temple.
In 1590, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) seized Odawara Castle, his allies, Maeda Toshiie (1538-1599) and Uesugi Kagekatsu (1555-1623), advanced from the Hokuriku Region and, on their way to Odawara Castle, burned the temple to ashes.
It was Nakane Masayuki who revived the temple, presenting some farmland to the temple in October, 1679. Who was Nakane Masayuki?
Nakane Masamori (1588-1666) was the manager of ninjas who were employed and organized by the Tokugawa Shogunate. He had 2 sons, Masatomo and Masaaki. Masatomo’s son was Masafuyu (?-1710). Presumably, Masahuyu donated to pray for the comfort of Masamori in the other world after 13 years of his death. In addition, Masafuyu’s son was Masamori (?-1718), and Masamori’s son was Masami (?-1766).
Address: 5 Chome-5-1 Sugekitaura, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0008
Phone: 044-944-3430
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Shoko-in Temple
Shoko-in Temple was founded by Priest Son’yu (?-1738), presumably in the 1730’s.
In 1728, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) imposed a heavy tax increase on peasants, from 27.6 percent to 50.0 percent. The farmers fell into financial hardship. Some sought their solution in peasant uprisings, which occurred frequently in the 1730’s, and some others might have looked for tranquility in religion. Or was the temple founded to pray for the next-world comfort of those executed for their uprisings?
Address: 3 Chome−2−11 Sumiyoshicho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0034
Phone: 042-362-7630
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Keisho-ji Temple
Keisho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Choken in 1463. Priest Genshi converted the temple to the Shingon School. What sect or school did it belong to before the conversion? Presumably, it could have belonged to Japanese mountain asceticism.
The Kyotoku War lasted for 28 years from 1454 till 1482. During the war, Ashikaga Shigeuji (1438-1497), the Kanto Deputy Shogun in Kamakura, relinquished Kamakura and moved to Koga in 1457. In 1458, the Muromachi Shogunate sent out another deputy shogun, Ashikaga Masatomo (1435-1491), from Kyoto for Kamakura, but he couldn’t enter Kamakura and stayed in Horikoshi, Izu Province. From then on, there was a Koga Deputy Shogun and a Horikoshi Deputy Shogun in the Kanto Region. On October 14th, 1459, the 2 camps had a big battle in Ota Manor, Musashi Province. That was the start of the Warring States Period in the region.
Choken started the temple on one of those days. To pray for the comfort of those who had been killed in the battles? Or to escape from this world?
There is a hill behind the temple, and the hill has a waterfall, which is called Acalanatha Fall. An Acalanatha statue is enshrined in front of the falls. There is also Hakusan-sha Shrine, which is based on mountain worship for Mt. Hakusan in Kaga Province. All in all, the area must have been a holy place since ancient times. In 1964, the hill was excavated, and more than 40 houses of the Jomon Period (from B.C. 12,000 to B.C. 200) were found. The houses were lined up in a horseshoe shape.
The precincts also have Tsurukawa Nursery School.
Address: 2177 Okuramachi, Machida, Tokyo 195-0062
Phone: 042-735-5469
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Ensho-ji Temple
It is unknown when and by whom Ensho-ji Temple was founded. It was revived by Priest Gakutetsu in 1587.
What was happening in the 1580’s?
In 1581, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), the then ruler of Japan, destroyed the Takeda Clan. On June 2nd, 1582, however, Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582), and the ex-territory of the Takeda Clan devolved into a state of anarchy. There broke out countless revolts by ex-vassals of the Takeda Clan, and the samurai who had been dispatched there by Nobunaga fled and came back to Kyoto. Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Later Hojo Clan were both seeking the territory.
Gakutetsu might have sought shelter from this hell scene.
An 8 centimeter-tall Siddhartha statue, which was presented by the daughter of Katayama Ienobu, who claimed to belong to the Minamoto Clan. There were many Katayama Families in Japan. The Katayama Family who claimed to belong to the Minamoto Clan and who produced a large number of Ie-something or Something-nobu was that of Tanba Province. Was the daughter married to someone in Musashi Province with her guardian Buddhist image, which was said to have been carved by an Indian Buddhist sculptor at the age of 16?
The precincts have a pond, which used to be filled with water till the 18th century.
The pond produced a folk tale:
Omaru Village had an annual festival to pray for a good harvest. They used 3 wooden lion heads for the festival, and kept them in the temple’s mud-walled storehouse. One summer, they had a long dry weather. One day, the priest found the pond empty, which had been filled with water in the previous evening. That mystery happened for several nights. The priest found it strange, and watched the pond at night. At dawn, one of the 3 lion heads flew out of the storehouse to the pond, and started gulping the water up. The priest called other people in the temple. They held the lion's head down and pulled out its tongue with pincers. After that, the pond had never dried up until the 19th century. Due to modernization in Japan, they pumped out a lot of underground water, and the pond dried up. Once Confucius said that merciless politics was more ferocious than tigers. For the pond water, modernization was more ferocious than a lion head.
By the way, does a wooden lion head have a tongue?
Address: 851 Omaru, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0801
Phone: 042-377-7640
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Gyokurin-ji Temple
Gyokurin-ji Temple was founded by Priest Seian (?-1619) sometime between 1573 and 1592. Nakane Masayuki presented some farmland to the temple on October 12th, 1679. Who was Nakane Masayuki?
Nakane Masamori (1588-1666) was the manager of ninjas who were employed and organized by the Tokugawa Shogunate. He had 2 sons, Masatomo and Masaaki. Masatomo’s other name was Masayuki.
Masayuki also presented some farmland to the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Hosen-ji Temple in the same month. He might have done those presentations for his late mother. As it was Masayuki not Masamori who did the presentation, she must have died after Masamori’s death on December 2nd, 1666. Then she could have died either in 1667, in 1673, in 1677, or in 1678. A daughter of Nakane Masamori built Banshin-do Shrine for the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Zenryu-ji Temple. Were they a religious, devout, and pious family? Or… I can hardly imagine surviving years after the father’s death, who was such a capable and competent manager of ninja that even the cabinet members were afraid of him. He must have made latent and potential enemies even within the ninja society. Did his children get scared even by the sound of wind? Only their mother could have been their emotional support.
2 Chome-20-1 Sugebanba, Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0004
Phone: 044-944-3437
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Myoken-ji Temple
Myoken Shrine was founded in 760, and Myoken-ji Temple was built as its shrine temple in 1112.
Priest Dochu, one of the disciples of Priest Jianzhen (688-763), was spreading Ritsu School to eastern provinces, based in Jiko-ji Temple in Hiki County, Musashi Province. In 758, the news of the An Lushan Rebellion in Tang China was brought to Japan. In 759, Fujiwara Nakamaro (706-764) started preparing for war against Silla. Emperor Oi (733-765) ordered temples and shrines to pray for the victory against Silla. Dochu prayed to Sudrsti for 7 days and 7 nights. Sudrsti appeared on a blue dragon, and the national crisis disappeared. The Emperor ordered the Provincial Governor to build a shrine for Sudrsti, Myoken Shrine. Actually speaking, it was Empress Abe (718-770) who stopped the preparation, killing Nakamaro in 764.
Address: 1588 Momura, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0804
Phone: 042-377-6324
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Kosho-ji Temple
Kosho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Chinkai (?-1375) in 1368. Since then, the temple has witnessed the pride and sorrow of the local common people.
Ashikaga MotoUji (1340-1367) became the first Kanto Deputy Shogun in 1349 under the Ashikaga Shogunate in Kyoto. After he died of measles on April 26th, 1367, his son, Ujimitsu (1359-1398), succeeded the Kanto Deputy Shogun on May 29th. On February 25, 1368, Musashi Heiikki Revolt broke out and it lasted till June 17th. Who were Musashi Heiikki?
In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. Most 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 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 would-be-samurai families. By marriage, those would-be-samurai families composed the 7 corps on the Musashi Plateaus. Some intellectual members of the corps worked for the ancient provincial and county governments.
Then came the medieval days, the days of the samurai. The Musashi Seven Corps basically supported the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, the government by the samurai, for the samurai, and of the samurai. Some corps members climbed the social ladder through the battles to overthrow the ancient establishment, while others remained half-farmer and half-samurai. Through marriage ties, or by blood, those common half-farmer and half-samurai families formed a provincial common ring or mafia, Musashi Heiikki, or the Musashi Commonwealth.
When the Kamakura Shogunate collapsed, they banded together, jumped on the bandwagon, and luckily picked a winner, the Ashikaga Clan. During the Southern and Northern Courts Period, they banded together and picked a winner, the Ashikaga Clan. After the establishment of the Ashikaga Shogunate, there broke out the Kanno Incident in 1351, basically infighting within the Ashikaga Clan, they banded together and picked a winner. Under the first Kanto Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Motouji (1340-1367), and the first Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, Hatakeyama Kunikiyo (?-1362), they banded together and distinguished themselves in battle. When Motouji feuded with Kunikiyo, they banded together and picked a winner. Uesugi Noriaki (1306-1368) became the Regent, and the Kanto Deputy Shogunate became settled. Peace at last? The Establishment were always driven with lust for power. Once the tug-of-war among them was settled, they set their eyes on the common samurai. What the Musashi Commonwealth had achieved by distinguishing themselves in battle was deprived. The Musashi Heiikki Revolt broke out in 1368. This time, their unity was split as divide and rule was the old trick of the Establishment. Each common samurai family was induced to think of nothing but to protect their own territories and interests. To make matters worse, when the Establishment made internal strife in the Kanto Region, they involved common samurai, and the front line often moved from southwest to northeast or vice versa through Musashi Province.
Was Kosho-ji Temple founded to pray for the comfort of the victims of the suppression?
The precincts have an old itabi dated June 1st, 1414. Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439) became the 4th Kanto Deputy Shogun in 1409 at the age of 11. Uesugi Ujinori (?-1417) became the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate in 1411 in his 40’s. As Mochiuji entered the rebellious stage, he preferred Uesugi Norimoto (1392-1418). Mochiuji replaced Ujinori with Norimoto in 1415. Ujinori was forced to commit suicide on Joanuary 10th, 1417, but the aftermath led to the Eikyo War in 1438, then to the Battle of Yuki in 1440, and to the Kyotoku War (1455-1483). The Kanto Region plunged into the Warring States Period. The builder of the itabi might have died, feeling the phantom menace.
Anyway, the temple witnessed the sorrow of the local common samurai and peasants.
In 1669, the then village head presented hanging scrolls drawn by Kukai (774-835) to the temple. They were tokens that his ancestors had been rich enough to get. He might have been a descendant of those struggling local common samurai.
Address: 551 Sakahama, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0822
Phone: 042-331-1303
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Gensho-ji Temple
Gensho-ji Temple was founded by Nanjusen (?-1543) and was financially supported by Ota Morihisa (?-1579), who was an illegitimate child of Ota Suketada (?-1479).
Ota Suketada (?-1479) was a younger brother of Dokan (1432-1486), who built Edo Castle. When Suketada was staying in Ishihara Village, he got a village woman pregnant. She gave birth to a boy, and he called himself Ota Morihisa. Oral tradition says that he died in 1579 at the age of 120. That’s unbelievable. It seems his offspring called themselves Ota Morihisa for a couple of generations. When Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) was compiling the New Chorongraphy on Musashi Province at the beginning of the 19th century, Morihisa’s descendant, Zenemon, was the head of the village. Either way, Ota Morihisa might have given up being a samurai.
Address: 1 Chome−36−1 Shimoishiwara, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0034
Phone: 042-482-5246
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Koan-ji Temple
Tawara Tota (891-958) was an official of the Shimotsuke Provincial Government. He was from Tawara Village, Kawachi County, Shimotsuke Province.
In 939, Taira Masakado (?-940) tried to gain independence from Japan in the Kanto Region. Tota suppressed Masakado’s revolt, and was promoted to governor of Shimotsuke and Musashi Provinces. In Musashi Province, he built a new residence in Katamachi near the Musashi Provincial Government.
Later, the residence was transferred to Kensho-ji Temple. Why?
Tota’s 1st son, Chitsune (?-1012) lived in Oyama, Tsuga County, Shimotsuke Province, and ruled the area. The 3rd son, Chiharu, got a promotion in Kyoto thanks to the influence of Tota. He, however, was involved in the Anna Incident in 969, was arrested by Minamoto Mitsusue, and was exiled to Oki Province. The careers of Tota’s 2nd, 4th, and 5th sons, Chitoki, Chikuni, and Chigusa respectively, were not recorded.
The Anna Incident was the power game between Fujiwara Morotada (920-969), the then Second Minister, and Minamoto Takaakira (914-983), the then First Minister, in which Morotada won. In 985, Mitsusue’s eldest brother, Mitsunaka (912-997), was appointed to be the governor of Shimotsuke Province. The other elder brother of Mitsusue, Mitsumasa, and later Mitsusue himself were appointed to be the governors of Musashi Province in succession in the 990s.
Tota’s offspring were purged from the central government, and fell behind central military aristocrats such as the 3 brothers. One of the offspring of Tota might have become a Buddhist monk and lived in the old residence in Musashi Province.
Legend has it that Tawara Tota exterminated a gigantic centipede. One day, a gigantic snake lay down over the Karahashi Bridge at Seta in Omi Province. People there were too scared to cross the bridge. Tawara Tota came along, boldly stomped on the snake, and crossed the bridge. The snake changed into a human, and asked Tota a favor. The snake's family had been living in Mt. Mikami. A gigantic centipede came along there and tortured them. The snake in a human figure asked Tota to exterminate the centipede. Tota went to Mt. Mikami. He shot his first 2 arrows, but they just bounced off the centipede. He spit on the third arrow and shot it, which successfully killed the centipede. Tota was given a straw bag which never became empty and a bolt of silk which never ran out.
One day, Tawara Tota started calling himself Fujiwara Hidesato, picking up a brand name, claiming that he was a descendant of Fujiwara Fusamae (681-737). In 703, Fusamae was appointed to the inspector over the local governments in the Tokai Region. In 709, his job included inspection over the local governments in the Tozan Region, which included Mutsu and Dewa Provinces, that is, the Tohoku Region today. After the inspection, the central government drafted soldiers from these regions to suppress northern foreigners in Mutsu and Echigo Provinces. He was an expert in dealing with northern issues. Some northerners had surrendered themselves to Japan because it offered them a good deal. They had to swear obedience and offer local specialty products. In return, they were exempted from taxes and were given food and clothes. That must have looked more like a contract or trade to them. Fusamae’s fame among those subordinate northerners was still lingering among them even in Tota’s days.
Fusamae’s 5th son was Uona (721-783). Uona’s 5th son was Fujinari (776-822). Fujinari’s 1st son was Toyosawa (?-887), who stayed in Shimotsuke Province even after his father went back to Kyoto, and he worked for the provincial government there and was married to a daughter of a lower-ranking official, the Tottori Family. Toyosawa’s only son was Murao (?-932). He worked for the provincial government there and was married with a daughter of an intermediate-ranking official, the Kashima Family. Murao’s first son was Tota. So says Tota’s family tree. If the family tree is true, Fujinari was born when Uona was 55 years old. It was almost impossible in ancient times. They needed another generation between Uona and Fujinari. Tota (or his father?) miscalculated when he hooked up his family tree to that of the Fujiwara Clan.
Yet, it is also clear that Tota and his father had climbed the social ladder step by step, and Tota successfully sent out his son to the central political circles.
Tawara Tota must have been a military genius. His residence, which later became Kensho-ji Temple, was built on the commanding heights near the provincial government. Accordingly, the temple was used as a military post by historic samurai.
Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189), who militarily succeeded in overthrowing the Taira Clan, was politically denied entry into the Kamakura Shogunate. On his flight from Kamakura, he stayed in the temple for a while, and Benkei (?-1189), his vassal, copied the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra there.
Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) raised his army at Ikushima Shrine in Kozuke Province on May 8th, 1333. He defeated the garrisons of the Kamakura Shogunate along the Iruma River on May 11th, and those along the Kume River on the 12th. When he carried out a forced crossing of the Tama River on the 15th, it was Kensho-ji Temple where he placed the main body of his army. He finally seized and captured Kamakura on the 22nd, but Kensho-ji Temple burned down in one of the battles.
Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) built Ankoku-ji Temples in 66 provinces and 2 islands. In Musashi Province, he revived Kensho-ji Temple and renamed it Ko-Ankoku-zenji Temple, which was later shortened to Koan-ji, around 1340. As he became the first shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate, the temple became a military post for the Ashikaga Clan.
In 1381, Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the 2nd Kanto Deputy Shogun, pitched his camp in the temple, on his way to suppress Oyama Yoshimasa (?-1382), who claimed to be a descendant of Tawara Tota.
In 1399, Ashikaga Mitsukane (1378-1409), the 3rd Kanto Deputy Shogun, moved out of Kamakura and called up the samurai in the Kanto Region to the temple to overthrow Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the 3rd Shogun in Kyoto. He was demonstrated by Uesugi Norisada (1375-1413), the then Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, and gave up his idea.
In 1423, Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), the 4th Kanto Deputy Shogun, stayed in the temple on his way back from suppressing Oguri Mitsushige (?-1423). Who was Oguri Mitsushige?
In the Muromachi Period, whose central government was located at Muromachi in Kyoto, the Kanto area was half-independent and was governed by the regional government in Kamakura, which was ruled by the Kanto Deputy Shogun. Both the central shoguns and the Kanto deputy shoguns were from the Ashikaga Clan. The both rather rivaled each other and some Kanto deputy shoguns even tried to become central shoguns.
To check the rivaling attempts, the central shoguns appointed some powerful Kanto samurai to be directly feudatory to them.
Those directly feudal to the central shoguns were called Kyoto Servants. Although they resided within the jurisdiction of the Kanto Deputy Shogun, they neither had to serve the Kamakura office nor were they supposed to be under the command of the Kanto Deputy Shogun.
The Kyoto Servants in Kanto included the Takeda Family in Kai Province, the Yamairi, Oguri, Makabe and Daijo Families in Hitachi Province, and the Utsunomiya, Nasu, and Onodera Families in Shimotsuke Province. They often took anti-Kanto-Deputy-Shogun movements, and the central shogunate criticized them ostensibly but were actually pulling strings. That, of course, irritated the Kanto Deputy Shoguns.
In 1423, the 5th Kanto Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), finally destroyed Oguri Mitsushige and his family as a warning to the other Kyoto Servants.
In 1438, Mochiuji raised his army against the central shogunate and advanced to Koan-ji Temple from Kamakura. The shogunate in Kyoto was well-prepared. They moved the Kyoto Servants and had them seize Kamakura. Losing where to return, Mochiuji was forced into suicide, with his 3 sons left very young.
Yuki Ujitomo (1402-1441) sheltered Mochiuji’s 2 sons, Shuno-maru and Yasuo-maru, in his castle, and rebelled against Yoshinori in 1440. That was the Yuki War.
On April 16, 1441, Ujitomo's castle fell and he and his eldest son were killed in the fighting. Shuno-maru and Yasuo-maru were arrested and were to be transferred to Kyoto. But on their way, at Tarui, Mino Province, they were killed, with their death poems left:
“Summer weeds,
Their flowers blooming in Aono Field
Who knows their future?” (Shuno-maru)
“Who knows the future?
Our lives are to be limited today
Here away from home.” (Yasuo-maru)
When the Kyotoku War broke out in 1455, Ashikaga Shigeuji (1438-1497), the youngest son of Mochiuji’s and the 5th Kanto Deputy Shogun, held the temple and beat back Uesugi Fusaaki (1435-1466), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate. The war led the Kanto Region into the Warring States Period.
In the Warring States Period, the Later Hojo Clan moved from east to west, utilizing Koan-ji Temple as a foothold. Then, the Uesugi Clan pushed them back, capturing the temple. They repeated seesaw battles. Nagao Kagetora (1530-1578) made expeditions via the temple to Kamakura from Echigo Province, taking advantage of the poor harvest in the Kanto Region. The Takeda Clan demonstrated their power through the eastern half of the Kanto Region from north to south before they advanced to Kyoto. Each time front lines moved from east to west or vice versa, Koan-ji Temple was militarily put to use. This devastated the temple.
After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) was transferred to the Kanto Region, and the region became settled and basically peaceful. The Pax Tokugawa lasted till the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867. Priest Tokko revived the temple at the turn of the 17th century.
Address: 2 Chome−４−1 Katamachi, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0021
Phone: 042-361-2229
Virtual Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #34 Senju-in Temple
Senju-in Temple was revived by Oyamada Shigeyoshi at the beginning of the Kamakura Period, impressed with the main deity, the 5-centimeter-tall 1000-armed Sahasrabhuja statue.
Who was Oyamada Shigeyoshi?
Chichibu Shigehiro belonged to a branch family of the Chichibu Clan. Shigehiro’s 1st son, Shigeyoshi, lived in Hatakeyama and started calling his family Hatakeyama, and his 2nd son, Arishige, lived in Oyamada in 1171 and started calling his family Oyamada. Arishige’s 2nd son, Shigeyoshi, lived in Onoji. Arishige’s 1st son might have died young, and Shigeyoshi succeeded to the head of the Oyamada Family.
Arishige’s 3rd son, Shigenari (?-1205), lived in Inage and started calling his family Inage. Shigenari's aunt, Nun Sabukawa (1137-1228), was the wet nurse of Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate. Shigenari's wife was a younger sister of Hojo Masako (1157-1225), Yoritomo's wife.
Shigenari loved his wife so deeply that he became a Buddhist priest after her death and built a bridge over the Banyu River to pray for her comfort in the other world. Yoritomo attended the commemoration ceremony of the completion of the bridge, fell off his horse on the way back, got knocked out, and died a month later.
Strong relations with the shogunate family caught up the Inage Family in a fatal tragedy.
Hojo Tokimasa (1138-1215), Yoritomo's father-in-law, was appropriating the shogunate. Tokimasa cornered Hatakeyama Shigetada (1164-1205).
On June 19th, 1205, Shigetada left his hometown in Obusuma County, Musashi Province, with 130-strong cavalry to answer the emergency call from Kamakura. When he arrived at the Futamata River, what he faced was an army tens of thousands strong. He realized he was trapped. Instead of retreating, he made up his mind to die with grace. It was his old friend, Adachi Kagemori (?-1248), who charged at him first.
Shigenari was suspected to be Tokimasa's conspirator and was killed by Okawado Yukimoto (?-?) on June 23rd, and the Inage Family was destroyed.
Arishige’s 4th son, Shigetomo (?-1205), was entrusted with the management of the Hangaya Manor of Ise Shrine and started calling his family Hangaya. Shigetomo was also suspected to be Tokimasa's conspirator and was killed by Miura Yoshimura (?-1239) on June 23rd, and the Hangaya Family was destroyed.
Arishige’s 5th son, Yukishige was also killed on the same day by someone somewhere.
Oyamada Shigeyoshi survived, somehow or another. He rebuilt the building of Hakusan Shrine in Onoji in 1220, and founded Shinmei Shrine in Oyamada in 1223. Presumably, he revived Senju-in Temple in 1217, commemorating the 12th anniversary of his late brothers.
He was succeeded by his son, Kosaburo, became a chief priest of Yagara-Hachiman-gu Shrine, and changed his name to Kakuen-bo.
Priest Kenryu (?-?) revived the temple again in 1591, 1 year after the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan. He deplored the decline of the temple and made a direct appeal to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), who had moved to the Kanto Region on August 1st, 1590, to revive it.
Priest Eman (?-1677) renewed the temple bell in 1653, had a 36-centimeter-tall 1000-armed Sahasrabhuja statue carved, put the original Sahasrabhuja statue in it, and enshrined them in the Kannon-do Hall.
Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), the third shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, dissolved many clans to strengthen the power of the shogunate. This increased the number of masterless and jobless samurai and destabilized society. To restabilize society, he strengthened the danka system. Every citizen was supposed to belong to a Buddhist temple. Eman took full advantage of this business opportunity.
The precincts have an old itabi dated March 2nd, 1295. The itabi was dug up in the middle of the 18th century, was concealed in a sacred box and is enshrined in the main hall today.
On April 22nd, 1293, Taira Yoritsuna (1241-1293), the Butler of the Hojo Clan, was killed by his lord, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311), in the chaos caused by the Kamakura Earthquake, which itself killed 23,024 people. Sadatoki replaced Yoritsuna with Hojo Munekata (1278-1305), who belonged to a branch family of the Hojo Clan. However, Munekata was suspected of having ambitions to become the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate and was killed by Sadatoki. Munekata’s child was put in a cage and was sunk in the sea.
Was the itabi buried under the ground to conceal something or someone unfavorable for the Sadatoki's regime?
Address: 2057 Onojimachi, Machida, Tokyo 195-0064
Phone: 042-735-2151
I have virtually visited the Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and then the Tama River 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, virtually walking along the Tama River, from its estuary to its middle reaches, encountering some nameless half-samurai farmers. I'm going to virtually walk along the Asa River next, one of the tributaries of the Tama River, into the city of Hachioji, which has the Hachioji 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage is ultimately micro-tourism. All of the 33 temples are located within the medium-sized city, Hachioji.
