Virtual Sayama 33 Kannon Pilgrimag #17 Reisho-an Hermitage

 

     Reisho-an Hermitage was founded by Priest Ken'yo (?-1159).

     The Okura Battle broke out on August 16th, 1155, when Minamoto Yoshihira (1141-1160) attacked Minamoto Yoshitaka (?-1155), who was based in Tago County, Kozuke Province in the Northern Kanto Region at the end of the Heian Period (794-1192).  Yoshihira’s father, Yoshitomo (1123-1160), was based in Kamakura, Sagami Province, in the Southern Kanto Region.  Yoshitaka married a daughter of Chichibu Shigetaka (?-1155), who was based in Chichibu County, Musashi Province, which belonged to the Southern Kanto Region, and built Okura Fortress in Hiki County, Musashi Province, to advance to the Southern Kanto Region.

     Yoshitaka’s advance was a political and economical threat to Yoshitomo and Yoshihira.  Yoshihira killed Yoshikata and Shigetaka, who happened to stay in Okura Fortress on that day. The battle, the dispute over the family reign of the Minamoto Clan, the central samurai clan, involved local samurai in the Kanto Region.  The Governor of Musashi Province, Fujiwara Nobuyori (1133-1160), condoned the battle among the Kanto samurai, which even shook the central politics in Kyoto and caused the Hogen Battle there.  At the end of the ancient times, samurai were revealing their significance, without awareness though.

     It was in those days that Priest Ken'yo founded Enjo-in Temple and built Reisho-in Hermitage in its precincts.

Address: 2 Chome-1329-1 Sayama, Higashiyamato, Tokyo 207-0003