Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     About 2 decades after the organization of Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized on March the 18th, 1234.  Although some of the Kannon statues of the 34 temples were normally hidden from public view, all the Kannon statues were to be displayed to the public every 12 years since 1234.  The last simultaneous display was performed in 2014, and, accordingly, the next one will be carried out in 2026.

     Why 34?

     Originally, the pilgrimage had only 33 member temples.  In the second half of the 16th century, the number was manipulated to make it 100 together with Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     Chichibu Miyatsuko governed the eastern half of Saitama Prefecture in the early ancient times.  In the 6th century, the area was merged into Musashi Province, and became Chichibu County.  In 708, the county produced copper, and the era name was changed to Wado, namely Japanese Copper.  In 903, Chichibu Stock Farm provided horses to the Imperial Court.  In 933, it became an imperial stock farm to provide military horses for the Imperial armies.  In 951, 2 stallions were given to the stock farm.

     In medieval Japan, Chichibu is known for the Chichibu Clan.

     Taira Masakado (903-940)was born in Shimousa Province: specifically and presumably either in Toyoda or Sashima County, which were both along the Kinu River.  Later, he left for Kyoto at the age of either 15 or 16 to be hired by Fujiwara Tadahira (880-949), who was the 2nd Prime Minister at the time and who became the Prime Minister in 924, to climb up the social ladder.  After 12 years or so, he returned to the Kanto Region, without achieving anything in the central political circles.  In 939, Masakado tried to be independent from Japan in the Kanto Region.  After his death, his second daughter, Haru (namely Spring), hid in Iwai Village, Soma County, Shimousa Province.  She became a nun and called herself Nyoshun (namely Like Spring).  However, Masakado's cousin, Tadayori (930-1019), asked Nyoshun to return to secular life.  They were married and gave birth to 3 sons.  Their second son, Masatsune (1007-1057), lived in Chichibu County and called his family Chichibu.  He married the daughter of Musashi Takeshiba, who gave birth to Takemoto.  Masatsune was killed in the Former Nine Years' War.  Takemoto is supposed to have married with a daughter of a county official, and became the manager of Ishida Stock Farm in Chichibu County.  The Stock Farm had been an Imperial Stock Farm, which had provided military horses for the Imperial Army.  He laid the foundation of the growth of Chichibu Clan.  His son Taketsuna, fought in the Later Three-Year War in the 1080's, and was given Tanimori Manor in Toshima County, Musashi Province.  He built a residence in Tsurugakubo Heights in Yoshida Village, Chichibu County.  He practically controlled the Musashi Provincial Government.  His sons branched out into the Hatekeyama, Kawagoe, Takayama, and Edo Families.  However, the head family didn't do well after him and became a local family in a valley enclosed with mountains.

     The history of Chichibu County and Omiya Village from the Northern and Southern Courts Period (1336-1392) to the Warring States Period (1467-1568) is not clear due to the lack of written documents. When Ashikaga Motouji (1398-1439), the 4th Kanto Deputy Shogun, attacked Takeda Nobunaga in Kai Province in 1426, the Musashi 7 Corps advanced to Kai Province crossing Karisaka Pass.

     In 1476, Nagao Kageharu (1443-1514) started his rebellion against his master, Uesugi Akisada (1454-1510), who was the head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family and who was the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate.  The area around Omiya Village, Chichibu County, became a strong base for Kageharu in his rebellion.  In Kishitani (today’s Kurotani, Chichibu City) and Hino (today’s Kanhino, Arakawa) near Omiya Village, there are fortress ruins that are said to have been the strongholds of Nagao Kageharu.  In addition, in Yamada (today’s Yamada, Chichibu City), which is located next to Omiya Village, there is the site of the residence of Yamada Shimanokami, who is said to have been subject to Kageharu.  In Kagemori (today’s Kagemori, Chichibu City), which is located to the south of Omiya Village, there is the place name Choja Yashiki, namely Millionaire Residence, where Shigeno Gyobu, who was also subject to Kageharu, resided.  Tradition says that Gyobu’s son, Tatewaki, became a farmer and moved to Omiya Village.  The Shigeno Family later moved out of Chichibu.  What is more, in Misawadani (today’s Misawa, Minano Town), the family that is thought to have been a village headman in the Middle Ages, has a small shrine called 'Nagao-sama', or Sir Nagao.  All in all, we can infer that the area around Omiya Village was under Kageharu's political and military influence. As a result, Chichibu was invaded by Ota Mochisuke (1432-1486), a vassal of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family in 1480.

     At the end of the Warring States Period (1467-1568), Chichibu County turned into a battlefield between the Later Hojo Clan in Sagami Province and the Takeda Clan in Kai Province.  The Later Hojo Clan took advantage of their victory in the Battle of Kawagoe in 1546, and advanced into northern Musashi Province.  The Takeda Clan, who actively attempted to advance into the Kanto Region, mainly used the Usui Pass between Shinano and Kozuke Provinces, but their troops also used Karisaka Pass between Kai Province and Chichibu County.  At the beginning of the 16th century, the Takeda Clan advanced, crossed the pass, and built a checkpoint in Tochimoto, Otaki Village, Chichibu County.  In March, 1524, Takeda Nobutora (1494-1574) invaded Chichibu County.  The Battle of Omiya in 1560 was fiercely fought between the 2 powers.  Temples and shrines in Omiya Village were burned down by the Takeda Clan.  A legend called it Takeda-yaki, namely Takeda Fire.   Those battles also influenced the demography in the county.  In Omiya Village and its surrounding villages, some families are said to have migrated from Kai Province when the Takeda Clan invaded, and some other families are said to have been vassals of the Later Hojo Clan.  These examples show the active migration of people from outside.  After the fall of the Takeda Clan in 1582, the Later Hojo Clan's rule over this area was established and a certain political and military stability was brought to the area.  However, most samurai in Kai Province were conciliated by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), but some along the border between Kai Province and Chichibu County preferred the Later Hojo Clan.  Chichibu County was in the front line between the 2 powers.  Chichibu Magojiro was subject to Hojo Ujikuni (1548-1597).  After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590, the family became farmers.  The site of their residence became Yoshida Elementary School, with an 800-year-old ginkgo tree standing in its school yard.

     In 1590, the Tokugawa Clan took over the county, and it entered the early modern period, in which commerce and pilgrimage were more important.

     At the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867), the Japanese class system was shaken. The ruling samurai and noble classes were shuffled. During the shuffle, even during the Meiji Restoration, nobody seemed to be leading. Everyone was just trying to dominate the nation, and, after accomplishing the domination, the parvenus carried out a counterrevolution. The poor were more exploited to supply capital to the upstart capitalist and to finance the military expansion. Taxes were increased and their debts were accumulated.

     In the first half of the 19th century, when industrialization began in Lyon, it became Europe's largest silk fabric and textile manufacturing city.  In 1855, however, silkworm disease broke out in Spain and spread throughout Europe, devastating the silk industry in Lyon and increasing unemployment there.  They heard that raw silk is also produced in Japan and silkworms there were resistant to the disease.  People from Lyon rushed to Yokohama to buy raw silk and silkworms.

     Chichibu County in Saitama Prefecture had long had a thriving sericulture industry and the ties between Lyon and Chichibu became strong.  For example, the first elementary school in Chichibu County was established with French aid.  The secretary of the French legation in Japan visited Chichibu.  The economy in the county became too dependent on the production of raw silk.  Many sericulture farmers borrowed money from loan sharks, counting on the annual sales of raw silk, and bought rice, wheat, and other daily necessities.

     The Great Depression in Europe lasted from 1873 to 1896.  The Lyon Raw Silk Exchange crashed in 1882.  The domestic price of raw silk in Japan also plunged.  As a matter of course, the influence of the above-mentioned crash was stronger in Chichibu County.  The loan sharks took advantage of their plight and made their lives even more miserable.  Some were forced to sell their daughters to brothels.

     In August, 1884, the Poverty Party was organized in Chichibu. They repeatedly submitted petitions for 10-year grace periods of their debts and 40-year yearly installment of their debts as well as tax reductions. Finally, on October 31st, they gathered with their farm tools and hunting rifles in Muku Shrine. Their uprisings were suppressed in 5 days by the modern armies which had been financed with their heavy taxes.

Yoshida Elementary School

Address: 3833 Shimoyoshida, Chichibu, Saitama 369-1503

Phone: 0494-22-2481

Muku Shrine

Address: 7377 Shimoyoshida, Chichibu, Saitama 369-1503

Phone: 0494-77-1293