Virtual Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Satake-ji Temple

 

     Tokuitsu studied Yogacara doctrine first at Kofuku-ji Temple and then at Todai-ji Temple.  He left the capital at the age of 20, and lived in the eastern provinces.  He certainly stayed in Chuzen-ji Temple in Hitachi Province and Enichi-ji Temple in Mutsu Province.  In those days, he founded Kannon-ji Temple on a hilltop in Kuji County, Hitachi Province, in 807.  The temple accepted the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha in 985.

     Minamoto Masayoshi (1081-1147) found a joint-less bamboo in the temple and called his name Satake, namely Support Bamboo.

     Satake Yoshiatsu (1311-1362) was the 9th head of the Satake Family.  His younger brother, Moroyoshi (?-1351) became independent from Yoshiatsu, and from then on, their descendants fought against each other over the hegemony in the northern half of Hitachi Province for more than a century.  Moroyoshi was succeeded by Tomoyoshi (?-1422).

Tomoyoshi was succeeded by Yoshisato, who died young, and who was succeeded by his younger brother, Sukeyoshi.  Sukeyoshi was succeeded by Yoshitomo (?-1478), who was killed in battle and who was succeeded by his younger brother, Yoshimasa.  Yoshimasa was succeeded by Yoshifuji (?-1492).  They all kept fighting against the heads of the Satake Family.  Yoshifuji was succeeded by Ujiyoshi (?-1504).

     In 1490, the 14th head of the Satake Family, Yoshiharu (1443-1490), died of illness, and his son, Yoshikiyo (1470-1517), succeeded him.  Yoshifuji and Ujiyoshi took advantage of Yoshikiyo's political immaturity and raised an army in alliance with Yoshihisa and Yoshimasa, who all belonged to branch families of the Satake Family and who were on the side of the anti-head family.  Yoshikiyo wasn't a match for this, and fled from Ota Castle to Magone Castle, relying on his mother's parents, the Oyama Family.  Yoshifuji succeeded in capturing Ota Castle, which had been the base of the heads of the Satake Family.  The long-cherished wish of Moroyoshi's offspring was finally realized, and the power of them reached its peak.

     Lights are usually followed by shadows.

     Those who fought against the heads of the Satake Family did so to maximize their interests.  Once Yoshifuji and Ujiyoshi became mainstream, they were naturally against them.  In 1492, Yoshifuji died of illness.  Iwaki Chikataka and his son, Tsunetaka (1510-1542), who were both the lords of Odate Castle in Mutsu Province, stepped in the conflict.  Tsunetaka's daughter was Yoshikiyo's wife, but Tsunetaka first tried to mediate both sides.  Both sides' influential persons started peace talks.  However, Ujiyoshi persisted in fighting against Yoshikiyo.  In 1500, Ujiyoshi ousted Yoshikiyo from Magone Castle to Mt. Kanasa and drove him to the brink of suicide.  However, Ujiyoshi had to withdraw due to the bad weather.

     Inscrutable are the ways of Heaven.  Tsunetaka decided to support Yoshikiyo, and Ujiyoshi was ousted from Ota Castle in 1504.  Yoshikiyo and his son, Yoshimori, were said to have been killed in Shimotsuke Province.

     The Satake Family kept up their infighting even after that, and Kannon-ji Temple burned down in one of their battles in 1543.  The 18th head of the family, Yoshiaki (1531-1565), moved the temple to its present place and renamed it Satake-ji in 1546.

     After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Satake Family was moved to Dewa Province in the north-eastern region of Honshu, and Satake-ji Temple declined.  After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it further fell into decline, and became priest-less till 1949.

     The temple might be the best place to sense that everything is transient.

  

Address: 2404 Tenjinbayashicho, Hitachiota, Ibaraki 313-0049

Phone: 0294-72-2078