Kawachi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage ---in My Order (3)---

     I have visited the member temples of the Kawachi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in the south of the Yamato River.  COVID-19 hasn't disappeared, but I launched an assault crossing of the river.  I drove north along the Prefectural Route 2, and turned right in Yao City.  The streets became narrower and narrower.  Finally, I wondered if I could make a left turn, but a milk delivery car did.  So did I.

Kawachi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Nembutsu-ji Temple

     Prince Shotoku (574-622) founded Kyuho-ji Temple.  Its foundation date is unknown.  It declined with its name left as a place name.  To make things worse, the temple was burned down in battle.  The Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha image of the temple first fled to Iga Province, to find the province safe no more.  It evacuated to Omi Province and went underground for the time being.  In the midst of the upheavals of the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392), Priest Banryu changed a leftover branch of Kyuho-ji Temple into an independent temple in 1341, naming it Nembutsu-ji.  The temple has an eleven-faced Ekadasamukha statue, which is said to have been carved by the prince.

     After about a century, there broke out another upheavals, the Warring States Period (1467-1568).  In the 16th century, the locals formed a self-governing town, based on the faith in the Pure Land Buddhism, with moats surrounding the town.

Address: 3 Chome-4-25 Kyuhoji, Yao, Osaka 581-0072

Phone: 072-991-2156

     I drove out of crooked and narrow streets, and continued driving north into Higashi-Osaka City.  I drove along a creek.  The next temple was on the other side of the creek, and I din't think I could drove through the opposite bank.  I left my car on this side, and I went to the other world on foot.

Kawachi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Enmei-ji Temple

     In the 14th century, a 4.25 meters tall Ksitigarbha statue was built.  It was enshrined in Iwashimizu-Hachiman-gu Shrine.  After the Meiji Restoration, it was removed.  After hovering around in the southern part of Kyoto, it moved to where Takashimaya Department is located.  As you see, it had to move again, settling in its present place in 1924.  Somewhere along the line, the statue was came to be called Prolongation Ksitigarbha.

Address: 4 Chome-5-15 Hishiyanishi, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-0807

Phone: 06-6721-9561

Takashimaya Osaka

Address: 5 Chome-1-5 Nanba, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 542-8510

Phone: 06-6631-1101