Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Chofuku-ji Temple

 

     Chofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Yusen in 1312 between the Ando and Oppe Rivers, which are both brunches of the Iruma River.  The location is supposed to have been the western end of the Old Kawajima Island.  It is interesting that Hie Shrine was founded by Fukaya Masanao almost a century later than Chofuku-ji Temple.  Obviously, Masanao came to Kawajima Island after its development.  According to Matsuura Shigeki, crop acreage in Musashi Province increased for about 40 percent from the middle of the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century.  The development of Kawajima Island was part of the increase.

     In 1305, the Kagen Incident broke out.  On April 22nd, the residence of Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311) was set on fire.  He was the head of the mainline family of the Hojo Clan.  Next day, his 12 vassals killed Hojo Tokimura (1242-1305), a leader of other minor families of the clan.  11 out of the 12 were beheaded on May 2nd.  On May 4th, Hojo Munakata (1278-1305), Sadatoki’s brother-in-law, was killed, framed for everything.

     Sadatoki’s doubts and fears might have caused, or at least worsened, the incident.  Losing his loyal vassals and blood brother as well to evade responsibility, Sadatoki got addicted to drinking.  The autocracy by the head of the mainline Hojo Clan began rapidly breaking down. 

     Nagasaki Takatsuna (?-1333) was the butler of the Hojo Clan, and became the most powerful samurai in the Kamakura Shogunate after 1307.  The Kamakura Shogunate was destroyed in 1333.

Address: 847 Tomori, Kawajima, Hiki District, Saitama 350-0166

Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Fumon-ji Temple

 

     An island was formed between Ichino, Ara, and Iruma Rivers.  The island was named Kawajima, namely River Island.

     It is unknown when and by whom Fumon-ji Temple was founded.  Fukaya Masanao founded Hie Shrine in Kawajima in 1460.  As Fumon-ji Temple was the shrine temple of Hie Shrine in Kawajima in the Edo Period (1603-1867), the temple might have been founded after 1460.  Masanao was a vassal of Ota Mochisuke (1432-1486), who was subject to the Ogigayatasu-Uesugi Family.  At the time, the Fukaya-Uesugi and the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Families weren't on bad terms, so Masanao might have been either a branch family member or a vassal of the Fukaya-Uesugi Family.  When Mochisuke built Edo Castle in 1457, he also founded Hie Shrine.  Masanao might have been dispatched to Kawajima, which might have been developed not long before, to rule the land.

     Who were those hyphenated Uesugi Families?

     When Prince Munetaka (1242-1274) became the 6th Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, Fujiwara Shigefusa accompanied him as an assistant.  For that reward, Shigefusa was given the Uesugi Manor in Ikaruga County, Tamba Province.  After that, he called his family Uesugi.  In 1266, the prince returned to Kyoto but Shigefusa stayed in Kamakura and became subject to Ashikaga Yasuuji (1216-1270).

Eventually, the Uesugi Family split up into 5 hyphenated families: the Takuma-Uesugi, the Inugake-Uesugi, the Yamanouchi-Uesugi, the Ogitani-Uesugi, and the Fukaya-Uesugi Families.  Their names came from where they used to live in Kamakura or where they were based later.

     Uesugi Noriaki (1306-1368) became subject to the first Kamakura Deputy Shogun, Ashikaga Motouji (1340-1367), and became the first Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate.  After a couple of generations, the post became hereditary for the Uesugi Clan, especially for the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family, to which Noriaki belonged.  Noriaki's 6th son, Norifusa (?-1404), moved to Kobawana in Musashi Province, and called his family Kobawana-Uesugi.  One of his offspring, Norifusa, built Fukaya Fortress in 1456 about 1 kilometer north-west of Kobawana, and called his family Fukaya-Uesugi.

     After the Meiji Restoration, Fumon-ji Temple was abolished with its Kannon-do Hall and graveyard left.  A community center was built in its precincts.

Shojiki Community Center

Address: 724 Shojiki, Kawajima, Hiki District, Saitama 350-0162

Phone: 0492-97-0575

Hie Shrine

Address: 1 Shojiki, Kawajima, Hiki District, Saitama 350-0162

Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Jiun-ji Temple

 

     Jiun-ji Temple was founded in Furukori Village, Hiki County, Musashi Province.  As Tokaku-in Temple was founded as a branch of Jiun-ji Temple in 1342, Jiun-ji Temple must have been founded earlier.  Washi Shrine was founded in 1178, inviting the god of Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama County, Musashi Province.  The original Washi Shrine was founded presumably after 927 by Takehiratori, who settled in the county with 27 families, enshrining Takehiratori himself.  Hinatano Shrine had been founded in Kito County, Totomi Province, before 927, enshrining Takehiratori.  The Takehiratori tribe might have moved from the west to the east in the 10th century, and part of their offspring moved or spread to Hiki County in the 12th century.

     The Taira and Minamoto Clans were 2 major military aristocratic clans in Ancient Japan.  Taira Kiyomori (1118-1181) rose quickly to power in the 1160's and dominated the Imperial Court, driving away the Minamoto Clan, who were regarded as the head of samurai.  Accordingly, Kiyomori had his political enemies both among the nobles of the ancien regime and among the up-and-coming samurai.  In 1177, the Shishigatani Conspiracy or Plot was discovered, and its perpetrators arrested and punished before any part of their plan was put into action.  Kiyomori then rebuked Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-1192), who had been aware of the plot, seized a number of mansions belonging to the Fujiwara Clan, and dismissed a number of officials from office.  He then filled the vacated Imperial Court positions with members of the Taira Clan.  That rather reduced and narrowed his support base and made the dispute  with samurai more violent.  Furugori was developed, and Furugori-Washi Shrine was founded in those days.  Finally, in 1180, Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) raised his army against the Taira Clan, or against the ancient administration.

     Kitabatake Akiie (1318-1338) was appointed to be a chief of the Mutsu Province on August 5th, 1333, and moved there with his expeditionary force on October 10th in the same year. He managed to bring the region under his control by the end of the next year.  He carried out 2 campaigns from the province to Kyoto in 1335 and in 1338 to restore Imperial rule.

     After the first advance, Mutsu Province became unstable and Akiie had to abandon the provincial government office in Taga Castle and move to Ryozen Castle in steep mountains for the sake of defense.  He couldn't prepare enough provisions.

     In the second advance, according to the Taiheiki, Chronicle of Great Peace, Akiie's army marched while carrying out thorough looting, and after they passed through, there was no vegetation left, let alone a house.  As Akiie fought in Kami County, the north-western tip of Musashi Province, he probably crossed the Tone River from Nawa County in Kozuke Province to Kami County and marched through Hiki County almost for certain.

     The Taiheiki, Chronicle of Great Peace, is a Japanese historical epic written  and compiled in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367, when battles and wars occurred one after another.

     The Furukori villagers had a good reason to have a temple in the 1330's and another thereafter.

     Takehiratori's offspring might have accepted Buddhism in the 14th century, enshrining Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

     In 1969, Jiun-ji Temple merged into Tokaku-in Temple.

Tokaku-in Temple

Address: 536-1 Furukori, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0035

Phone: 0493-22-2165

Washi Shrine

Address: 499 Furukori, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0035

Washinomiya Shrine

Address: 1 Chome-6-1 Washinomiya, Kuki, Saitama 340-0217

Phone: 0480-58-0434

Hinatano Shrine

Address: 837 Kamihijikata Ochiai, Kakegawa, Shizuoka 437-1431

Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Iwamuro-Kannon-do Hall

 Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Iwamuro-Kannon-do Hall

     Mt. Iwamuro, which is covered with tuff, has a hole.  People have regarded as

a holy birth canal.  People experienced rebirth by crawling through the hole.  A statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was first enshrined in the hole in the 9th century.  Later, a hall was built to enshrine the statue.

     When Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) invaded the Kanto Region in 1590, Maeda Toshiie (1538-1599) and Uesugi Kagekatsu (1555-1623) attacked Matsuyama Castle.  The lord of the castle was Ueda Norisada (1546-1597), and he went to Odawara Castle to fight with the Later Hojo Clan.  The castle was guarded by 2,300-strong samurai headed by Yamada Naoyasu (?-1600), the chief retainer.  When the castle fell, the hall was drawn into the battle and burned down.  After the Later Hojo Clan was destroyed, Naoyasu was hired by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  Norisada is, meanwhile, believed to have retreated to Joren-ji Temple, which has the grave of Norisada's wife (?-1595).

Address: 309 Kitayoshimi, Yoshimi, Hiki District, Saitama 355-0155

Joren-ji Temple

Address: 362 Mido, Higashichichibu, Chichibu District, Saitama 355-0375

Phone: 0493-82-0095

Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Jofuku-ji Temple

 

     The Ichino River is a branch of the Ara River.  When the estuary of the Ara River was being developed by Etakehi , his offspring, his successors, and/or his followers, the Ichino River might have directly run into the sea.  It is unknown when Jofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Sonkaku.  At the time, the river wasn't a branch of the Ara River but that of the Iruma River.

     The temple was built in the hill on the opposite side of Matsuyama Castle.  It isn't clear when Matsuyama Castle or Matsuyama Fortress were built, but Ono Takamura (802-853), Minamoto Tsunetomo (?-961), Minamoto Yorinobu (968-1048), Taira Nobukiyo, who was a son of Taira Nobusue (1144-1179), and Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) are said to have lived, based, or deployed their troops in the site.  As its castle town was developed on the side of Jofuku-ji Temple, the temple might have been founded after the construction of the castle.  Anyway, presumably, the area was the end of a navigable waterway in the 9th century, and was the end of the dry enough land for horses to run in samurai's days.

     In 1629, Ina Tadatsugu (1550-1610) dammed the Old Ara River and made its water flow into the Iruma River through Ichino River.

Address: 1 Chome-10-9 Matsumotocho, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0014

Phone: 0493-22-2237

Trees In the Town

Virtual Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Kanzo-in Temple

 

     Kanzo-ji Temple was founded as the shrine temple of Matsuyama Shrine, which used to be called Hikawa Shrine.

     When Wakatarashihiko was the Emperor in the 4th century, he appointed governors in remote provinces and put up warehouses of tax rice there.  Etakehi, who was from Izumo Province, was dispatched to Musashi Province.  In Izumo Province, today's Shimane Peninsula used to be an island in the Jomon Period (BC 14000-BC 10th century).  The Hi River filled the shallows between the Old Shimane Island and Honshu, and the Izumo Plain was formed about 10,000 years ago.  Rice growing arrived, and people there accumulated experience to change marshes and swamps into rice fields.  With this experience, Etakehi arrived at Musashi Province.  There, he or his offspring founded Hikawa Shrine, namely Hi River Shrine.  Presumably, he tried to control the floods of the Ara and Iruma Rivers.

     In the Jomon Period, Muashino Plateau's east side faced the sea. and the Ara and Iruma Rivers ran into the sea at the foot of the plateau.   The Hiki area used to be just 10 kilometers upstream from the mouth of the Ara River.  Etakehi , his offspring, his successors, and/or his followers tried to change marshes and swamps in the estuary of the Ara and Iruma Rivers into rice fields, and invited the god of Hikawa Shrine to their new rice fields.  Eventually, they became rich and powerful, or too rich and powerful for the Royal Family, or the Central Government.

     Emperor Hirokunioshitakekanahi (466-536) established Inukahi Be (dog breeder families) and added 41 Imperial manors during his reign.  How?

     In 534, Kasahara Omi and his cousin, Kasahara Oki, competing for the hegemony in Musashi Province.  Omi was afraid that Oki would kill him with help from Oguma in Kozuke Province.  Omi flew to the central capital, and asked the central government for help.  The government destroyed Oki.  Omi offered 4 manors, Yokomi, Tachibana, Tama, and Kuraki.

     The emperor must have been good at maneuvering local powerful families into conflicts.  And it was far before the days when Imperial armies were equipped with horses which were raised by those who came from the Korean Peninsula and by those who were transferred from the northern part of Japan.

     The god of Hikami Shrine was invited to Yokomi County in 1053.  Hikawa Shrines count over 250 in the Kanto Region. 

     Kanzo-ji Temple was abolished after the Meiji Restoration, and its Horse-Headed Hayagriva statue was moved to Joon-ji Temple.

Matsuyama Shrine

Address: 5-19 Hiyoshicho, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0012

Phone: 0493-23-4070

Joon-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-6-11 Matsuyamacho, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0018

Phone: 0493-22-1315

Hikawa Shrine

Address: 1-407 Takahanacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama 330-0803

Phone: 048-641-0137

Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in My Order (8)

      This time, I visited 3 member temples of the Osaka 33 Pilgrimage by car, which have evacuated from the City of Osaka.

#4 Hoju-ji Temple

     Hoju-ji Temple was founded by Priest Ryofu in 1599 in Nishi-Teramachi, or in today's Toganocho, Kitaward.  Presumably, it burned down in the Siege of Osaka from 1614 to 1615.  Its temple buildings were rebuilt in 1618.  In 1835, the Great Fire of Tenma burned the temple down, and it was rebuilt in 1838.  The first air raid on Osaka lasted for about three and a half hours from 23:57 on March 13rd, 1945, to 03:25.  A total of 274 B-29 heavy bombers attacked Osaka.  Its third wave of 124 bombers of the 73rd Bombardment Wing from Saipan arrived and attacked the Kita and Nishi wards.  The 3 waves of this bombing raid resulted in 3,987 dead and 678 missing and destroyed 21 square kilometers of the city in total, including Hoju-ji Temple and its Buddhist image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, #4 deity of the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  The temple moved to its present place in 1971.

Address: 2 Chome-19-1 Senriyamahigashi, Suita, Osaka 565-0842

Phone: 06-6389-4876

#6 Daikyo-ji Tempe

     There used to be Myojo-ike Pond near Osaka Tenman-gu Shrine.  Ensho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Denko in 1593 near the pond.  The second priest, Raigan, changed its name to Daikyo-ji.

     On June 1st, 1945, 458 B-29s and 27 P-51s reached Osaka City and the air raid killed 3,960 people and destroyed 8.2 square kilometers of buildings including Daikyo-ji Temple.  The temple moved to its present place in 1963.

Address: 23-1 Satsukigaokaminami, Suita, Osaka 565-0832

Phone: 06-6388-2476

 

#17 Jugan-ji Temple

     Jugan-ji Temple was founded by Priest Unkai in Tanimachi on May 18th, 1594.  When the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line was built, the temple moved to its present place in 1962, 5 years before the line began operations.  Its pagoda enshrines the 105-centimeters-tall statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.

     The temple is located halfway up Mt. Ikoma, and I enjoyed a distant view of the City of Osaka.  Fudo-ji Temple used to be located in the precincts.  It was abolished in 1871.  With the view of Osaka City, my Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage ended.

Address: 12-3 Yamatecho, Higashiosaka, Osaka 579-8022

Phone: 072-981-2545

Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

      The Hiki area is composed of Hiki Hills and the alluvium land at the foot of the hills.  Many parts of the hills are covered with tuff.  The Ichino River runs through the hills, carried the earth, and filled the sea at the foot of the hills in prehistoric days, or even in ancient days.  People settled in the hills in the 4th century at the latest, living in pit dwellings, and forming communities.  In the 7th century, they dug caves in a tuff-covered hill as their graves on the slope of the north side of the Ichino River.  It isn't clear when they accepted Shinto and Buddhism.

    Hiki County was established in Musashi Province in the 7th century.  A local powerful family in the county came to be called Hiki.  Hiki Yorshitaka is said to have been the founder of the family, but it is unknown when he lived, or whether he really existed or not.  They became samurai in the 11th century.

     When Mr. and Mrs. Hiki Tomune had their first girl baby, Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) was born.  Mrs. Hiki became Yoritomo's wet nurse.  When Yoritomo's father, Yoshitomo (1123-1160), was defeated by the Taira Clan in the Heiji Rebellion in 1160, Yoritomo was exiled to Izu Province.  Mr. and Mrs. Hiki returned to their homeland, Hiki County, Musashi Province.  Since then, Mrs. Hiki kept sending allowances to Yoritomo for 20 years till 1180, when he raised an army against the Taira Clan.  Although Mr. Hiki was already dead, Mrs. Hiki, Nun Hiki at the time, persuaded the Hiki Family to join Yoritomo's army.  Yoritomo established the Kamakura Shogunate.  She adopted a son, Yoshikazu.

     Yoshikazu's daughter, Lady Wakasa (?-1203), became the wife of the second Shogun, Minamoto Yoriie (1182-1204).  In 1198, she gave birth to Yoriie's first son, Ichiman (1198-1203).  Following this, the Hiki Family wielded considerable political power through their relation to the ruling Minamoto Clan.  After Yoritomo's death, his vassals started their own power games.  The Hiki Family's growing power was faced with opposition, and the family ultimately came into conflict with Hojo Tokimasa (1138-1215), whose daughter was the wife of Yoritomo and the mother of Yoriie.  When Yoriie fell ill in July, 1203, the power struggle between Yoshikazu and Tokimasa became serious.  Yoshikazu recommended Ichiman as the third Shogun while Tokimasa recommended Yoriie's younger brother, Sanetomo (1192-1219), claiming Ichiman to be too young.  On September 2nd in the year, Tokimasa invited Yoshikazu over for peace talks, but had him assassinated.  Tokimasa massacred the Hiki Family and killed Ichiman as well.

      The Hiki Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in 1723 by Priest Joan, who might have been the priest of one of the 33 member temples.

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Nago-ji Temple

 

     When Itsuse left Kyushu with his younger brother, Sano, to the east, Amenotomi accompanied them.  Itsuse and Sano moved eastward along the Set Inland Sea.  In ancient Japan, every powerful family had their own servants to gods.  In Sanuki Province, Amenotomi employed people who served gods.  After Itsuse died, Sano invaded Yamato Province through Ki Province, where Amenotomi employed another servants to the gods.  After the invasion, Amenotomi built a palace in Kashiwara, Yamato Province, with the wood of Ki Province.

     Sano's offspring, or the Royal Clan in Yamato Province, kept invading eastward along the Black Current.  Amenotomi's offspring also brought people who grew cereals and hemp in Awa Province to the east.  They arrived at the Mera Beach in the Boso Peninsula, grew cereals and hemp there, and built another Awa Province.

     Empress Yamatonekotakamizukiyotarashi (680-748) succeeded Empress Ahe (661-721) in 715.  In 717, Gyoki (668-749) was visiting Awa Province, and happened to find a piece of foreign wood in the sea. He picked it up and carved a thousand-armed Sahasrabhuja statue out of it.  By coincidence, Empress Yamatonekotakamizukiyotarashi was ill, and was cured when Gyoki carved the statue and made prayers to it.  The empress ordered that a temple should be built for the statue.

    The temple used to be located on the top of the hill, but it collapsed in the 1703 Great Genroku Earthquake on November 23rd.  It was rebuilt on the hillside in 1759 with Okamoto Hyoe leading the reconstruction.

    You can sail back to Kamakura across the sea from Nago Port to go back to the start of the pilgrimage.

    Nago-ji Temple is also the Old Awa 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1.  It means you can start visiting another pilgrimage from the temple, and your 33 Kannon Pilgrimage goes on and on.

Address: 1125 Nago, Tateyama, Chiba 294-0055

Phone: 0470-27-2444

Mera Beach

Address: Mera, Tateyama, Chiba 294-0234

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Kiyomizu-dera Temple

 

     First, Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha was enshrined in a hermitage in Isumi sometime between 782 and 806.  Then, Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja was enshrined in 807, supported by the Imperial Army.

     The Japanese Archipelago has 34,600 kilometers of shoreline, which is shorter than America’s 56,700 kilometers but longer than Brazil’s 5,760 kilometers.  The islands are washed by the Black and Tsushima Currents from the south and by the Kuril Current from the north.

     The Black Current starts off Philippines, flows northward between the Formosa Island and the Ryukyu Islands, and, turning northeastward,  passes between the Ryukyu Islands and the Kyushu Island toward the south coasts of the Shikoku and Honshu Islands, transporting warm, tropical water.  The current brings not only tropical water but also fish, corals, seeds of tropical plants such as coconuts, blocks of dead aromatic trees, and even culturally, sometimes even militarily, advanced alien people.

     Ugaya (?-?), whose ancestors had come from somewhere else which got called Takamagahara later, was ruling Hyuga Province in the eastern coast of Kyushu Island.  He had been abandoned by his mother in his infancy, and raised by his aunt, his mother’s younger sister.  When he came of age, he married the aunt, and had 4 sons, Itsue, Inahi, Mikenu, and Sano.

     Inahi drowned himself in the sea to see his mother.  Mikenu left eastward, that is, to the sea, for the land of the dead.  Itsuse left northward with his youngest brother, Sano.  The reason for the family breakdown is unknown and unknowable now.

     Itsuse first arrived at Usa in Buzen Province, and stayed at another place int the province for a year.  He moved on eastward along the Seto Inland sea to Aki Province, and stayed there for 7 years.  And then to Kibi Province, and stayed there for 3 to 8 years.  He finally reached the eastern end of the Seto Inland sea only to be faced by Nagasune, who was hostile against him.  Itsuse was shot, flew, got to O Port in Ki Province, and died there.  He was buried in Mt. Kama near the port.

     Itsuse’s younger brother, Sano, continued their eastward quest, and arrived at Kumano in the province.  Tempted by a local tribe, who had the token of a crow with 3 legs, he went upstream along Totsu river, crossed Yoshino River, beat his way through the bush, and reached Uda in Yamato Province.

     The 3-legged-crow tribe helped Sano rival other local tribes there, and successfully split one tribe.  Sano’s men committed an underhanded murder of another local tribe.  Sano also maneuvered pork-barrel politics against other tribes, and established his ruling in Iware.  He was later called Iware, related to his domain name.  Until the end of World War II, the series of events was widely believed in Japan to have taken place more than 2 millennia before.

     Sano’s offspring eventually unified Yamato Province, and formed the Royal Family.  They even further continued the brothers’ eastward quest.  After Kumano, they reached Ise.  They built their advanced base at the southern end of the Ise Plains, Ise Shrine.  Next, they invaded Nobi Plains, and built another advanced base at the mouth of a river in Owari Prefecture, Atsuta Shrine.  They moved further east, got to an inland sea at the eastern end of the Kanto Plains, and built another advanced base at the southern shore of the sea, Katori Shrine.  Across the inland sea, at the northern shore, they also prepared another advanced logistics base, Kashima Shrine, to invade Northern Japan. 

     The north-easternmost tip of the Boso Peninsula is Cape Inubo.  The Black Japan Current, which runs along the Japanese Archipelago from the south, departs the islands east toward U.S.A. off the cape, where the Kurile Current, which runs from the north, meets the Black Japan Current.  Navigation methods and needed skills might have been quite different beyond the junction of the two sea currents.  As you have seen, Kumano Pirates sometimes exported some of their human resources and affected other sea people in other parts of Japan.  But Cape Inubo was the dividing line for them.

     Just to the north of Cape Inubo, there used to be an orifice of a big inland sea, Katori Sea.  On the peninsula between Katori Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Kashima Shrine was located.  On the southern coast of Katori Sea, there stood Katori Shrine.

Kashima Shrine was officially considered and actually worked as the gateway for the ancient Yamato central government to intrude into the north-eastern part of Japan, which would be later called Mutsu Province, or to subdue and rule Emishi, who were not subject to the imperial central government yet.

     Katori Shrine used to be the gateway to the Kanto Plain, and governed the water transportation on Katori Sea and along the rivers in the Kanto Region.

The Royal Family didn't like indirect rule, but preferred to drive wedges by gaining land and people under their direct control.

     The Ijimi Family was a powerful local family in the central part of the Boso Peninsula.  The family and their territory were annexed by the Imperial Court in the 5th century.  Part of the territory was offered to Empress Yamada by Ijimi Wakugo in 534.  Of course, Yamada couldn't go to Ijimi by herself, and dispatched some members of her parents' family, Kasugabe, to the land.

     Kiyomizu-dera Temple might have functioned as a house of worship for those from the central part of Japan and as a cultural hegemon and authority against the local people.

Address: 1270 Misakichokamone, Isumi, Chiba 299-4624

Phone: 0470-87-3360

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Kasamari-Temple

 

     The Ijimi Family was a powerful local family in the central part of the Boso Peninsula.  The family and their territory were annexed by the Imperial Court in the 5th century.  Part of the territory was offered to Empress Kasuganoyamada by Ijimi Wakugo in 534.  In those days, Buddhism was brought to Japan.

     A giant rock in the territory had been a holy place even since the prehistoric days.  In the 8th century, Buddhism was brought to the territory.  Buddhists carved an eleven-faced Ekadasamukha statue out of a camphor tree, and enshrined the statue by the rock.

     Emperor Reizen (950-1011) had a illegitimate son, Prince Gojo.  Gojo was appointed as an officer in Kazusa Province.  He made a sister of Kiyomitsu, a local official, his local mistress.  She became pregnant, but Gojo returned to Kyoto.  She gave birth to a baby girl, who grew up to be beautiful, and always prayed to the Ekadasamukha statue to see her father.

     The wife of Emperor Ichijo (980-1011), Sadako (977-1001), died after giving birth to her second daughter, Bishi (1001-1008).  After her death, the subjects of the Emperor looked for beauties in remote provinces to console the Emperor.  The girl, Kiyomitsu's niece, became a concubine.  She won the emperor's favor, and was asked about her hometown one night.  She talked about the Ekadasamukha statue and asked the emperor to build a hall for it.  The Emperor built a hall supported with 61 pillars in order to cover the rock.  Its structure is very unique and it is unknown whether its design was based on the Emperor's idea or the concubine's.

Address: 302 Kasamori, Chonan, Chōsei District, Chiba 297-0125

Phone: 0475-46-0536

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Kozo-ji Temple

 

     Kozo-ji Temple was founded by Priest Tokugi along the upper stream of Yana River in the 580's, just after Umakuta Country was annexed and was included in Kazusa Province.  Takekoro's son, Fukakawaomi, was appointed as the head of the annexed country.

     Umakuta Country became Moda County, and its county government office was located along the lower stream of Yana River.  Moreover, about 1 kilometer northwest from Kodai-ji Temple.  There lie the Futaeyama ruins, which functioned as an iron industrial zone in ancient times.  Chiba Prefecture, or the Boso Peninsula, is known for its iron sand even today.  The Imperial-Court power or forces set their eyes on the mineral resources, and spread the iron manufacturing from Kashima Shrine, their strong hold to invade the northeastern part of Honshu.  They started the manufacturing in the latter half of the 7th century in the northern part of the peninsula, the Wakabayashi Site (Fujigaya, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0931), which was located in a hill along the south shore of the Katori Sea, for example, and introduced it to Futaeyama at the turn of the 8th century.  The Futaeyama Site had a smelter to refine sand iron, a blacksmith to make iron plates, and a charcoal kiln to supply charcoals to the smelter and blacksmith.  The site is located on the south dry hillside.

     According to  the Great Mirror (Okagami in Japanese), which is a Japanese historical tale written in around 1119 by an unknown author, and which covers the period 850 to 1025, Nakatomi Kamatari (614-669), the founder of the Fujiwara Clan, was born in Kashima County, Hitachi Province, not in Yamato Province as commonly accepted.

     The head of Yana Village in Kazusa Province had no child at the age of 40.  He prayed to the image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, in Kozo-ji Temple, and had a baby girl, Shiyokan.  The girl grew up but didn't have any partner.  When she heard of the story about her birth, she prayed to the Arya Avalokitesvara image.  She dreamed Arya Avalokitesvara told her to visit Kashima County and pray to the Sun God.  There, she became pregnant and had a baby boy, who grew up to be Nakatomi Kamatari.  Kashima Shrine was officially considered and actually worked as the gateway for the Imperial army to invade the Tohoku Region, the northeastern part of Honshu, which was later called Mutsu Province, or to subdue and rule Emishi, who were not subject to the Imperial central government, whose head, the Emperor, was believed to be the offspring of the Sun God.  The Nakatomi Family is presumed to have advanced to Hitachi Province in the first half of the 6th century.  Shiyokan’s partner might have been a member of the family.  Anyway, iron manufacturing was introduced to Futaeyama almost 2 centuries after the pregnancy of Shiyokan.

     All in all, did Kozo-ji Temple function to support the colonization policies of the Imperial Court and to enlighten local people?

Address: 1245 Yana, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0812

Phone: 0438-52-2675

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Sen'yo-ji Temple

 

     Sen'yo-ji Temple was founded in 709.  A ginkgo tree was planted next year.

     Taira Yoshifumi (886-952) was born in Kyoto.  In 923, he was dispatched to Sagami Province by Emperor Daigo (885-930) to suppress armed robbers. Later, he moved to Muraoka, Kumagaya County, Musashi Province.  He also lived in Muraoka, Kamakura County, Sagami Province, and Muraoka, Yuki County, Shimousa Province.  How did he find so many Muraokas?  Maybe, he named Muraoka where he lived.  He also built a fortress in 940 in Otomo, Katori County, Shimousa Province.  According to Konjaku Monogatari, which was edited sometime in the early 12th century, Otomo Fortress was on the hilltop along the south shore of the Katori Sea.  His grandson, Tadatsune (967-1031), or Tadatsune's son, Tsunemasa (1010-1076), started being based in Otomo Fortress.  Tadatsune and Tsunemasa were once arrested and taken to Kyoto.  Tadatsune died of illness in Mino Province on his way to Kyoto, and Tsunemasa was pardoned and married a daughter of Nakahara Moronao, who was offspring of Nakahara Arikata (902-978), who was a Confucian scholar, and she gave birth to Tsunenaga (1024-1108).  Tsunenaga fought in the the Former Nine-Year War (1051-1062) and the Later Three-Year War (1083-1087).  After the wars, Tsunenaga built Oji Fortress in Chiba County, Shimousa Province.  Tsunekane's second son, Tsunekane (1045-1126), lived in Oji Fortress.  He was the practical founder of the Chiba Family although the family often promoted Tadatsune or Tsunemasa as their founder to dignify their history.

     Anyway, after the start of the Chiba Family, they supported Sen'yo-ji Temple and its ginkgo tree.  The temple buildings were burned down in 1160, when the Heiji Rebellion was fought between two rival military aristocrat clans, Taira and Minamoto.  The rebellion was part of Minamoto–Taira clan disputes at the end of the Heian Period (794-1180).  It wasn't recorded whether the fire had something to do with the rebellion or not.  The tree, anyway, survived and is now about 30 meters tall with its trunk circumference 8 meters at the height of human eyes.

Address: 161 Chibaderacho, Chuo Ward, Chiba, 260-0844

Phone: 043-261-3723

Otomo Fortress Site

Address: Otomo, Tonosho, Katori District, Chiba 289-0621

Oji Fortress Ruins

Address: 851 Ojicho, Midori Ward, Chiba, 267-0065

Trees In the Town

Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Ryusho-in Temple

 

     An old monk found a 5-centimeters tall eleven-armed Sahasrabhuja image in Oda River.  He presented it to the Oda Family.  Oda Masaharu founded Ryusho-in Temple in 838 on the south shore of the Katori Sea.

     In Ancient Japan, 6 National Histories were compiled: Nihon Shoki, which covered the mythological period through 697, and whose compilation was completed in 720, Shoku Nihongi, which covered the years 697-791, and whose compilation was completed in 797, Nihon Koki, which covered the years 792-833, and whose compilation was completed in 840, Shoku Nihon Koki, whose compilation was finished in 869, and which covered the years 833–850, Nihon Montoku Tenno Jitsuroku, which covered the years 850-858, and whose compilation was completed in 879, and Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, which covered the years 858-887, and whose compilation was completed in 901.

     According to Shoku Nihon Koki, Kozu Island erupted and its volcanic ashes fell all over the Kanto Region in 838.  The island is formed from a cluster of eighteen lava domes.  The highest of these lava domes, Mt. Tenjo has a height of 571 meters, and it was the mountain that was active in 838.

     About 1 kilometer north of Ryusho-ji Temple, Tone River runs eastward today.  The river is the trace of the Ancient Katori Sea.

     Even in medieval days, salty water washed the shore at the foot of the temple.  The mouth of the Kinu River was about 10 kilometers west, and marshland spread westward for about 30 kilometers from the mouth.  Then there came the Tokugawa Shogunate, who hired Ina Tadaharu (1606-1653) to run the water of the Tone River east in order to save Edo from its floods.  He first stopped the Aino River, a bypass of the Old Tone River.  In 1621, he finished digging a canal to have the Old Tone River flow into the Watarase River, and started separating the Kinu and Kokai Rivers.  In 1629, he had the Ara River flow into the Iruma River, and the New Kinu River started running.  In 1630, the New Kokai River started running.  In 1635, he started building the Edo River and finished it in 1641.  Do you follow what I have said?  I wonder how many people in those days understood his ultimate end.  Finally in 1654, 1 year after his death, the Tone river ran east directly to the Pacific Ocean.

The river water brought earth, sand, and floods to the marshland and the bays, and gradually reclaimed them.  Today, the mouth of the Tone River is over 50 kilometers east from Ryusho-in Temple.

Address: 1196 Namegawa, Narita, Chiba 289-0125

Phone: 0476-96-0217