Virtual Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Kotoku-in Temple

 

     Kotoku-in Temple was founded by Priest Ryochin (?-1641) in Nibancho.  The Hatamoto samurai who were the Shogunate Guards were called Oban-gumi.  The area they lived in was called Ban-cho.  So, the temple was founded in the Second Block of Ban-cho.  The foundation of the temple itself was quite modern for Edo Townspeople.

     It was moved to Ichigaya-Tamachi in 1606, when the construction of Edo Castle's keep was finished.  Earthquakes hit Edo one after another in 1628, 1630, and 1635.  In 1635, the temple was revived by Priest Shuyu (?-1642) and was moved to Ichigaya-Yanagimachi.  On August 5th, 1910, the seasonal rain front became active, and it started raining hard.  On the 11th, a typhoon hit the Boso Peninsula.  On the 14th, another typhoon struck the Izu Peninsula and went through Yamanashi and Gunma Prefectures.  In the Kanto Region alone, the heavy rains killed 769 people, destroyed 2121 houses, and washed away 2796 houses.  The temple was moved again to its present place in the year.

     The temple’s main deity is a thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue which was carved by Sugawara Michizane (845-903) when he was shunted to Dazaifu, Kyushu.  After Michizane's death, the statue was enshrined in Senju-bo Temple in Chikuzen Province.  Matsudaira Tadamasa (1598-1645), the lord of the Fukui Domain in Echizen Province, adopted the statue, and gave it to his son, Masakatsu (1636-1693), as his personal guardian Buddhist image.  Later, Priest Shuyu looked after the statue, and brought it to Kotoku-in Temple when he was moved to the temple.

Address: 5 Chome-18-3 Kamitakada, Nakano City, Tokyo 164-0002

Phone: 03-3386-5143