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