Virtual Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Shogen-ji Temple

 

     To save Edo from floods, Ina Tadaharu (1592-1653) first stopped the Aino River running, a bypass of the Old Tone River.  In 1621, he finished digging a canal to make the Old Tone River flow into the Watarase River, and started separating the Kinu and Kobai Rivers.  In 1629, he made the Ara River flow into the Iruma River, and the New Kinu River started running.  In 1630, the New Kobai River started running.  In 1635, he started building the Edo River and finished it in 1641.  Do you follow what I have said?  I wonder how many people understood his ultimate end.  Finally in 1654, 1 year after his death, the Tone river ran east directly to the Pacific Ocean.  After the mid 17th century, the fewer floods of the Tone River hit Edo but troubled the lowland areas along the border between Hitachi and Shimousa Provinces.

     His efforts paid.  Not only his first son, Tadakatsu (1617-1665), who actually finished the Tone River Project, but also his third son, Tadashige, was directly hired by the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Tadashige (1639-1674) was said to have founded Shogen-ji Temple in the 6th year of Kan'ei, that is in 1629, but it's just impossible.  Even his eldest brother, Takakatsu, was just 12 years old.

     The Tokugawa Shogunate ordered Kamiya Nobuyuki to collect information on the history and topography of Edo in 1810, and it was Mishima Masayuki (1780-1856) who compiled the information in 1826.  Either Nobuyuki or Masayuki might have mistaken either the founder's name or the foundation date.  If the foundation date was correct, the founder could have been Tadaharu.  If the founder was correct, the foundation date could have been not the 6th year of Kan'ei but the 6th year of Kanbun, that is in 1666.  As they wrote documents by hand, the latter type of mistake was sometimes made by editors and compilers in those days.

     In the 8th century, the Ancient Japanese Government, which was based in Nara, compiled the histories and topographies of all the provinces.  The capital of Japan moved to Kyoto then.  Even after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which was based in Edo, the cultural center of Japan was Kyoto and Osaka.  In the first half of the 19th century, the Edo culture grew.  In 1810, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to compile a book about the history and topography of Musashi Province.  Presumably, their unfinished idea was to do that about all the provinces.  Anyway, they divided Musashi Province into Edo and the other 22 counties.  The Edo Topography was, unfortunately, burned in the fire of the Imperial Palace in 1872. 

     Masayuki's grave is in Jonen-ji Temple.

     The Tone River Project was quite modern for Edo townspeople.

Address: 1 Chome-8-8 Eitai, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0034

Phone: 03-3641-1842

Jonen-ji Temple

Address: 4 Chome−18−11 Kuramae, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0051

Phone: 03-3851-1921