Virtual Yamanote 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Raiko-ji Temple

 

     Raiko-ji Temple was founded by Priest Ryoen (?-1660) in 1631.

     The precincts have a Kannon-do Hall which enshrines the #18 deity of the Yamanote 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, a 36 centimeters tall sitting statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, which was said to have been carved by Gyoki(668-749).

     A stone monument in the precincts mentions the temple belonged to Ushigome-Baba-Shita-machi, Ebara County, Musashi Province, although it was in Ushigome-Baba-Shita-machi, Toshima County, Musashi Province, according to the demarcation under the Tokugawa Shogunate.  The inscription on the temple bell of Seikan-ji Temple (Address: 61 Kikuicho Shinjuku City Tokyo 162-0044 Phone: 03-3203-2302), which was founded in 1630, also mentions the area belonged to Ebara County.  These descriptions show that even a generation after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, some mentioned their hometown as Ebara not Toshima.  By force of habit?  By nostalgia for the good old days?  Or by the hidden disobedience spirits against the shogunate?

Address: 46 Kikuicho, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 162-0044

Phone: 03-3203-3215