Virtual Yamanote 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Shinjo-in Temple

 

      Shinjo-in Temple was founded by Priest Seishin (?-1647) in 1598 where the Ushigome Gate of Edo castle was later built.  When the gate was built, the temple was moved to its present place.  The main deity is the Arya Avalokiteshvara statue, which was the guardian Buddhist image of Murakami Yoshikiyo (1501-1573).  Who was Priest Seishin?  And why did he have Yoshikiyo’s guardian image?

     It was in the Warring States Period.  The Murakami family used to live as samurais in Shinano Province before the Takeda Clan invaded the province.  Murakami Yoshikiyo and his son, Kunikiyo (1546-1592), flew north to Echigo Province with their family members and followers, and came to fight for Nagao Terutora(1530-1578) in 1553.  From 1561 on, Terutora intruded into the Kanto Region to fight against the Later Hojo Clan.  One of the Murakami Family members, Narikiyo, was despatched to the Kururi Castle as a kind of a liaison officer between Terutora and the Satomi Clan.  He seemed to have brought Yoshikiyo’s guardian image with him.

     Narikiyo committed suicide when the castle fell to the Later Hojo Clan in 1564.  His 2 young children were going to be stabbed to death at the age of 5 and 3.  One of his followers saved the 2 young children, saying, “The lineage of our leader shouldn’t be extinct.”  He flew with the statue, and protected the 2 boys and the statue in the temple.  Later he became a monk with his priest name Seishin.  When Narikiyo's younger boy grew up, he soon served under Satomi Yoshihiro (1530-1578) to fight for the Satomi Clan against the Later Hojo Clan.  The elder brother hesitated over the service for the time being.  He was living as a masterless samurai.  He was called by Yoshihiro several times, and finally became a vassal of his.  Why did he waver?

The statue was being kept in the temple, and so was Seishin.  Why didn’t he return to secular life and make samurai again?

     In 1577, the Satomi Clan was forced to make peace with the Later Hojo Clan.  In 1590, the Later Hojo Clan surrendered to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), and almost the whole of Japan was ruled by him.  The Satomi Clan survived, and so might the 2 sons of Narikiyo.

     Priest Seishin moved with the statue and founded Shinjo-in Temple in 1598.  In 1614, Satomi Tadayoshi (1594-1622), the last head of the clan, was shunted from Awa Province to Kurayoshi, Hoki Province, with his income reduced to less than one thirtieth.  It is unknown if the 2 sons of Narikiyo or their children followed Tadayoshi.  After witnessing those stories, Priest Seishin died in Shinjo-in Temple in 1647, when Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), the third shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was reigning steadily over Japan.  83 years after his rescue of 2 young children!  How old had he been when Narikiyo had died?  He himself must have been no more than a boy.  He might have been a son of Narikiyo’s follower, who himself had committed suicide.  It must have been the father who said to his son, “The lineage of our leader shouldn’t be extinct.”  It is now understandable why the elder son of Narikiyo wavered over the service as samurai.  He could have been old enough to witness and understand the tragedies caused by the fall of the castle.  And I think I can understand why Seishin didn’t return to secular life and make samurai again.  He had had enough.

The temple’s Arya Avalokiteshvara statue has a nickname, the Web-and-Flow-of-Tide Avalokiteshvara Statue, as its pedestal becomes dry and wet according to the web and flow of tide accordingly.

     Shinjo-in Temple is also the #18 member temple of the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 2 Chome-7-8 Wakaba, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0011

Phone: 03-3351-7281