Virtual Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Enjo-ji Temple

 

     Mitsuzo-in Hermitage was built by Priest En'ei at Hongo, Toshima County, Musashi Province, in 1581.  Monk Hosen (?-1620) changed it a temple and renamed it Enjo-ji.  After the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, which destroyed more than 60 percent of the city of Edo, the temple was moved to its present place.  Hongo was one of the 3 origins of the great fire.  The precincts have the grave of Oshichi, who was supposed to be an arsonist.

     The Takeda Clan, who ruled Kai and Shinano Provinces, destroyed the Imagawa Clan in 1568 and occupied Suruga Province when the Later Hojo Clan ruled Izu, Sagami, and Musashi Provinces.  The conflict over the border between Suruga and Izu Provinces became tense.  In November, 1579, Hojo Ujimasa (1539-1590) started constructing a naval port, Omosu, in the west coast of Izu Peninsula.  In March, 1580, the two armies confronted each other across Kise and Kano Rivers.  On the 15th, the two navies clashed against each other off the Omosu Port.  They fought the largest naval battle ever in the Suruga Bay.  Kajiwara Kagemune, who was from Kii Province, led the navy of the Later Hojo Clan, supported by the local samurai: Shimizu Yasuhide (1532-1591), Tominaga Masaie, and Yamamoto Masatsugu.  He made a sortie of 10 atakebune, warships with 50 oars each, and fought in his favor against the Takeda Navy, which had only small or medium-sized sekibune, destroyer boats.  Mukai Masashige (1556-1624), the general of the Takeda Navy, whose father was from Ise Province, maneuvered his boats tactically and brought the battle to a draw at sunset.

     In land battles, the Takeda Clan was superior in Kozuke and Shimotsuke Provinces in the northern part of the Kanto Region.  All in all, Mitsuzo-in Hermitage was built when the endurance of the samurai of the Later Hojo Clan was being put to the test.

     Kajiwara Kagemune was effectively a Fleet Admiral of Hojo Navy, although he was not one of native Izu sea people.  He was from Arida County, Kii Province, and used to be a sea trader.  In one document, he was even mentioned as a pirate.

     Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571) permitted him trading between Kii and Sagami Provinces and virtually hired him as a kind of guest samurai.  Kagemune was said to have brought the first atakebune warship to the Kanto Region.  Only Kii Province, which was abundant in woods, could supply atakebune in the 16th century.

     The Hojo Clan left some documents and records.  Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571) wrote to Kagemune asking him to stay in Izu Province for the maritime defense there.  When the Later Hojo Clan fought against the Satomi Clan in Kazusa Province, it was recorded that Kii people played an active part in a sea battle.  Kagemune also signed many trading documents and contracts published by the Later Hojo Clan along with Ando Ryosei, an old vassal of the clan.

     In Ancient Japan, the term “Eastern Provinces” meant those east to the Suzuka Mountain Range.  The Mukai Family used to live at the east foot of the mountain range.  It is not clear how and when the family moved to a sea shore and mastered sea battles.

     In the 15th century, the family came to work and fight for the Kitabatake Clan, the ruler in Ise Province.  It is privately recorded that, in 1505, Mukai Tadatsuna (1488-1553) fought against Hojo Soun (1432-1519) for the Kitabatake Clan.  He died at an ocean village, Tashigara, Watarai County, Ise Province.  His son, Masashige (1519-1579), moved to Suruga Province to be a vassal of the Imagawa Clan, the ruler of the province, in the late 1550’s while other family members stayed in the southern part of Ise Province.

     In 1550’s, Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-1560) was busy building his navy to support his expedition to Kyoto.  In 1558, he also recruited Itami Yasunao (1522-1596) as a navy samurai, who was born in Itami, Settsu Province, as a son of the lord of Itami Castle, Motosuke (?-1529).  Motosuke was killed in defending his castle, involved in the internal fightings within the Miyoshi Clan.  Yasunao had traveled around the provinces, seeking employment as a samurai, under the protection of Mano Tokiaki, a vassal of his late father and the maternal grandfather of himself.

     Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-1560) was killed on his expedition to Kyoto, and his son, Ujizane (1538-1614), succeeded him.  Ujizane, however, was defeated by Takeda Shingen (1521-1573) and was driven out of Suruga Province in 1568.  In 1572, Mukai Masashige (1519-1579) was re-employed by the Takeda Clan.

     Almost at the same time, in 1571, Ohama Kagetaka (1540-1597), who had been driven out of Shima Province by Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600), was employed by the Takeda Clan, too.  It was under the command of Kagetaka that Masashige operated as a member of the Takeda Navy

     Masashige’s brilliant naval operation was recorded in 1577.  Kajiwara Kagemune, who was commanding Izu Navy under the Later Hojo Clan, attacked Kambara Castle and other castles in the eastern part of Suruga Province.  Kambara Castle had been seized by the Later Hojo Clan from the Imagawa Clan in 1568, but, in the same year, had been captured by the Takeda Clan, but had been re-captured by the Later Hojo Clan in the same year.  In 1569, the castle had fallen to the Takeda Clan again.  Kokokuji Castle was located about 30-kilometer east from Kambara Castle, much nearer to the Later Hojo Clan’s domain.  Masashige defended the castle almost at the expense of his family.

     Mukai Masashige (1519-1579) was killed by Hoshino Kakuemon when the Takeda Clan was attacked by the Tokugawa Clan from the west at Mochibune Castle on September the 19th, 1579.  His elder son, Masakatsu (1537?-1579), was also killed in the battle.  His younger son, Masatsuna (1556-1624), escaped from the death as he was staying in Fukuro Castle, about 15 kilometers east.  Masatsuna’s succession was admitted by Takeda Katasuyori (1546-1582) on October the 16th in the same year.

     In 1580, Masatsuna fought against the Later Hojo Navy, which were led by Kajiwara Kagemune, in Numazu.  As the navy situation got worse for the Takeda Navy, they were ordered to give up their boats and come up ashore.  However, Masatsuna urged, “You use the word ‘up.’  But naval fightings are different from those on land, and, once my boat is captured by the enemy, my poor reputation will bring eternal disgrace to my family.”  With the words, he kept fighting until the situation got better.

     On March the 11th, 1582,  Takeda Katsuyori (1546-1582) was, however, forced into a corner to commit suicide at the foot of Mt. Temmoku, attacked by the allied forces of the Oda and Tokugawa Clans and betrayed by Kiso Yoshimasa (1540-1595), Katsuyori's brother-in-law, Anayama Nobuyuki (1541-1582), a relative of Katsuyuki’s, Oyamada Nobushige (1539-1582), and others.

     Now that Mukai Masatsuna (1556-1624) lost his lord, he became masterless samurai.  It was Honda Shigetsuna (1529-1596) who persuaded Masatsuna to be re-employed (re-re-employed, as Mukai Family) by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), whose army killed Masatsuna’s father and elder brother.  Ieyasu was busy building his own navy to face up to those of the Later Hojo Clan.

     In 1583, Mukai Masatsuna (1556-1624) successfully attacked Suzuki Danjuro (?-?), a vassal of the Later Hojo Clan’s, and won his head, although Masatusna himself was wounded by an arrow.  This exploit brought him his first certificate of military merit from Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).

     In 1584, when the Battle of Komaki and Nagakune was fought between Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), linking in with the battle, Masatsuna fought against Hideyoshi’s navy, the Kuki Navy.  Amazingly, he won a fight in Ohama Bay, Shima Province, and this victory brought him a nationwide reputation as a pirate.

     A document dated February the 14th, 1590, wrote, “Tokugawa Ieyasu took a ship, Kuni-ichi-maru (literally, the Province First; a kind of Navy Force One), which Mukai Masatsuna was taking care of, from Shimizu Port to Gamahara Port, and stayed in Nakakubo.”  It means he had been appointed as a magistrate of the lordly ship of the Tokugawa Clan.

     In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) was transferred from Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga, Kai and Shinano Provinces in Tokai and Tozan Regions to Musashi, Sagami, Awa, Kazusa, Shimousa, Hitachi, Kozuke and Shimotsuke Provinces in the Kanto Region by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  Whether it was a promotion or a demotion, Ieyasu had to accept the radical deal and took the risk of moving to unfamiliar region.  So did his vassals.

     Mukai Masatsuna (1556-1624) moved to Misaki, Miura County, Sagami Province, which lay at the eastern side of the mouth of Edo Bay.

     In 1597, Masatsuna’s son, Tadakatsu (1582-1641), started serving Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632), Ieyasu’s son and the second shogun.  Tadakatsu built his own residence at Horie, Katsushika County, Shimousa Province (near today’s Tokyo Disney Land).

     In 1665, Mukai Masaoki (?-?), one of Tadakatsu’s sons, was temporarily working in Sunpu Castle in shifts.  He visited the vestige of Mochibune Castle, recalled his great-grandfather, Masashige (1519-1579), and built a memorial stone monument on September the 19th, the anniversary of Tokugawa’s killing of Masashige.

     A guide book pointed out that the sceneries around the 2 temples were close.  The Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Kiyomizu-dera Temple is located in the hills of Harima Province.  Although Enjo-ji Temple is located in a peaceful, quiet residential area, it is still right in the middle of Tokyo.  The 2 sceneries today are incomparable.

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