Virtual Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Kinrin-ji Temple

 

     In 1051, Minamoto Yoriyoshi (988-1075) left Kyoto to suppress the Abe Clan in Mutsu Province.  It was in 1062 that he defeated the Abe Clan. In 1063, he returned to Kyoto in triumph.  His 1st son, Yoshiie (1039-1106), took part in the war in 1057 at the latest, and could have returned to Kyoto either in 1062 or in 1063.  On his way back, Yoshiie stopped over in Oji Village, Toshima County, Musashi Province, where he built a prayer building to get his armor blessed and to pray for the comfort of the Abe Clan's soldiers in the other world.  The building went ruin later.

     At the beginning of the Edo Period, Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632), the second shogun, ordered Priest Yuyo to revive the temple as the Tokugawa Clan claimed to be the authentic heir of Minamoto Yoshiie.  The temple grew to have 6 accommodations in the precincts: Fujimoto-bo, Hoji-bo, Mida-bo, Yakushi-bo, Ikegami-bo, and Getsuzo-bo Accommodations.

     In 1810, the Academy of the Tokugawa Shogunate started compiling provincial topographies and chronologies.  Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) participated in compiling those about Musashi and Sagami Provinces. In the New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province, Kotonobu portrayed the view from the temple, "In 1720, when Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) was the 8th Shogun, Kinrin-ji Temple was renovated.  At the edge of the southern precipice, they built a lounge building for the shogun and a stage in front of it.  From the stage, you face Mt. Asuka, overlook the Oji River running, hear dammed water babbling.  You can see green trees in Spring and red leaves in Autumn.  It is magnificent."  The organizers of the Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage identified the view with that of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Seiganto-ji Temple, which was built near Nachi Falls in the Kii Mountains.

     In 1860, the main building burned down.  Before it was rebuilt, the temple was abolished after the Meiji Restoration.

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