Virtual Western Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Daisen-ji Temple

     Priest Kodai, the 9th head priest of Daisen-ji Temple in Kofu, Kai Province, built a branch hermitage in 1626 in Imai Village, Toshima County, Musashi Province.

     Nakagawa Hisamori (1594-1653), the second lord of the Oka Domain in Bungo Province, promoted the hermitage to a temple to pray for the comfort of his late father, Hideshige (1570-1612), in the other world.

     The temple was damaged in fire in 1695, 1746, and 1790.  In 1825, the 16th priest, Shundai, started reviving it, and the revival was finished in 1840.

     In the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the temple was partially destroyed.  As the 22nd priest, Sodai, repaired it with the leftover lumber, it eventually collapsed.  In 1934, its living space was built.  On May 25th, 1945, the Bombing of Tokyo reduced its buildings, Buddhist statues, Buddhist altar fittings, and documents into ashes. 

     After World War II, the Japanese Economic Miracle cornered the temple.  In 1972, the 23rd priest, Gendai, made up his mind to move the temple.  He organized the Daisen-ji Reconstruction Committee with Ichise Yasuo its chair.  They purchased the site of Daizen-ji Temple, and moved Daisen-ji Temple and its graveyard to its present place, utilizing Daizen-Ji Temple's main hall, Donryu-do Hall.

     They repaired the old halls in 1983.  As the temple left its supporting families in its former neighborhood, they needed a guest hall.  They organized the Daisen-ji Reconstruction Committee again with Kobayashi Kuniko its chair, and built it in 1998.  The main hall still has old materials from the Edo Period. 

Address: 7 Chome−13−1 Owadamachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0045

Phone: 042-645-9558