Virtual Western Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Issho-in Temple

 

      Priest Munen built a hermitage, Issho-in, in 1600, when the Battle of Sekigahara broke out between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Clans, in which the latter overpowered the former. Accordingly, the Toyotomi Clan went down to one of the great lords from the ruler of Japan.  Munen means regret or mortification, which caused the priest to retreat into the priesthood.  What did he regret or was mortified with?

     The hermitage, which enshrined an Arya Avalokitesvara statue, was merged with Doo-ji Temple, which enshrined a thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue, and which was founded sometime between 1661 and 1673, when the family register was accomplished by forcing every family to belong to a Buddhist temple, which of course increased the number of temples.

     Doo-ji Temple has a Kannon-do Hall, which enshrines the statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of other 6 metamorphoses, and the statue of Sahasrabhuja, who has 1,000 arms.  The Arya Avalokitesvara statue is the #21 Deity of the Western Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and the Sahasrabhuja statue is the #22 deity.

     Issho-in Temple used to be the #27 member temple of the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. 

Address: 2 Chome-16-13 Takanawa, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0074

Phone: 03-3446-7676