Virtual Tama Aqueduct Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Kinryu-ji Temple

 

     In the hill between Sen and No Rivers, there was a spring.  When people settled in the area, they felt thankful to the blessing of the spring water.  After Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 522, Sarasvati was also introduced.  They spread eastward.  When they reached the spring, people enshrined Sarasvati by the spring.

     In 1185, MinamotoYoshitsune (1159-1189) destroyed the Taira Clan, but he lost in infighting in the Minamoto Clan.  On his evacuation to Mutsu Province, he dropped in at the spring.  He copied 45 volumes of the Large Prajnaparamita Sutras in black ink with the spring water.  In 1206, 7 years after Yoshitsune was killed in Mutsu Province, Nanko-bo Temple was founded in the holy place.

     In 1594, 3 years after Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who claimed to be the successor of the Minamot Clan, moved to Edo, Priest Shuei (?-1644) revived the temple and renamed it Kinryu-ji.  In 1649, Ieyasu's grandchild, Iemitsu (1604-1651), visited the temple and presented the field which could yield more than 1 ton of rice annually.  In 1665, the temple was moved to its present place.

     Sarasvati Shrine was renamed Itsukushima Shrine presumably after the Meiji Restoration in 1868.  In 1873, the shrine was registered with the name of Kaneko-Itsukushima Shrine.

Address: 2 Chome−14−1 Nishitsutsujigaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0006

Phone: 03-3300-5909

Kaneko-Itsukushima Shrine

Address: 1 Chome−15−8 Nishitsutsujigaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0006