Virtual Tama Aqueduct Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Yakushi-do Temple

 

     The border area between Tama and Iruma Counties in Musashi Province was utilized for welfare and was called Hidenkyu.  The crops from the fields were used for welfare.  Those types of fields were called "hiden" and "kyu" means to favor.

     Matsumae Isen used to be subject to the Date Family in the Sendai Domain.  He quitted the service and traveled through provinces.  He appreciated the idea of welfare in Tobitakyu, and decided to live there till the end of his life.  On December 28th, 1683, the Tenwa Great Fire broke out in Edo and killed more than 3,500 people.  In Shinano Province in 1686, poor crops led to the budget crisis of the Matsumoto Domain, which tried to resolve the fiscal crisis by increasing the tax by 1.4 times.

     The Jokyo Revolt was a peasant uprising that occurred in Matsumoto Domain, Shinano Province, in 1686. It is also called the Kasuke Revolt from the name of Tada Kasuke (1639-1687), who played a central role.

     The harvest in Azumidaira in 1686 was poorer than usual, but the Matsumoto Domain decided to increase the annual tax from 54 liters of rice to 63 liters, when the standard for the surrounding domains was 45 liters.  In addition, in Azuminodaira, where irrigation was underdeveloped at the time, 70 percent of the rice produced was red rice with a long saw. The domain ordered the removal of the saws.  It was hard work for the farmers to remove the saws, especially when they were already busy threshing and baling.  That resulted in a significant tax increase of more than 1.4 times.

     In Nagao, Azumi County (present-day Misato, Horigane, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture), farmers and peasants gathered at Kumano Shrine in Nakagaya and devised a plan to resolve the plight of them.  Ultimately, it was decided to go to the magistrate's office of Matsumoto County and directly submit a five-point complaint to the county magistrate, requesting a reduction or exemption of the tax.  As this plan was passed on to other farmers and peasants in the domain, uproars ensued, and estimated 10,000 farmers and peasants flocked to Matsumoto Castle on October 14th.

     The lord of the domain at the time, Mizuno Tadanao (1652-1713), was in attendance at Edo.  The Domestic Chief Retainer took the situation seriously.  To put an end to the turmoil as soon as possible, the retainer accepted the demands of the farmers and peasants, and had them leave on October 18th.  Then, on the night of the following day, he handed over a letter of reply to the leaders, stating that the tax would be reduced.  In the meanwhile, he sent a letter to Tadanao by horse.  After obtaining the approval of Tadanao, the retainer broke his promise to reduce the annual tax, and he arrested the people involved in November.  Finally, on November 22nd, Kasuke and his family and his comrades of Nakagaya, Nire, Otsuma, and Himuro Villages were sent to Setaka Execution Grounds.  His comrades from Mitsumizo, Horigome, Sengen, Okada, Kajikaito, and Shittako Villages were sent to the Degawa Execution Ground.  8 of the arrested including Kasuke and Koana Zenbei were sentenced to crucifixions, and 20 were beheaded with their heads exposed to the public. Zenbei's 16-year-old daughter, Shun, was among those who were executed, when it was unusual for a female to be executed at the time.  In addition, a death sentence was given to a baby whom Zenbei's wife Sato was gestating.  She gave birth to the baby at the beginning of the next year.  After the turmoil, the tax was returned to 54 liters.

     In the same year, Isen started chiseling a stone statue of Bhaisajyaguru.  After finishing the statue in 1702, he dug a hole in the ground, chanted sutras, striking a gong, and died in the hole.

Address: 1 Chome−25 Tobitakyu, Chofu, Tokyo 182-0036 

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