Virtual Sayama 33 Kannon Pilgrimag #15 Kannon-do Temple

 

     It is unknown when Kannon-do Temple was founded in Ushirogaya Village, Tama County, Musashi Province.  Its precincts have a stone monument dated April 19th in the 7th year of Jochi, which was 1368.

     In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing. In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming. That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms. The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale would-be-samurai families. By marriage, those would-be-samurai families composed 7 corps on the Musashi Plateaus. The Murayama Corps was one of the 7, and Higashimurayama City was named after the Murayama Corps.

     Then there came the medieval days, the days of samurai. The Musashi Seven Corps basically supported the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, the government by samurai, for samurai, and of samurai. Some corps members climbed up the social ladder through the battles to overthrow the ancient establishment, while others remained half-farmer and half-samurai. Through marriage ties, or by blood, those common half-farmer and half-samurai families formed a provincial common ring or mafia, Musashi Heiikki, or the Musashi Commonwealth.

     In the Muromachi Period, the Musashi Commonwealth revolted against the high-ranking samurai in Kamakura, or the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, on February 25th, 1368.  About 2 months later, someone from Ushirogaya Village was killed in a battle.  Strangely, Jochi ended on February 17th, 1368, and the year was called Oan from the 18th.  As the revolt was against the Kanto Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), who supported the Northern Court, the builder of the monument wanted to show his resistance against Ujimitsu by using the old year name.  Or he was just entirely ignorant of what was happening in Kyoto, where Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) had become the third shogun in the previous year.  The political ignorance led the revolt to its failure.

     At the end of the Warring States Period, the Ishii Family was half-farmer and half-samurai in Ushirogaya Village.  Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, they officially became farmers, named themselves Sugimoto, which sounded more like a farmer, provided the head of the village for generations, and kept 732 volumes of documents, 2658 letters, and more, which are all conserved in the National Institute of Japanese Literature.

Did his offspring learn a lesson that they shouldn't be ignorant?

Address: 1 Chome-755 Shimizu, Higashiyamato, Tokyo 207-0004

National Institute of Japanese Literature

Address: 10-3 Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-0014

Phone: 050-5533-2900