Virtual Tama Aqueduct Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Henjo-in Temple

 

     Nothing is known about Henjo-ji Temple, so let me make a guess.

     Usually speaking, #20 Henjo-ji Temple might have been located somewhere between #19 Myosho-in Temple (2 Chome−19−12 Irimacho, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0004) and #21 Amida-do Temple (6 Chome-12 Kamisoshigaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0065).

     Nichiren (1222-1282)started his own Buddhist school, which was later called the Nichiren School after his Buddhist name, on April 28th, 1253.  As he accused other Buddhist sects and schools, his school was suppressed by Hojo Tokimune (1251-1284), the 8th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate.  Some of his believers, who called him Soshi, namely Founding Teacher, escaped from the suppression, went upstream along the gorge of the Sen River, and developed the hills in its upper reaches.  They might have inhabited around a spring which is called Tsurigane-ike Pond today and built a hall to enshrine Soshi.  Shoshi-do Temple in Soshigaya today claims to be its successor and to be the origin of the place name.

     Eventually, the valley was called Shoshi-ga-ya, literally the Founding Teacher's Gorge.

     As Shoshigaya Village grew at the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), Kami-Soshigaya Village became independent from Shshigaya Village in the further upper reaches of the Sen River.  The original village came to be called Shimo-Soshigaya.

     So, Henjo-in Temple could have been in Shimo-Soshigaya Village, and might have had something to do with the following shrine and religious monuments.  The temple might have been abolished with its Avalokitesvara statue after the Meiji Restoration.

     Shimo-Soshigaya is said to have 7 Koshin Stone Monuments, which were based on the Koshin folk faith in Japan. The faith is a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism, and Shinto. According to the faith, "Three Corpses" or "Three Worms" are demonic creatures that live inside the human body, and they seek to hasten the death of their host.  The Koshin monuments could have been built to prevent their activities.

Shimo-Soshigaya-shinmei-sha Shrine

Address: 5 Chome-1-7 Soshigaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0072

Phone: 03-3482-0128

Shimo-Soshigaya-Koshin-zuka

Address: 2 Chome-3-11 Soshigaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0072

Tsuriganeike Park

Address: 5 Chome-33-11 Soshigaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0072

Phone: 03-3417-9575

Soshi-do Temple

Address: 4 Chome-33-11 Soshigaya, Setagaya City, Tokyo 157-0072

Phone: 03-5490-6415