Virtual Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

     The Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in 1716 as the 5th oldest 33 Kannon Pilgrimage around Edo.  Unlike the Olda Edo and Edo Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimages, the Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was very regional; the member temples were distributed only through eastern districts of Edo.  It means they were in a working-class neighborhood.  The pilgrimage was mentioned in the Edo Powdered Gold, the Sequel, which was published in 1835 by Kikuoka Senryo (16801-747), and in the Annual Events of East Capital, which was written and compiled by Saito Gesshin (1804-1878),  which was illustrated by Hasegawa Settan (1778-1843) and his son, Settei (1813-1882), and which was published in 1838.

     How modern was it just 8 years after the organization of the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage?  Some said the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage had come down since earlier times.  Then, how old could the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage be?  As its member temples were arranged from the estuary of the Ara, Old Tone, and Old Watarase Rivers to the eastern shore of Edo Bay in a semicircle around Edo Castle, it could have been after the construction of the castle by Ota Sukenaga (1432-1486) in 1457.