Virtual Tama Aqueduct Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Shokoku-ji Temple

     In the northeast of Setagaya Fortress, Yakushi-in Temple was founded as a fort to guard the fortress.  Later, the fort was changed into a temple and was renamed Shokoku-ji.  Its original name is unknowable and it is unknown when it was renamed, so let's talk about its history as if its original name had been Shokoku-ji.

     At the beginning of the 1550's, Kira Yoriyasu started building Shokoku-ji Temple, and it took him 3 years and the total number of person-days reached 2360.  It wasn't just a temple.  Shokoku-ji, Enko-in, Enjo-in, Mitsuzo-in, Zensho-ji, Tamon-ji, and Senryu-ji Temples all functioned as forts to guard Setagaya Fortress.  A small river surrounding Shokoku-ji Temple in the west and in the north worked as moats.

     Hojo Ujitsuna (1487-1541) married his daughter to Kira Yoriyasu (?-1562).  She brought a standing Bhaisajyaguru statue, which had been made from multiple pieces of wood.  Ujitsuna captured the south-western part of Musashi Province, including Setagaya, in the 1520's, adopting hard lines and soft lines. Yoriyasu adopted a boy from Horikoshi Rokuro and Sakihime (?-1586), a daughter of Hojo Ujitsuna (1486-1541), although he had his own son.  The boy became Kira Ujitomo (1542-1603), and became the head of the family in 1561.   Ujitomo further married the daughter of Hojo Gen’an (1493-1589).  The Kira Family was actually taken over by the Later Hojo Clan.

     The Bhaisajyaguru statue was recolored in 1592, after the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan and the decline of the Kira Family.  The local ex-samurai could have taken care of the temple.

Address: 4 Chome-27-4 Setagaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 154-0017

Phone: 03-5450-9080