Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage in My Order (1)

 

     In 718, Priest Tokudo, the founder of Hase-dera Temple, died.  At the entrance of the netherworld, he met the great king of the Buddhist Hall.  The king had a kind of triage crisis and complained that he had to sort too many people into hell.  “Japan has 33 Avalokitesvara precincts.  People there can reduce their penalty points by going on a pilgrimage to the precincts.”  Thus he gave Tokudo a written pledge and 33 precious seals, and sent him back to the world.  Tokudo chose 33 precincts and advised people to visit them.  People, however, didn’t believe it (as a matter of course), and the pilgrimage didn’t become popular.  He stored the seals in a stone case in Nakayama-dera Temple.  He died at the age of 80, and the pilgrimage was forgotten.  This time, what conversation did he have with the king?

     One day, Emperor Kazan (968-1008) was shutting himself up in Mt. Nachi, Kishu Province, after his abdication in 986.  The god of Kumano appeared in his dream, and advised him to revive the pilgrimage Priest Tokudo had organized.  The emperor found the 33 seals in Nakayama-dera Temple, and asked Priest Shoku (910-1007) in Enkyo-ji Temple to cooperate.  The priest recommended Priest Butsugen in Eifuku-ji Temple instead.  With Butsugen’s guide, the retired emperor went on the pilgrimage to the 33 precincts, and even composed a tanka poem for each temple.  That was the start of go-eika, Japanese tanka poem chants for pilgrims.  The 33 precincts were called the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     After Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-1192) organized the Rakuyo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the first copy of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the second copy was planned by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate and the political rival against Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and was actually organized as the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage by Minamoto Sanetomo (1192-1219), the third shogun, who was unluckily assassinated by his nephew.

   About 2 decades after the organization of the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized on March 18th, 1234.  Although some of the Kannon statues of the 34 temples were normally hidden from public view, all the Kannon statues have been displayed to the public every 12 years since 1234.  The last simultaneous display was performed in 2014, and, accordingly, the next one will be carried out in 2026.

     The number 34 was manipulated to make it 100 together with the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     Thereafter, any other Kannon pilgrimage was organized as a copy of either one of the three: the Saigoku33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, or the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage.  Awa Province, now Tokushima Prefecture, in Shikoku Island, for example, has the Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage as a copy of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Awa Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage as a copy of the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and the Awa Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage as a copy of the Chichibu 34 Kannon pilgrimage.  In all, Awa Province copied the whole manipulation.  Every and any copied Kannon pilgrimage has the location name but one: the Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, which was organized by the year of 1810.

     The Quasi-Saigoku Inage 33 Kannon Pilgrimage is located where Inage Manor used to be, which used to be managed by the Inage Family.  The founder and first head of the family was Inage Shigenari (?-1205), whose father, Oyamada Arishige (?-?), was the manager of the Oyamada Manor.  Shigenari's aunt, Nun Sabukawa (1137-1228), was the wet nurse of Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate.  Shigenari's wife was a younger sister of Hojo Masako (1157-1225), Yoritomo's wife.

     Shigenari loved his wife so deeply that he became a Buddhist priest after her death and built a bridge over the River Banyu to pray for the comfort of her in the other world.  Yoritomo attended the commemoration ceremony of the completion of the bridge, fell off his horse on the way back, got knocked out, and died a month later.

     Their strong relations with the shogunate family caught the Inage Family in a fatal tragedy.

     Hojo Tokimasa (1138-1215), Yoritomo's father-in-law, was appropriating the shogunate.  Tokimasa cornered Hatakeyama Shigetada (1164-1205) into corner.

     On June 19, 1205, Shigetada left his hometown in Obusuma County, Musashi Province, with 130-strong cavalry to answer the emergency call from Kamakura.  When he arrived at the Futamata River, what he faced was an army tens of thousands strong.  He realized he was trapped.  Instead of retreating, he made up his mind to die graciously.  It was his old friend, Adachi Kagemori (?-1248), who first charged at him.

     Inage Shigenari was suspected to be Tokimasa's conspirator and was killed by Okawado Yukimoto (?-?) on June 23, and the family was destroyed.  How short-lived the Inage Family was!  We have plenty of historic samurai heroes in books and TV dramas.  Countless historical samurai figures must have come and gone unbeknownst.

     On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred.  The earthquake caused liquefaction at Shimomachiya in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa.  The  liquefaction revealed 7 log bridge pillars, which were examined by Dr. Numata Yorisuke (1867-1934).  The bridge was presumed to be the one built by Shigenari, and was estimated to be 21 meters wide and 60 meters long.

     Inage Castle was located at the northern end of Kawasaki City.  When the main building of Joraku-ji Temple was disassembled and repaired in 1967 and 1968, an old document was found.  It said Inage Manor had 206.63 hectares of rice fields, and paid taxes of 3221.5 square meters of silk to the Fujiwara Clan.  In 1171, 55.624 hectares of rice fields were added.

     Can there be another 33 Kannon pilgrimage in the area to make it 100?

     A Kawasaki inhabitant told me that the Ginza Renoir was a nice cafe in the city and that it didn’t have a franchised cafe in Osaka.  As I like new things, I decided to visit the cafe to have a morning set meal on my first morning in the city.  As it was open at 7:30, I visited Sosan-ji Temple first, which was located near Keikyu-Kawasaki Station.

#20 Sosan-ji Temple

     Sasaki Takatsuna (1160-1214) founded Shofuku-ji Temple.  Sasaki Yasutsuna (1213-1276) presented the temple bell in 1263.  Yet, it declined.  Mamiya Nobumori made use of the precincts and built Sosan-ji Temple.

     The precincts still have the grave of Nobumori.  We have found the names of Mamiya Nobuhuyu and his great grandson, Yasutoshi.  Then, who was Nobumori?  As Nobuhuyu worked and fought for Ise Shinkuro, Nobumori could have been his son.

     Surprisingly, Sakato Shrine in Narawa Village, Moda County, Kazusa Province, had a temple bell whose inscription said that it used to belong to Shofuku-ji Temple in Kawasaki Manor, and had the name Sasaki Yasutsuna.

     Mamiya Nobumori, who was working and fighting for Ise Shinkuro (1456-1519) and his son, Hojo Ujitsuna (1487-1541), presented about 8 hectares of fields to the temple, proclaiming himself the descendant of Takatsuna, presumably to tie his family to the brand name.

     Then, who were Nobumori, Yasunobu, and Morimasa?

     East Asia, especially China, Vietnam, and Korea, has the custom of generational names.  The generation name is one of the 2 Chinese characters in a traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean given name.  The custom is called "generation name" because members of one generation share that character.  Japan didn't import that custom as it was, but an aristocratic stock or a samurai stock shared one Chinese Character for generations.  Let me call the custom hereditary or descended name.

     Japan, in other words, imported the generation name custom in a rather crooked way, as is often the case when Japan imported a custom from China.  A lord of samurai often gave his non-hereditary or descended name to his vassals, as if to make them his sworn brothers.  The vassals put the given character at the beginning of their name to show their respect to their lord.

     Then, Nobumori and Moriyori sound more like they have a master-and-servant relationship rather than a father-and-son relationship.

     Not necessarily so.  For example, Hojo Masamura (1205-1273), the 7th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, succeeded Masa from his grandfather Tokimasa (1138-1215), the first Regent.  Masamura was the 5th son of the second son of Tokimasa.

     So, Moriyoshi just wasn’t Nobumori’s first son.

     Then, who was Mamiya Yasutoshi?  He might have been named Nobu-something first if he was the son of Nobuhuyu’s first son.  Or, if he was the son of Moriyoshi, he might have been called Yori-something first.  He was so competent that Hojo Ujiyasu gave him a part of his name, Yasu, as Uji was his hereditary or descended name.  And that Nobu-something or Yori-something started calling himself Yasutoshi.  Had he called himself Nobutoshi or Yoritoshi?  Not necessarily.

     The graveyard also has the tomb of Hatano Den’emon and his family.  He was said to have participated in the Siege of Osaka in 1615 for the Toyotomi Clan against the Tokugawa Clan.  His side lost, he became a masterless samurai, and  settled in Kawasaki.  It is unknown why he chose to settle near Edo, the Tokugawa Clan’s capital.

Address: 1 Chome-4-3 Isago, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-0006

Phone: 044-222-5051

     After breakfast in the Ginza Renoir, I walked along a little bit of the Tokaido, which was a Medieval coastal route that ran from Nihonbashi in Edo to Sanjo Bridge in Kyoto, from Kawasaki toward Shinagawa.  After a couple of blocks, I turned right to Kofuku-ji Temple.

Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Kofuku-ji Temple

     Kofuku-ji Temple keeps the records of the dead with the name of Priest Ben’i, who died on February 21, 1602.  The temple might have been founded around his generation.

     Yet, the precincts have a broken itabi, which was dated 1466.  The temple grounds could have been much older than the temple itself as a holy place.

     Kofuku-ji Temple is known for performing Kosho-nenbutsu, loudly chanting a prayer to Buddha, striking a Buddhist wooden drum.   When they strike a drum, they raise a stick over their head, and strike the drum with all their might.  They keep chanting for an hour.  Kosho-nenbutsu’s center was Shinsho-ji Temple at Misaki, Isumi County, Kazusa Province.  From there, the performance was first propagated to Shindai-ji Temple in Chofu City today.  As the temple had many branch temples in Kawasaki, it spread throughout the area.

 

Address: 2-27 Miyamotocho, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-0004

Phone: 044-222-4566

     After Kofuku-ji Temple, I continued to walk toward the sea, and arrived at Inage Shrine, wondering Inage something should be located more inland.  The area where Inage Shrine is located today was a part of Kawasaki Manor but not of Inage Manor.