Virtual Iruhi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Kannon-do Hall

 

     Ogose means Over Ridge, and Ogose is actually just over a low ridge from Hiki County.  For medieval samurai who cared about rice fields, hills and mountains were boundaries; for those who believed in mountain asceticism, a mountain was a center.

     In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing. In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming. That stimulated local people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms. The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale would-be-samurai families. By marriage, those would-be-samurai families composed 7 corps on the Musashi Plateaus. The Kodama Corps was one of the 7, and the Naruse Family in Naruse Village, Hiki County, Musashi Province, belonged to the corps.

     Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) wrote about Mt. Kobo in his New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province, "It is about 164 meters in height, and its four sides are covered with pine and cedar trees.  Myoken-ji Temple is located on the hillside.  From the temple to the top, it is particularly steep.  A small shrine was built on the summit, and from the shrine you can enjoy an open view.  In the east, you see Mt. Tsukuba, Hiki hills, Adachi, Edo, and even the mountains of Boso Peninsula in the distance.  In the south, you can even see Hachioji.  In the north, you can see the high mountains of Shinano and Echigo Provinces and Mikuni Pass."  To put it another way, Mt. Kobo commands a panoramic view of almost all the centers of mountain asceticism in the Kanto Region.

     The villagers enshrined Kamuatatsu at the top of Mt. Kobo, which is no more than 200 meters above sea level, and Takeminakata at the foot of it.  Kamuatatsu married Ninigi, and gave birth to Honoori, who was the father of Ugaya, who was the father of Sano, who mounted an eastward expedition from Hyuga Province and established the Royal Family in Yamato Province.  Takeminakata lost to Takemitazuchi in the power games of the central politics, and escaped to Suwa County, Shinano Province.  It was documented that Naruse Aritoshi managed the shrine of Takeminakata in the 1190's.  The goddess and the god are both enshrined in Suwa Shrine.  Later, Myoken-ji Temple was founded on the hillside.  Myoken means Polestar.  As the oldest document mentioning the temple dates 1405, the temple must have been founded in the 14th century at the latest.

Mt. Kobo

Address: Kobosan, Naruse, Ogose, Iruma District, Saitama 350-0404

Suwa Shrine

Address: 670 Naruse, Ogose, Iruma District, Saitama 350-0404

Phone: 049-292-3919