Virtual Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Hoju-ji Temple

 

     Hoju-ji Temple was founded by Genshin (942-1017) at Ogu, Toshima County, Musashi Province, in 992.  In 1264, it was converted from the Tiantai Sect to Pure Land Buddhism.  Ogu was a newly developed manor in the floodplain of the Ara River.

     When Emperor Go-Fukakusa (1243-1304) retired in 1290, his son, Prince Hisaaki (1276-1328), the 8th shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, presented a stone monument to the temple.  When Go-Fukakusa died in 1304, Hisaaki presented his father's seated image with a vestment on to the temple.

     The temple was revived by Priest Hojun and was supported by Suzuki Hayato (?-1504).

     The Chokyo War was fought in the Kanto Region from 1487 to 1505 between the Yamanouchi-Uesugi and Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Families.

     Hayato might have wanted something to rely on to live through the war, or could have been killed in the Battle of Tachikawanohara on November 13th, 1504, which was the final showdown between Uesugi Akisada (1454-1510), who was the head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family, and Uesugi Tomoyoshi (1473-1518), who was the head of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family.  It didn't matter which side won.  The Chokyo War caused the Uesugi Clan to decline, left the Kanto Region further in confusion, and attracted Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519), who wanted to become a warring-states-period hero, and Nagao Yoshikage (1464-1506), who was the Guardian Samurai of Echigo Province and whose grandson, Terutora (1530-1578), became another warring-states-period hero, to the region.

     In 1753, the temple moved to Yanaka.  After the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the temple merged with Hoju-ji Temple in Shitaya and An'yo-ji Temple in Asakusa, and moved to its present place in 1935.

     Its long history and the earthquake left it unknown why Hoju-ji Temple was listed as the #33 of the Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  It is also unknown whether the temple enshrined any Avalokitesvara or not.  A guide book suggests its goeika tanka poem was similar to that of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Kegon-ji Temple.  However, Hoju-ji Temple's goeika hasn't been handed down and Kegon-ji Temple has 3 goeika.  We are in a fog.

A sign of Buddha 

Still lights the world.

A ray of hope hasn't faded away.

All the hopes in the world

Are left here,

In Tanikumi, where moss trickles drips.

I take off and leave

My satchel and coat

In Tanikumi, Mino Province

     As the last member temple of the Ueno Oji Komagome 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, Hoju-ji Temple could have been dedicated to a goeika tanka poem which was somewhat like the last 2 goeika tanka poems of Kegon-ji Temple.

     Hoju-ji Temple is also the East Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10.

Address: 4 Chome-14-8 Higashiiko, Adachi City, Tokyo 121-0801

Phone: 03-3899-1508