Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in My Order (7)

     It isn’t clear whether the sixth wave of COVID-19 infections is over or not, but I actually visited some temples of the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     I stepped out of Higashi-Umeda Station Exit No.4, and walked through a narrow watering-hole alley east.  I went under an elevated highway.  After a couple of blocks, I found Taiyu-ji Temple on my left.

#1 Taiyu-ji Temple

Kukai (774-835) found a holy tree with fragrance in the forest where Taiyu-ji Temple is located today.  He carved Ksitigarbha and Vaisravana statues out of the wood, built a hermitage, and enshrined the statues in it.  Emperor Saga (786-842) found the story interesting and visited the statues next year.  He presented his own guardian Buddhist image, which is the thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue, the main deity of Taiyu-ji Temple.

In 843, the emperor's 12th son, Minamoto Toru (822-895), visited the hermitage, presented 8 hectares of land, built a full-scale temple, and named it Taiyu-ji as his name Toru was also pronounced Yu in the Chinese-style pronunciation.

     In the Siege of Osaka in 1615, the temple burned down.  It was revived at the turn of the 18th century.  The temple was reduced to ashes in one of 5 air raids in June, 1945.  The Sahasrabhuja statue, however, had been evacuated to Mt. Koya, and had a narrow escape from danger.

Address: 3-7 Taiyujicho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0051

Phone: 06-6311-5480

     After Taiyu-ji Temple, I made a pilgrimage in numeric order, and kept walking east.  I found Banryu-ji Temple on my left.  As the temple was closed, I made a ding-dong, and asked if I could pray to Avalokitesvara.  The priest kindly opened the door and told me they have no Avalokitesvara statue in their temple.  Where has it gone?  I, however, didn't grumble but quietly left the temple.  Some 33 Kannon Pilgrimages have lost some of their Avalokiteshvara statues in the tide of the times.

#2 Banryu-ji Temple

     Chofuku-ji Temple was founded in 1608 by Priest Jun'o.

     Chofuku-ji Temple was mentioned in a Joruri narrative song of Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), the Love Suicide at Sonezaki, which was first performed in 1703: "First, the sky grows lighter.  Birds fly to Chofuku-ji second."

     Chofuku-maru was born on January 28, 1716.  His father, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751), became the 8th shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1716.  Everybody and everything was supposed to shun using the heir’s name.  Chofuku-ji Temple changed its name to Banryu-ji.  "Banryu" means a coiled-up dragon.  That means a dragon before its flight.

     In 1834, temple buildings burned.  The temple was revived in 1849.  In 1945, the temple was pulled down to make a firebreak.  After World War II, the temple was rebuilt.  In 1966, the temple was moved to its present place.  The Yomiuri Newspaper Osaka Headquarters Building was built.

Address: 4-1 Nozakicho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0055

Phone: 06-6312-1578

     After Banryu-ji Temple, I turned west to find the #3 deity of the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, which is said to have been moved to Entsu-in Temple after the 1868 Gods and Buddhas Separation Order.  Soon, I found the temple with a beauty salon in its precincts.  I opened the door, which automatically made a ding-dong, but nobody answered.  I found a hairdresser working in the salon, but nobody answered.  I gave up and left westward, trudging and ploding.  I wasn't lucky today.

#3 Entsu-in Temple

     Entsu-in Temple was founded in 1616, a year after the Siege of Osaka in 1615, when the Toyotomi Clan was destroyed by the Tokugawa Clan.

     On July 11th, 1834, a big fire broke out in Dojima Shin-Kita-machi (today's Dojima Naka, Kita Ward).  It burned 30 blocks and 3 villages.  The fire was extinguished next morning, but Entsu-in Temple burned down.

Address: 7-8 Toganocho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0056

Phone: 06-6311-7022

     I kept walking westward, but I knew Hoju-ji Temple, the #4 member temple of the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, has moved to Suita City, a suburb of Osaka.  After a while, I found Hokai-ji Temple on my right.

#5 Hokai-ji Temple

     Toyotomi Hideyoshi started building Osaka Castle in 1583 and finished it in 1598.  He also developed its castle town.  In 1593, he gathered the Buddhist temples there in 6 areas.  Hokai-ji Temple was moved to Nishitera-machi, Tenma, when Gonsai was its priest.

If an outsider envies others' romance, that is called "hokai rinki".  The phrase "hokai" was said to have come from Hokai-ji Temple.  Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) used the phrase in his Joruri narrative song, the Love Suicide at Sonezaki: "Hokai-ji is harmful jealousy."  It is unknowable today whether his usage generated the phrase or he just quoted the phrase.  There are at least 11 Hokai-ji Temples in Japan.  If your mind and body circulates and propagates, you are in the world without difficulty or hindrance.  Such a world is called "hokai".

     Its original Avalokitesvara statue was burned down in World War II, and a new stone statue was built in the precincts.

Address: 15-2 Toganocho, Kita Ward, Osaka 530-0056

Phone: 06-6311-9085

     After Hokai-ji Temple, I continued to walk westward to find the site of Shinmei Shrine, where #3 deity was enshrined before the 1868 Gods and Buddhas Separation Order.

#3 Shinmei Shrine

     In the 9th century, where Osaka Castle is located today was the northern end of a peninsula, surrounded by the sea.  In the sea, there were some small islands.  An isle was at Nishitenma today.  Shinmei Shrine was founded on the isle by Minamoto Toru (822-895), the 12th son of Emperor Saga (786-842), enshrining the goddess of the sun.

     Isles grew bigger.  Some of them combined and formed an alluvial peninsula.  The alluvial peninsula cradled an inlet, and the inlet became Watanabe Port, which was a major port at the mouth of the Yodo River.  It means that Watanabe Port was a seaport for Kyoto, and the transshipment between sea ships and river boats was conducted in the port.  Religiously, pilgrims from Kyoto to Kumano sailed down the Yodo River, landed at the port, and took the Kumano Road from the port.

     In February, 1185, Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) assembled the navies of Watanabe, Kumano, and Iyo in Watanabe Port.  He contributed to Shinmei Shrine and prayed for his victory in the naval battle against the Taira Clan, who had evacuated to Yashima, Sanuki Province.

     Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) visited the shrine several times.  In the Edo Period, the Osaka Castle Deputy and Osaka commissioners visited the shrine annually.

     On July 11th, 1834, the shrine burned down.  In 1909, it burned down again, and was merged to Tsuyu Tenjin Shrine next year.

     I found Tsuyu Tenjin Shrine, which is popular among young couples, but not the site of Shinmei Shrine.  I was unlucky today.

Address: 2 Chome-5-36 Sonezaki, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0057

Phone: 06-6311-0895

The Site of Shinmei Shrine

Address: 1 Chome-6-6 Sonezaki, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0057