Virtual Yamanote 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Toen-ji Temple

 

     Tradition says that Chanoki-Inari Shrine was founded by Kukai (774-835) in where Ichigaya Kameoka Hachiman-gu Shrine is located.  If he had visited Eastern provinces, it must have been before he studied in China that he visited there.  That's quite improbable.  As he sent his pupils to eastern provinces to organize copying the sutras of esoteric Buddhism, what they did were dressed up to be what Kukai did.

     Ota Dokan (1432-1486) built Edo Castle in 1457, invited Tsurugaoka Hachiman as the western guardian god of the castle and founded Kameoka Hachiman-gu Shrine in 1479 in where the Ichigaya Gate was built later.  Toen-ji Temple was founded as its shrine temple.

     When Tokugawa Ieyasu built the outer moat of the castle, the shrine and temple were moved to the precincts of Chanoki-Inari Shrine.  Due to the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order issued in 1868 by the Meiji Restoration Government, the temple was abolished.

     Today, for some reason, Chanoki-Inari Shrine is considered to be a branch shrine of Kameoka Hachiman-gu Shrine.

     For your information, Tsurugaoka literally means Crane Hill and Kameoka namely means Turtle Hill.  In Japan, both cranes and turtles are the symbol of longevity.

Ichigaya Kameoka Hachiman-gu Shrine

Address: 15 Ichigayahachimancho, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 162-0844

Phone: 03-3260-1868