Virtual Aduma 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Io-ji Temple

 

     Priest Kanken founded Yakuo-ji Temple in 1407.

     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 reasoned with by Uesugi Norisada (1375-1413), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, and gave up his idea.  However, he dispatched his brothers, Mitsunao (?-1440), to Sasagawa, Asaka County, Mutsu Province, and  Mitsusada (?-1439) to Inamura, Iwase County, Mutsu Province, to put the province under his power.

     Yakuo-ji Temple burned down in the Battle of Konodai in 1538.  Priest Genshin (1465-1557) rebuilt the temple soon.  However, the temple declined after his death.

     Genshin went to Mt. Koya when he was 25 years old to become a monk.  In 1521, Mt. Koya had a big fire, and Genshin visited provinces to raise money.  One day, he suffered from beriberi in mountains and couldn't walk anymore.  A farmer helped him, and gave him an Ebisu statue and buckwheat flour.  Genshin ate buckwheat and prayed to Ebisu for 21 days.  He got better and continued to walk to raise money.  This time, he also advised farmers to grow buckwheat and merchants to trade in buckwheat.  He later settled in Yakuo-ji Temple, whose nickname became a buckwheat temple.

     Sometime between 1624 and 1644, Yakuo-ji Temple was revived and renamed Io-ji.

     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 re-stabilize society, he strengthened the danka system.  Every citizen was supposed to belong to a Buddhist temple, and every temple was to belong to a Buddhist sect or school.  That was a business opportunity for Buddhist sects and schools as well as for would-be priests.  Konren-in Temple (Address: 3 Chome-23-13 Higashikanamachi, Katsushika City, Tokyo 125-0041, Phone: 03-3607-3610) took full advantage of the opportunity and revived Io-ji Temple to widen its network.

     When the Edo River was widened in 1915, the temple was moved to its present place.

Address: 5 Chome-13 Shibamata, Katsushika, Tokyo 125-0052