Virtual Sayama 33 Kannon Pilgrimag #5 Shoko-ji Temple

     In the 11th year of Shohei, or in 1356, Jigan-an Hermitage was rebuilt.  Judging from the year's name, the area belonged to the Southern Court.

     Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) raised his army in Ikushina Shrine in Kozuke Province with 150-strong cavalry on May 8, 1333.  He was to meet the 100,000-strong cavalry of the Kamakura Shogunate somewhere between Kozuke and Sagami Provinces.  The shogunate had been established by the Minamoto Clan, beating down the Taira Clan, but had been controlled by the Hojo Clan, who were the branch clan of the Taira Clan, after the 4th shogun.  The Nitta Family was one of the powerful branch families of the Minamoto Clan.

     Yoshisada had pride in his bloodline and content against the Hojo Clan.  When he arrived at Tone River, the number of his cavalry increased to 7,000 strong.  After crossing the river, the number jumped to 207,000.  He defeated the garrisons of the Kamakura Shogunate along Iruma River on May 11, and along Kume River on the 12th.  As Shoko-ji Temple was located between Iruma and Tama Rivers, it burned down in one of the battles, and it was revived under the Southern Court, for which Yoshisada fought.

     Sometime between 1504 and 1521, Shoko-ji Temple burned down again.

     Nagao Tamekage (1486-1543), the Deputy Samurai Guardian of Echigo Province, made a surprise attack on Uesugi Fusayoshi (1474-1507), the Samurai Guardian of Echigo Province, on August 2nd, 1507.  Fusayoshi fled to Nomine Castle.  Tamekage kept chasing Fusayoshi.  Fusayoshi gave up the castle, fled to Mt. Matsuno, and finally killed himself at Amamizu Pass on his flight to the Kanto Region, where his brother, Uesugi Akisada (1454-1510), was the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate.

     To revenge, Akisada invaded Echigo Province with 60 thousand cavalry and ousted Tamekage to Sado Province in July, 1509.  Akisada’s triumph, however, aroused a sense of crisis among local samurai in the surrounding provinces such as Sado and Shinano as well as in Echigo Province.  They flocked to Echigo, and when their number reached 60 thousand, Akisada started retreating.  However, Tamekage and others caught up with Akisada in Nagamorihara in Echigo Province, and killed Akisada.  That decreased the military power of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family.  To make the matter worse, Norifusa (1467-1525) and Akizane (?1515) started fighting for the head of the family.  Akisada was supported by Ashikaga Masauji (1462-1531), the Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun, but Norifusa successfully involved Masauji’s son, Takamoto (1485-1535).  A war that divided the Kanto Region started.  Again, the temple was burned down in one of those battles.

     Shoko-ji Temple's main deity is a Pandara Vasini Avalokitesvar statue.

     Tosa Hidenobu (?-?) published Butsuzo-zui (Illustrated Compendium of Buddhist Images) in 1783.  In the compendium, he listed 33 popular subjects of Buddhism Avalokiteshvara drawings and paintings: #1 Holding-Willow-Spray Avalokitesvar, #2 Naga Avalokitesvar, #3 Holding-Buddhism-Scripture Avalokitesvar, #4 Halo Avalokitesvar, #5 Sitting-on-Cloud Avalokitesvar, #6 Pandara Vasini Avalokitesvara, #7 Sitting-on-Lotus-leaf Avalokitesvar, #8 Looking-at-Cascade Avalokitesvar, #9 Listening-to-Stream Avalokitesvar, #10 Holding-Fish-Cage Avalokitesvar, #11 Virtuous-Lord Avalokitesvar, #12 Looking-at-Reflected-Moon Avalokiteshvara, #13 Sitting-on-Leaf Avalokitesvar, #14 Blue-Head Avalokitesvar, #15 Great-Commander Avalokitesvar, #16 Life-Prolonging Avalokitesvar, #17 Relief-from-Ruination Avalokitesvar, #18 In-Cave-with-Venom Avalokitesvara, #19 Wave-Reduction Avalokitesvar, #20 Anavatapta Avalokitesvar, #21 One-Knee-Drawn-Up Avalokitesvar, #22 Leaf-Robe Avalokitesvar, #23 Holding-Lapis-Lazuli-Censer Avalokitesvar, #24 Tara Avalokitesvar, #25 Sit-in-in-Clam Avalokitesvar, #26 Twenty-Four-Hour Avalokitesvar, #27 Universal-Benevolence Avalokitesvar, #28 Celestial Beauty Avalokitesvar, #29 Putting-Palms-together Avalokitesvar, #30 Controlling-Thunderbolt Avalokitesvar, #31 Peaceful-Vajrapani Avalokitesvar, #32 Holding-Lotus-Flower Avalokitesvar, and #33 Sprinkling-Purified-Water Avalokitesvara.  Some subjects came directly from Lotus Supra Chapter XXV, some were based on folklore in China, and others were created in Japan.  He put stronger emphasis on the number 33, and might have considered the 33 subjects to be artistically more meaningful manifestations of Avalokitesvara, at least in Japan.

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