Virtual Tama Aqueduct Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Eifuku-ji Temple

 

     Eifuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Keijitsu in Tama County, Musashi Province in 1522, when Hojo Ujitsuna (1487-1541) was clutching at the southern part of Musashi Province including Tama County.

     Shimazu Yukihisa (1468-1539) had a son, Chotoku, in 1510.  Chotoku tried to study at Ashikaga School in Ashikaga County, Shimotsuke Province.  On his way, his boat capsized in Imagire, Totomi Province.  He was admitted by Imagawa Ujichika (1473-1526) in Suruga Province first.  As Chotoku had a knowledge of medicine, he was invited by Hojo Ujitsuna (1487-1541) in Sagami Province.  He was getting closer to Ashikaga School, but never studied there and was killed in battle in 1559.  His sons became vassals of the Later Hojo Clan.  One of them, Magoshiro, became a ruler of Eifukuji Village in 1559.  His registration was handled by Ando Hyobujo.  It is unknown what Magoshiro did when the Later Hojo Clan collapsed in 1590.  In place of him, Hyobujo came to the village, counting on the priest of Eifuku-ji Temple, and became a farmer.

     After all, Kato Shigetsune (1542-1625) became the ruler of the village under the Tokugawa Shogunate.  The Kato Family were good at horseback riding

     Shigetaka became subject to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) in 1576.  In the first half of the 1570's, Ieyasu fought seesaw battles against the Takeda Clan, but, in the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, the allied arquebus forces of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) and Ieyasu decisively defeated the cavalry tactics of the Takeda Clan.  The Takeda cavalries lost their leaders, and Shigetsune might have dumped the Takeda Clan for Ieyasu.

Address: 1 Chome-25-2 Eifuku, Suginami City, Tokyo 168-0064

Phone: 03-3324-3081