Virtual Tama Aqueduct Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Mitsuzo-in Temple

 

     In the 1570's, the Later Hojo Clan of Sagami and Musashi Provinces, the Uesugi Clan of Echigo Province, and the Takeda Clan of Kai and Shinano Provinces struggled for the hegemony in the Northern Kanto Region.  After the death of Uesugi Kagetora (1530-1578), Kozuke Province, the easternmost province in the Northern Kanto Region, was ruled by the Takeda Clan, and many local samurai in Shimotsuke Province yielded to the clan.  Enomoto Shigeyasu left Mizushiro Village, Tsuga County, Shimotsuke Province, and arrived at Kami-Kitazawa Village, Ebara County, Musashi Province, with his family.  He was welcomed by the ruler of the village, Suzuki Shigesada, and decided to settle in the village in 1580.  Later, Monk Raikei followed Shigeyasu from Tsuga County.  Shigesada let him stay in a Kannon-do Hall.  Shigesada's son, Sadamune, changed the hall into a temple, named it Mitsuzo-in, and appointed Raikei to be its priest.

     In 1730, Suzuki Niemon presented 100 bronze copies of the Avalokitesvara statues of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     In the Edo Period, Mitsuzo-in Temple also functioned as a shrine temple of Shori-Hachiman-jinja Shrine in the village, which had been founded in 1026.  Presumably, people settled in the upstream of Kitazawa River and developed Kami-Kitazawa Village at the turn of the 11th century.

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