Virtual Aduma 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Gokuraku-ji Temple

 

     Gokuraku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Fusei in 1449, when Kanto Deputy Shogunate was revived in Kamakura by Ahikaga Shigeuji (1434-1497).

     Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), the Kanto Deputy Shogun in Kamakura, was forced to commit suicide by Ashikaga Yoshinori (1394-1441), the central shogun.  His eldest son, Yoshihisa (1423-1439) also killed himself.  Yuki Ujitomo (1402-1441) sheltered 2 of Mochiuji’s younger sons, Shun'o-maru (1430-1441) and Yasuo-maru (1431-1441), in his castle, and rebelled against Yoshinori in 1440. On April 16, 1441, his castle fell and he and his son were killed in the fighting.  Shun'o-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?” (Shun'o-maru)

“Who knows the future?

Our lives are to be limited today

Here away from home.” (Yasuo-maru)

     The  youngest brother, Eijuo-maru (1438-1497), survived.  His wet nurse escaped to An-yo-ji Temple in Iwamurada, Saku County, Shinano Province.  Her brother was a priest in the temple.  Oi Mochimitsu, the lord of Oi Castle near Iwamurada, protected Eijuo-maru.  As Shinano Province was a remote area compared to Yuki Castle, which was just 20 kilometers northeast of Koga, Michitsuna as well as Eijuo-maru was not involved in the Kanto politics.

     In 1449, Eijuo-maru changed his name to Shigeuji and became the 5th Kanto Deputy Shogun.  An'yo-ji Temple still keeps the bowl and tray with legs which Eijuo-maru used.

     In August, 1560, a deluge hit the southern part of the Kanto Region, and all the buildings of Hosho-ji Temple were washed away.  It was in May, 1562, that Priest Hoin rebuilt the temple.

     In the first half of the 18th century, the town of Edo was hit by floods almost every 2 years.  All the older documents were washed away, but the precincts still have some itabi.  The oldest one is dated 1271.  It is nearly 2 centuries older than the foundation of the temple.  The precincts must have been a holy place since the birth of samurai in the Kanto Region.

Address: 2 Chome-25-21 Horikiri, Katsushika, Tokyo 124-0006

Phone: 03-3697-3429